BELGRADE, SERBIA (28.04.24)
Serbia was a really memorable trip! I landed in Belgrade on Friday night with marathon buddy Mark and we were picked up by Gordan who suffers with ME. He kindly took us to the expo to pick up our race numbers on the way to the hotel and he seemed to really enjoy his first visit to a marathon expo, chatting to everyone, trying to bag lots of free stuff and charm the ladies! My contact from the ME Association there, Diana, messaged me to let me know I was going on TV the next morning (twice!), so after dinner and a couple of drinks I tried to get a good night's sleep despite a pretty loud and ropey Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute concert going on outside our hotel.
I met Diana and Ina (President) the next morning and I was interviewed at the Happy TV studio and then for channel N1 outside St Mark's Church a couple of hours later.
Happy TV Interview - rb.gy/afmkev
N1 Interview - www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNV7tayOQ3k
It was a bit nerve-wracking but I tried my best to speak coherently before I headed off for a bit of sight-seeing (Red Star, Partizan stadiums, Fortress with its beautiful river Sava views), possibly the weirdest 'burger' I've ever had and later nursing 1 pint watching lots of football, saving the legs and trying to shift my annoying cough. Next morning I got up at 5.30am and ate bananas, jaffa cakes and gatorade in my room before meeting Mark and heading for the start line 10 minutes from the hotel. It was already 17c and with my cough and dodgy knee I was feeling pretty apprehensive, I knew I'd be in for a tough morning.
Start
After entering the starting pen towards the back and a stirring national anthem, the race began to a confetti explosion as we decended along the really long Bulevar Kalja Aleksandra. The start was really well supported despite the early start and the 1499 runners slowly spread a bit as the course headed downhill towards Beogradska. I tried to get in the shade as much as possible, popped my headband on and had my best of the Rolling Stones keeping me steady for the first hour or so. I hadn't run for 2 weeks to try and help my knee so I was focusing on survival and ticking over at 9.30 min miles allowing for the heat. The first water station seemed to take an age. Plastic bottles; not good for the environment but to be honest, I was relieved as it meant I could carry some along before reaching the next one.
Nemanjina street had DJ's blaring out the usual euro-pop with a backdrop of impressive ministries, administrative buildings and the Yugoslav Ministry of Defence that was bombed by NATO in 1999. Gordan had mentioned to us that in Belgrade, the street names can change at relatively short notice depending on how relations are with the West at that particular time. Even still, it felt surprising to be running down a fairly unremarkable looking street called John Kennedy in the heart of New Belgrade. First hour done and 6.5 miles down, cloudless sky and there was a fair amount of people around me walking which I'd not seen so early in the race since I ran Vienna Marathon in 2018 (30c). It was great to see little trucks with city workers spraying the runners with water, I took full advantage and trooped on.
Middle
There was a fairly strong breeze before ascending the bridge running over the island of Ada and I was getting attacked by white wispy bits. It was quite hard not to get them in my mouth as I ran and it was pretty relentless! Up and onto the bridge and the views of the Sava were brilliant. The wind was much stronger which was a welcome relief and after a quick loop and water station, we got to run back on the other side of the road and a nice bit of downhill which accompanied Elton John's 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' in my ears. Another shower and some banana pieces before heading along the Nikola Tesla Boulevard for the second time. Crossing the halfway mark was fairly anti-climactic and I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous thought of having to do another 13 miles to finish; it was well up to 20/21c now and rising fast. It wasn't long before the half marathon runners joined us and weaved their way through, bastards.
More tree-lined suburbs of New Belgrade and some cheeky kids feigning to high-five and pulling their hands away. Another sprinkler shower to run through and then probably the most dull part of the course, turning at a traffic cone and heading along Tosin bunar. The wheels were coming off a bit as I entered the 3rd hour of the race with only 18 miles down, I'd normally do 18 in around 2.5 hours running at home but the heat and my right knee meant this was going to be a survival job. I did another garbled video, having a short walk and taking on more water over my head, arms and face, trying to wash the salt off a bit. Although I wouldn't know it until afterwards, we'd be running down some more streets named after famous icons including Mahatma Gandhi and Yuri Gagarin amongst others, pretty cool. We passed some cheerleaders, more DJ's and a brass band as the crowds got a bit fuller and more enthusiastic against he backdrop of the brutalist architecture of Soviet style flats.
