The DTC is signing off

Yes, that's right. The DTC is officially going off the air. So, this is the last DTC blog post.

Many of you know that when Dave and I came to Dhaka over 2 years ago, we started the Dhaka Triathlon Club so we could find other like minded multi-sport athletes to train and compete with. We have been lucky enough with our training to compete in the Chiang Mai & Khon Kaen marathons, Phuket and KL half marathons, Mt. Kinabalu Climbathon half marathon and the China 70.3 Half Ironman. We have had a blast swimming, biking and running with all of you!

We have really enjoyed planning road races & duathlons, donating money to charity, organizing training runs and rides, informing the community of athletic related resources such as Re-Fit gym & local PTs and lastly our biggest joy of encouraging newbies to try their first 5K, 10K, marathon and triathlon! It has been well worth the time and effort and sacrifice of Dave and I never getting to run one local road race with you! :)

Now it is the time to pass on the torch and we are reaching out to the athletes (multi-sport or otherwise) in Dhaka. You are the ones that train and race and compete and have (hopefully!) gotten some benefits from the Dhaka Triathlon Club and so we hope that you to continue what we started.

What does this all mean? Well, it means agreeing to keep the spirit alive however you can! It might mean hosting a road race in Baridhara, duathlon in Bashundhara, or triathlon from ISD or AIS/D, inviting others on your weekly long runs (let’s face it-it’s easier with others!) and/or talking up good races in the region.

So to close the loop on the blog, I have decided to post Dhaka’s TOP 20 athletes and sporting resources. If you are surfing the web looking for multi-sport or running resources in Dhaka, this list is the place to start! Just click on the table to be able to view each of Dhaka’s top 20 athletes and their contact info.

Now, depending on when you check, these people may have moved on from Dhaka, so try someone else on the list and no matter where I am in the world, you can also contact me for information on running/triathlon training in Dhaka.

Good luck and happy running!
Robin Martz
rmartz@umich.edu

Dhaka's TOP 20 Athletes
Athlete Email
Amy Friedman afriedman@ais-dhaka.net
Greg Friedman grfriedman@ais-dhaka.net
Duncan Brown dawnandduncan@yahoo.co
Mark Forward 'Foz' fozziebd@hotmail.com
Janice Twartz j.twartz@gmail.com
Milko Van Gool milko.van-gool@ec.europa.eu
Zsuzsa Barta zsuzsanna.barta@gmail.com
Gary Jon Julian garyjjulyan@gmail.com
Ken Ford ken4ord@yahoo.com
Mike Galligan magalligan@ais-dhaka.net
Bob Goldman zgoldman1@yahoo.com
Diane Lindsey diane.lindsey@gmail.com
Kelly Stevenson kstevenson@savechildren.org
Lorinda Wishart lorindawishart@gmail.com
Chris Hesse christopherhesse@yahoo.com
JR Rinfret jrrinfret@gmail.com
Mark Gillepsie poodlemark@hotmail.com
Syed Sunna 'LBH' syed@agni.com
Christine Marie George hikachica@gmail.com
Emily Hillenbrand emily.hillenbrand@gmail.com

Robin's last SLR!

SLR WILL BE TOMORROW 7AM FROM IN FRONT OF THE ARA!

There are lots of holiday and going away parties Friday night, so let's get our long run DONE. Since many of us are running long this week-end, please meet us FRIDAY morning at 7AM in front of the ARA. We will be going 18 miles at/around 10 minute/mile pace.

This could be your last chance to say good-bye to the DTC!

Co-founder, Dave Martz, will not be running.

Wednesday, December 16th Victory Day 8K & 4K Run and Walk

Please click on the flyer to see the details. Come out for this fun event! With a short and fast course, this will likely be the fastest 8K you ever run!

SLR DAY & TIME CHANGE next week-end

First of all, congrats to all the runners that ran SIXTEEEN MILES today! Doesn't it feel GREAT?!

Great job Emily, Christine Marie, Robin, Kelly and JR. Next week is a step back week for most

and an important time to let the body recover. Because many folks will be participating in the annual Splash and Dash next Saturday morning, we will be doing SLR Friday morning December 11th and leaving at 7AM from the American Club gate. Join us for an easy 7-10 miles.

SLR

Friday, December 11th

7AM

Spash and Dash*

Saturday, December 12

9AM

*You MUST pre-register for this event. See last post for details.

Splash N Dash

Don't miss this annual event put on the by the American International School of Dhaka. A fun thing for the whole family. Relay teams welcome! Make sure to sign up by the date listed. Click on the flyer below to view it larger. See you there!

Dear multi-sport athletes,

The time is fast approaching that Dave and I will get on an airplane with the girls and move to Bhutan! We are looking forward to this new adventure in our lives, but are also sad to leave Dhaka and our friends here (otherwise known as training partners!).

