BRATISLAVA (SLOVAKIA, 07.04.19)
Bratislava (no. 21 of 28) came just 3 weeks after Cyprus and I arrived in Slovakia with a touch of achilles tendonitis most likely picked up from that brutal run. Ahead of the race I interviewed Michal from Bratislava who has M.E and he told me more about the situation for people there. We'd get to meet him after the race briefly and heard about some of the great work he's doing in Slovakia to raise awareness and change things. Cat and Lucy were staying at home for this race as we have been to Bratislava before on our honeymoon and it was too expensive to get them out for a 1 night trip. Mike kindly offered to come along and we flew out from Stansted on an early flight with time to spare for picking up my race number and walking up to the castle for a sunny beer.
Start
The race started outside the Eurovea shopping centre by the banks of the Danube and there was a nice buzz and a 7000+ field of 10km, Half Marathon and Marathon runners around the tented village in the car park. Having said farewell to Mike and de-robed to show my Slovakian football shirt I wandered about trying to find my starting pen. After a little while I realised it was adjacent to the elite runners rather than behind it (as it had also been in Vienna last year) and I got myself focused. The race start was preceded by the national anthem and a speech from Hugh Jones (Winner of the 1982 London Marathon) then after what seemed like an age, people began to surge forward. The course headed straight out of town inland and to the east of the city along a dual carriageway past a bright chinese restaurant and on to Prístavná. 2 miles down and I felt OK, my achilles was still painful but I knew that after an hour or so it would probably quieten down for a bit.
There wasn't much support on this stretch, in truth there wasn't much to look at really until the route turned off right and did a weird lap of some run-down houses and funky smells. It still felt pretty bunched-up at this point but I was running pretty steady under PB pace and enjoying the rare treat (for me) of clouds and breeze. Up to 6 miles and the part of the course I knew would be the biggest drag, the 6 mile out-and-back Sancova stretch -the only highlight would be seeing the elite runners up ahead and clapping them on. I ran past a DJ table, more ghastly euro-dance/r&b. I gave the guy a wave, little did he know I was listening to Genesis. Moving up to 10 miles I was regularly hitting 8.30 min miles which felt comfortable, I was just a bit bored of dual carriageway so it was good to see the route bending back towards the old town in the distance.
Middle
Heading up towards half way I started to recognise the main part of town and there was a sharp drop towards the iconic Michaels Gate and then past the bars and restaurants which were still quiet. Some good support here ('Hup, hup, hup') and entertaining signs 'Run like you stole something' and 'this is a lot of work for a banana' were well received. I saw a couple of British 100 Marathon Club runners who appeared to be going along nicely as the course took us to Hviezdoslavovo námestie where I passed Mike and a statue of Hans Christian Andersen. Down to the Danube again, overlooking the UFO Observation Tower (!) and along towards the start line and my achilles and calf were twinging more and more. There was some enthusiastic drumming on the Old Bridge over the river and we were heading for a few tangled paths inside Sad Janka Kráľa park. I enjoyed this part quite a lot and there were some good water stations with chocolate and bananas to munch on. This section of the course was actually quite close to the border with Hungary which was quite cool and I got thinking about my trip to Budapest for race no.23 in September. Next up on the in-flight entertainment was some salt tablets and an energy gel, important to have regular things to look forward to in a 4+ hour race! I'd treat myself to another one in 3 miles I thought.
After the maze of the park, there was a sharp climb to get back on the bridge and head back towards the start line. Veering left to keep going or right to pick up the Half marathon medal, a handful of us headed out for another lap to some nice applause. I knew the next 8 miles or so would be mind-numbingly boring business district and industrial carriageway so I changed up my playlist and tried to keep my mind occupied again. Back in the shanty town suburb with the barking alsatian and then the long stretch of doom again. My pace was starting to slow significantly as I hit 17 miles and my quads were starting to feel ominously crampy. It had started to get pretty warm and I knew I was a bit dehydrated so I had to be careful and not push the achilles too hard. One girl passed me in a Depeche Mode t-shirt which was pretty cool and I decided to try and keep up with her for a bit to finish reading the back of it, she left me for dead.