End
Into the 4th hour and I had about 4 miles left to go as the temperatures cranked up to 24c. I'd moved onto the emergency playlist and finished the last of my gels, not really much left in the tank at this point and I was running for 3 songs then walking for 1 minute. I passed a water station that had run out of water, all they had left was pieces of banana, not ideal! I was panicking a little that there might not be any water left on the course. I had a small amount left on my bottle belt but nowhere near enough to make it back. I'd had that happen before at Sofia Marathon, Bulgaria back in 2018 and remember starting to hallucinate a little. This time though one of the runners in front of me had grabbed some water bottles from a friend cheering him on and also a can of Coca Cola. He took a sip of it and then asked me if I wanted it! What a hero, I gratefully took it, drank a bit and passed it on. More wide roads and massive government/office buildings along the Boulevard of the Red Army before another enthusiastic hosing down and a final trip along Branko's Bridge over the River Sava back towards 'Old Belgrade'.
In truth it would have been great to have had more than 3km of the race in the old town however tricky it might have been to shut roads and police, there might have at least been a bit more shade! A mile or so to go and there was a decent crowd cheering on the runners as some finishers came back to clap and cheer which was kind. There was a pretty short sharp hill at Kneza Milosa that I'd been warned about. My watched buzzed to tell me that I'd run 26.2 miles but there was no finish line in sight anywhere, even when it turned the corner towards Kralja Milana. I stopped to sort out some cramp in my right quad then vowed to run the rest of the race with no stops and finally the road turned to bright pink carpet and I could see the end. Over the line outside the iconic Moskva Hotel and I was delighted to be done, there wasn't much of a celebration just a kiss of the Serbia badge on my shirt and a tired fist pump. Medal in hand and grabbing a goodie bag of water, fruit and other tat I hobbled off to find my new Serbian friends. It was amazing to see 14 people coming towards me keen to shake hands, hug and thank me; totally overwhelming. We went for a beer nearby and chatted whilst I regained my breath; later that evening I hit my fundraising target of £50K and promptly drank some Rakija.
Weather
Warm start (17c) in a cloudless sky, strong headwind at times with temps rising to 26c by 1pm.
Ratings
Course: 7/10 - Urban start and finish with the majority of the course crossing over to New Belgrade and it's dual carriageways.
Expo: 7/10 - Well set out at Hala 5, plenty of interesting stands though not massive, friendly bib pick up.
Support: 8/10 - Excellent for the first half and final mile, sparse at times but plenty of kids high-fiving and locals clapping.
Refreshments: 7/10 - Small bottles of water, bananas, Powerade, sugar lumps, oranges. No water from mile 20-24 was poor.
Goodie Bag: 6/10 - Nice t-shirt, water, Powerade, cereal bar, sun cream, lotion, badges, fridge magnet.
Medal & Pics: 7/10 - 4Euros per picture, chunky medal though no landmarks on it or country colours sadly.
Time Completed: 5hrs 1 min
I met Diana and Ina (President) the next morning and I was interviewed at the Happy TV studio and then for channel N1 outside St Mark's Church a couple of hours later.
Happy TV Interview - rb.gy/afmkev
N1 Interview - www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNV7tayOQ3k
It was a bit nerve-wracking but I tried my best to speak coherently before I headed off for a bit of sight-seeing (Red Star, Partizan stadiums, Fortress with its beautiful river Sava views), possibly the weirdest 'burger' I've ever had and later nursing 1 pint watching lots of football, saving the legs and trying to shift my annoying cough. Next morning I got up at 5.30am and ate bananas, jaffa cakes and gatorade in my room before meeting Mark and heading for the start line 10 minutes from the hotel. It was already 17c and with my cough and dodgy knee I was feeling pretty apprehensive, I knew I'd be in for a tough morning.
Start
After entering the starting pen towards the back and a stirring national anthem, the race began to a confetti explosion as we decended along the really long Bulevar Kalja Aleksandra. The start was really well supported despite the early start and the 1499 runners slowly spread a bit as the course headed downhill towards Beogradska. I tried to get in the shade as much as possible, popped my headband on and had my best of the Rolling Stones keeping me steady for the first hour or so. I hadn't run for 2 weeks to try and help my knee so I was focusing on survival and ticking over at 9.30 min miles allowing for the heat. The first water station seemed to take an age. Plastic bottles; not good for the environment but to be honest, I was relieved as it meant I could carry some along before reaching the next one.
Nemanjina street had DJ's blaring out the usual euro-pop with a backdrop of impressive ministries, administrative buildings and the Yugoslav Ministry of Defence that was bombed by NATO in 1999. Gordan had mentioned to us that in Belgrade, the street names can change at relatively short notice depending on how relations are with the West at that particular time. Even still, it felt surprising to be running down a fairly unremarkable looking street called John Kennedy in the heart of New Belgrade. First hour done and 6.5 miles down, cloudless sky and there was a fair amount of people around me walking which I'd not seen so early in the race since I ran Vienna Marathon in 2018 (30c). It was great to see little trucks with city workers spraying the runners with water, I took full advantage and trooped on.