When we came to Dhaka over 2 years ago, we started the Dhaka Triathlon Club so we could find other like minded multi-sport athletes to train and compete with. We have been lucky enough with our training to run the Chiang Mai & Khon Kaen marathons, Phuket and KL half marathons, Mt. Kinabalu Climbathon half marathon and the China 70.3 Half Ironman. We have had a blast swimming, biking and running with all of you!

We have really enjoyed planning road races & duathlons, donating money to charity, organizing training runs and rides, informing the community of athletic related resources such as Re-Fit gym & local PTs and lastly our biggest joy of encouraging newbies to try their first 5K, 10K, marathon and triathlon! It has been well worth the time and effort and sacrifice of Dave and I never getting to run one local road race with you! :)

Now it is the time to pass on the torch and we are reaching out to the athletes (multi-sport or otherwise) in Dhaka. You are the ones that train and race and compete and have (hopefully!) gotten some benefits from the Dhaka Triathlon Club and so we need you to continue what we started.

What does this all mean? Well, it means agreeing to keep the spirit alive however you can! It might mean hosting a road race in Baridhara, duathlon in Bashundhara, or triathlon from ISD or AIS/D, inviting others on your weekly long runs (let’s face it-it’s easier with others!) and/or talking up good races in the region.

Please watch this site for more information on the future of the Dhaka Triathlon Club.
Thanks for everything!
Robin Martz
rmartz@umich.edu

An update from the DTC!

We are still doing SLR (Saturday Long Run) leaving at 6:30AM from the American Club.

Robin & Dave leave for Bhutan December 20th, so come out and join us for only THREE more SLR's! December 5, December 12, and December 19. More details on blog coming soon about future of the DTC.

Pictured: Robin and Christine Marie running 13 miles.

Photographer: Lorinda (also ran 13 miles that day!)

DTC Halloween 2009 5K

Thanks to all the racers in today's 2nd Annual DTC Halloween 5K with a start and finish at Re-Fit gym on Road 63. Congrats to Marc and Emily, the overall men's and women's winners and for all the age group winners. The men's winners were: Fred (<19), LBH (30-39), Mark G. (40-49), and JR (50+). The women's winners were: Felicity (<19), Lorinda (20-29) Carla (30-39), Chaunpit (40-49) and Diane (50+).

Emily-1st female (23:21)

Marc-1st male (20:03)

The Martz and Rinfret family.

Congratulations again to all the finishers/racers. Sorry to those of you that got lost! As I mentioned Dave and I will be leaving Dhaka soon and would love to see the DTC stay active. Please email me if you are interested in carrying the torch for the club. Email me at rmartz@umich.edu Thanks again for coming out and racing.

SLR this week-end & Halloween 5K

Please join Robin for SLR this Saturday morning 6:30AM in front of the American Club.

We will head to Basundhara and over the bamboo bridge. Last week-end it was really muddy, so don't wear your good shoes. I will run out to the BIG bridge (7 miles) and back. Pace will be slow.

Please join us!

We will be gone 24 October so SLR is on your own! We will back for SLR on Halloween 31 October.

There WILL be a Halloween 5K on Friday October 3oth at 3PM with start and finish at Re-Fit on Road 63. Stay tuned for more details.

DTC race proceeds go to ICDDR,B Hospital Patient Welfare Fund

DTC hosted an Eid-ul-Fitre 5K to raise money for the ICDDR,B patient welfare fund. There were 26 runners that braved the poring rain to run. A total of 13,000 taka was raised and the DTC donated another 2,000 to bring the grand total donated to FIFTEEN THOUSAND TAKA.
THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT PARTICIPATED AND DONATED!

Glitter ball run

Remember Glitter Ball last year? If you do, then you remember it can be a night of eating, drinking and just staying up late. SO,
If you would like to SLEEP IN SATURDAY MORNING, then come and join me for a slow long run (alternate SLR) on FRIDAY morning 6:30AM leaving from the American Club. I will head towards the bamboo bridge-hopefully its not under water already!

Dave will still be doing SLR Saturday morning for those wanting to come to the regular SLR. Please join him for between 5-8 miles.

After a step back week last week, I will be running 13 miles Friday morning. Please join me for some or all of it.

So, to recap:

GLITTER BALL ALTERNATE SLR FRIDAY MORNING 6:30AM
AMERICAN CLUB FRONT GATE

REGULAR SLR SATURDAY MORNING 6:30AM
AMERICAN CLUB FRONT GATE

SLR report: 26 September

We had a nice group of runners Saturday morning. Thanks for coming out! Our route was a familiar one. We headed towards Basundhara (still no bamboo bridge!) and ran down 'the' nice shaded street near the kids playground.

