Run was ruined by slow chatterboxes...

I competed in my first ever 10k on Friday and really enjoyed it.People of all levels of fitness getting up early to exercise, despite the cloudy conditions.

The smiles on everyone’s faces actually made it a joy to be awake at such an hour.

While it was great that so many people got involved, what was annoying was how people would just stop in the middle of the road or walk three abreast chatting while runners who actually wanted to complete the course in a decent time had to skip around them or slip and slide up and down kerbs or embankments to get past them.

The red and white T-shirted team from a Dubai-based investment company were some of the worst culprits!

I appreciate not everyone is trying to achieve a personal best but at least consider those around you who are and look over your shoulder to see if anyone’s trying to get past you while you chat.

There were people pushing babies in prams who kept checking to see if they were in anyone’s way and despite manoeuvrering bulky prams managed to cause minimum disruption compared to the chatting massive!

One woman stopped dead and bent over to tie her shoelace in the middle of the road just in front of me at one point, I almost fell over her.

Trying not to break a leg, Dubai