Middle
There was a fairly strong breeze before ascending the bridge running over the island of Ada and I was getting attacked by white wispy bits. It was quite hard not to get them in my mouth as I ran and it was pretty relentless! Up and onto the bridge and the views of the Sava were brilliant. The wind was much stronger which was a welcome relief and after a quick loop and water station, we got to run back on the other side of the road and a nice bit of downhill which accompanied Elton John's 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' in my ears. Another shower and some banana pieces before heading along the Nikola Tesla Boulevard for the second time. Crossing the halfway mark was fairly anti-climactic and I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous thought of having to do another 13 miles to finish; it was well up to 20/21c now and rising fast. It wasn't long before the half marathon runners joined us and weaved their way through, bastards.
More tree-lined suburbs of New Belgrade and some cheeky kids feigning to high-five and pulling their hands away. Another sprinkler shower to run through and then probably the most dull part of the course, turning at a traffic cone and heading along Tosin bunar. The wheels were coming off a bit as I entered the 3rd hour of the race with only 18 miles down, I'd normally do 18 in around 2.5 hours running at home but the heat and my right knee meant this was going to be a survival job. I did another garbled video, having a short walk and taking on more water over my head, arms and face, trying to wash the salt off a bit. Although I wouldn't know it until afterwards, we'd be running down some more streets named after famous icons including Mahatma Gandhi and Yuri Gagarin amongst others, pretty cool. We passed some cheerleaders, more DJ's and a brass band as the crowds got a bit fuller and more enthusiastic against he backdrop of the brutalist architecture of Soviet style flats.
End
Into the 4th hour and I had about 4 miles left to go as the temperatures cranked up to 24c. I'd moved onto the emergency playlist and finished the last of my gels, not really much left in the tank at this point and I was running for 3 songs then walking for 1 minute. I passed a water station that had run out of water, all they had left was pieces of banana, not ideal! I was panicking a little that there might not be any water left on the course. I had a small amount left on my bottle belt but nowhere near enough to make it back. I'd had that happen before at Sofia Marathon, Bulgaria back in 2018 and remember starting to hallucinate a little. This time though one of the runners in front of me had grabbed some water bottles from a friend cheering him on and also a can of Coca Cola. He took a sip of it and then asked me if I wanted it! What a hero, I gratefully took it, drank a bit and passed it on. More wide roads and massive government/office buildings along the Boulevard of the Red Army before another enthusiastic hosing down and a final trip along Branko's Bridge over the River Sava back towards 'Old Belgrade'.
In truth it would have been great to have had more than 3km of the race in the old town however tricky it might have been to shut roads and police, there might have at least been a bit more shade! A mile or so to go and there was a decent crowd cheering on the runners as some finishers came back to clap and cheer which was kind. There was a pretty short sharp hill at Kneza Milosa that I'd been warned about. My watched buzzed to tell me that I'd run 26.2 miles but there was no finish line in sight anywhere, even when it turned the corner towards Kralja Milana. I stopped to sort out some cramp in my right quad then vowed to run the rest of the race with no stops and finally the road turned to bright pink carpet and I could see the end. Over the line outside the iconic Moskva Hotel and I was delighted to be done, there wasn't much of a celebration just a kiss of the Serbia badge on my shirt and a tired fist pump. Medal in hand and grabbing a goodie bag of water, fruit and other tat I hobbled off to find my new Serbian friends. It was amazing to see 14 people coming towards me keen to shake hands, hug and thank me; totally overwhelming. We went for a beer nearby and chatted whilst I regained my breath; later that evening I hit my fundraising target of £50K and promptly drank some Rakija.
Weather
Warm start (17c) in a cloudless sky, strong headwind at times with temps rising to 26c by 1pm.
Ratings
Course: 7/10 - Urban start and finish with the majority of the course crossing over to New Belgrade and it's dual carriageways.
Expo: 7/10 - Well set out at Hala 5, plenty of interesting stands though not massive, friendly bib pick up.
Support: 8/10 - Excellent for the first half and final mile, sparse at times but plenty of kids high-fiving and locals clapping.
Refreshments: 7/10 - Small bottles of water, bananas, Powerade, sugar lumps, oranges. No water from mile 20-24 was poor.
Goodie Bag: 6/10 - Nice t-shirt, water, Powerade, cereal bar, sun cream, lotion, badges, fridge magnet.
Medal & Pics: 7/10 - 4Euros per picture, chunky medal though no landmarks on it or country colours sadly.
Time Completed: 5hrs 1 min