Don't let the barricades slow you down on this street. The secruity guard usally only manages a half-hearted 'madam, problem' as I cruise by. I like to wave and say thank you on my return, though! Some folks did just over 6 miles, others about 8 miles and another 11. We all ran nice and SLOW as it was a HOT one out there! We were sorry we missed JR and Kelly-our marathon training faction that left just after us, keeping their own SLR pace. Sorry we missed Irina coming into town, Andrew heading out of town, and other runner friends that decided to either run on their own or decided it was a good day to sleep in! Hope to see you back running with us soon!
Join us this Saturday at the same time and same place as we 'step back'-we will only be running between 5-8 miles. See you then!

****If anyone is interested in running another road race, please email Robin at rmartz@umich.edu with your thoughts on race distance, course, etc.

EID 5K RACE A SUCCESS!

Thanks to everyone for coming to our Eid-ul Fitre 5K race on Monday. Kudos to all the runners that braved the rain to run for a good cause! 12,000 taka was raised for the Patient's Welfare Fund at ICDDRB hospital.

Congratulations to Greg/Zollie and Mike, our top male finishers and to Lorinda, Emily and Bela for crossing first for the ladies! Sorry no official results for this race, folks. If you know your time and place, feel free to email me, otherwise we'll get you next time!

Stay tuned for info on our next race...either an Oktoberfest or Halloween run. Send Robin your ideas for other races, charities to donate to or any comments to rmartz@umich.edu


PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR SATURDAY LONG RUN (SLR) AT 6:30AM THIS SATURDAY IN FRONT OF THE AMERICAN CLUB GATE. WE WILL HAVE A GROUP RUNNING BETWEEN 6-8 MILES AND ANOTHER RUNNING 12 MILES.

SEE YOU THEN!!!

Eid-ul Fitre 5K race Monday 9/21 10AM

The Dhaka Triathlon Club is hosting a 5k fundraising race on

Monday, September 21st at 10:00am

The 5K course is 2-loops around Baridhara and will start at the intersection of United Nations Road and Road # 10.

Prizes for the fastest male and female finishers!

100% of race proceeds will go to the ICDDR,B Dhaka Hospital “Patients’ Welfare Fund”.

The objectives of this fund are to purchase blood for transfusion, medications, clothes, life saving diet for persistent diarrhoea cases, attendants for very sick patients without a companion, transportation costs and admission fees for referral cases to other hospitals.

Please come out and run and even if you can’t, please consider making a donation or giving your “zakat” money to the hospital’s “Patients’ Welfare Fund” c/o Md. Ramzan Ali, Manager Hospital Administration.

500 taka race fee due at sign in (9:45AM)

Please pre-register by emailing Robin at rmartz@umich.edu

September 12th SLR-a great turnout!

Well, we missed certain people at SLR this morning (yeah, you know who you are!) but we saw some new faces, which was great! We welcomed SIX runners this morning to SLR. Jaden, Dave, Nanou, Sabiena, Robin and Kyla.

Dave and Jaden ran into Baridhara for a nice easy 5-miler. Also in Baridhara, Dave ran into JR and Kelly, (who we hope to see at SLR next week!) both in training for the Khon Kaen marathon in Thailand in January.

The ladies decided to go with Robin to Basundhara for an 8-miler. We ran down a beautiful tree-lined street with a huge rising sun ahead of us. Just beautiful. If not for the heat and humidity, it would have been perfect. We were so comfortable chatting away, that we had to call Nanou and Sabiena back as they ran right past the 4-mile turn around point!

The 8 miles was a stretch for some and with the heat and humidity it was a tough run, even with the great company. The group ran back to the ARA and was advised to drink lots of water and gatorade and add some salt to their food today. :)

We will run next week, same place and same time. Dave will likely lead any runners who'd like to run 6-7 miles and Robin will be doing 10. Please join us!

Make sure to bring water or gatorade with you!

SLR resumes at new time: 6:30AM Saturdays

After a wonderful holiday in Canada. The DTC is back. We will resume SLR this Saturday. New time is 6:30AM. It is still dark at 6AM now and it is starting to cool down a bit. We will start with short-ish long runs (~6 miles/10K) and then slowly work up to our regular 10-13+ mile range(15-20k). We meet at the front gate of the American Recreation Club (ARA) located on Rd. 67 in Gulshan-2. See you Saturday!

ARA front gate 6:30AM: 6 mile/10K

We are considering hosting a Eid-ul-Fitre 5K. Let us know if you are interested. Email Robin at rmartz@umich.edu

Dave and Robin finishing the Golden Trails 1/2 marathon last month in Timmins, Ontario.

The Dhaka Triathlon Club is still on vacation!

Sorry we have been so silent. Things (as they always are) were quite busy before we left on holiday in early August. We will be returning to Dhaka in about one week's time. We look forward to the fall and some group training and roadraces.

We will continue the following activities and welcome you to join us: morning and Masters swimming at the American School (AIS/D), spin classes at Re-Fit, early morning week-day road rides, week-end mountain bike rides hosted by Ken, running tempo and speed workouts and our signature "Saturday Long Run".

See you soon!
The Dhaka Triathlon Club
Robin & David Martz

PS Here is a link to the race results from the Golden Trails 1/2 marathon we ran in Timmins, Ontario last week-end. How about the local kid beating the Kenyan? Gotta love a small town race!

http://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.php?lang=eng&racecode=45356

SLR on 20 June 2009

Please join Robin and Dave and the rest of the Dhaka Trathlon Club this Saturday! We will leave at 6AM from the ARA. We will be 'stepping back' to 10 miles, but AS ALWAYS, runners can run any distance. Lorinda is just over a week away from running the KL half marathon! So, lets come out and join her as she tapers and wish her luck!

SATURDAY 6:00AM ARA 10 miles

Will Smith’s Race Report: WestPoint Lake Sprint Triathlon

600 yard swim (20:29) + 15 mile bike (50:57) + 5K run (28:17) = Final time of 1:43:06

My primary motivation for giving this a shot was to have another opportunity to have a good time with my brother (he has done several of these). My goal for my 6 months in the States was to run a marathon and do a Sprint Tri. I’m happy to report that mission has been accomplished, plus a half-marathon trail run! I am so blessed!

I just barely pulled it together in time for this Sprint Triathlon. First of all, my nutrition and training really dropped off about a month ago. The thought of returning to South Asia has us all busy trying to fit in fun experiences and over indulging in fun foods. My swim training has also been very irregular. I think I did four mile long workouts of easy freestyle in preparation (no open water training). I got my bike about two weeks before the race and fit in one 18 mile ride. My clip-in bike shoes arrived the day before the race! O’well, besides just spending time with family, I just wanted to experience a Tri to learn, not so much to compete (good thing!)

The swim was an out and back that went around two bois and skirted a small island. In the excitement, I started out way to fast. It wasn’t long until I was feeling the pressure of people swimming up beside me. Then the water got really choppy and my mouth filled with water a couple of times when turning to breath. I really needed a few good breaths and ended up having to dog padel to get them. When I stopped, I felt like a rock and had a brief, and private, panic attack. I was actually looking for a boat to call out to for help, but none were around. I just started easing toward the island and seriously considered quitting. When I got to some shallow water, I noticed several guys walking to catch there breath. I did the same and managed to pull it together. I headed out with a slower pace and found a comfortable rhythm. On the final stretch, I felt pretty strong and felt great when I hit land.

Transition 1 was uneventful, but not really fast (1:52). More room for improvement.

The bike was a blast! Yes, I managed to get clipped in. No, I did not fall over when I came in for T2 (by God’s grace!). I could tell the clip shoes were giving me more control and power on each rotation. A lot of folks passed me on their 2-5K bikes, but I did overtake a few folks myself. It felt good to be racing.

At T2 (1:37), for some idiotic reason, I decided to run without socks. I know… stupid. I had never trained without socks. What made think this was a good idea? I dun’ no. Anyway, it didn’t take long before I felt a holes being rubbed into both of my arches. Ouch! By the end of the race I had some fat blisters. Before that, however; I experienced to joy of running like a man who’s legs felt like they were just run over by a truck. BRICK training would have also been a good idea. Even with the pain of hot spots, after the first mile I got my legs back and started to feel much stronger on the run. I was pretty pumped when I finally smocked a 65 year old guy I had been trailing for half of the run.

Despite the fact that I had no open water experience, very little bike training and such a painful run; I really had a great time and would love the chance to do it again. We need to do one of these in Dhaka!

Joyfully in Christ,
Will

PHYSIOTHERAPISTS IN DHAKA!

Joey Delacruz 0172 769 1383 joeden15@yahoo.com

Physiotherapist (certificate), fitness instructor and masseuse
Requires doctors referral for first consultation
Specializes in musculoskeletal injuries and sports rehab/management
Consultation and treatment (one visit) = 1500 taka
60-90 minute therapeutic massage = 1500 taka
Does home visits

(Currently working on getting: licensed to practice in Bangladesh and ultrasound equipment)

ANOTHER PT RESOURCE:

At Apollo hospital, Dr. Araf is a board-certified rehab medicine specialist who evaluates patients, designs PT programs and has a staff of 4 physiotherapists that carry out the rehab.

Their group has gotten good reviews as people have been pleased with the treatment and the cost is minimal.

***The DTC provides this information for the benefit of its members and does not endorse any specific provider***