End
Up to 20 miles and I was over-heating a fair bit, from a fairly promising position I saw the 4 hour pacemaker trot up past me once again. Ah well, I thought, unlikely to PB 3 weeks after my last marathon and I resolved to just beat Cyprus. The next hour and fifteen minutes were pretty gruelling, not just physically but because it was a 2 lap race I knew exactly what was left to come. Back through the gate, fighting my way through tour guide groups and this time there were lots of British stag do's toasting our arrival, that's better I thought. I stopped for a quick chat with Mike before the last few miles back near our hotel and apologised for delaying his lunch. I got going again and headed back towards the bridge and the park once more. There wasn't many behind or in front of me at this point so motivation was tough to find but I knew there would be some shade around the park soon enough.
Earlier on I saw someone getting some magic spray on their quads and I thought I'd see if the first aiders in the park would oblige, they just scowled at me though and said no, haha OK then, I'll just get on with it. I was into the emergency tunes now and trying to work out a likely finish time target, sub 4.20 was looking good, maybe even 4.15 but this didn't feel like an especially good race and I was starting to really weaken. Finally out of the park, I climbed the path to the bridge and knew it wouldn't be long until I could rest my nagging achilles. I popped my last energy gel, grabbed a water and tried to speed up a bit as I could see the line in the distance. I got down towards it and tripped on the concrete block holding up one of the barriers and immediately cramped up (facing the wrong way). Luckily it was just out of view of the masses cheering runners down the home straight and after a minute or so I got going to a jog and trundled over the line happy to be done. Next up is Riga in just over a month!
Pics
Trip pics here. Waiting for official photos.
Weather
14C start rising to 20C by the end. Cool in the shade with occasional breeze and proper hot when the sun was out.
Ratings
Start
The race started outside the Eurovea shopping centre by the banks of the Danube and there was a nice buzz and a 7000+ field of 10km, Half Marathon and Marathon runners around the tented village in the car park. Having said farewell to Mike and de-robed to show my Slovakian football shirt I wandered about trying to find my starting pen. After a little while I realised it was adjacent to the elite runners rather than behind it (as it had also been in Vienna last year) and I got myself focused. The race start was preceded by the national anthem and a speech from Hugh Jones (Winner of the 1982 London Marathon) then after what seemed like an age, people began to surge forward. The course headed straight out of town inland and to the east of the city along a dual carriageway past a bright chinese restaurant and on to Prístavná. 2 miles down and I felt OK, my achilles was still painful but I knew that after an hour or so it would probably quieten down for a bit.
There wasn't much support on this stretch, in truth there wasn't much to look at really until the route turned off right and did a weird lap of some run-down houses and funky smells. It still felt pretty bunched-up at this point but I was running pretty steady under PB pace and enjoying the rare treat (for me) of clouds and breeze. Up to 6 miles and the part of the course I knew would be the biggest drag, the 6 mile out-and-back Sancova stretch -the only highlight would be seeing the elite runners up ahead and clapping them on. I ran past a DJ table, more ghastly euro-dance/r&b. I gave the guy a wave, little did he know I was listening to Genesis. Moving up to 10 miles I was regularly hitting 8.30 min miles which felt comfortable, I was just a bit bored of dual carriageway so it was good to see the route bending back towards the old town in the distance.
Middle
Heading up towards half way I started to recognise the main part of town and there was a sharp drop towards the iconic Michaels Gate and then past the bars and restaurants which were still quiet. Some good support here ('Hup, hup, hup') and entertaining signs 'Run like you stole something' and 'this is a lot of work for a banana' were well received. I saw a couple of British 100 Marathon Club runners who appeared to be going along nicely as the course took us to Hviezdoslavovo námestie where I passed Mike and a statue of Hans Christian Andersen. Down to the Danube again, overlooking the UFO Observation Tower (!) and along towards the start line and my achilles and calf were twinging more and more. There was some enthusiastic drumming on the Old Bridge over the river and we were heading for a few tangled paths inside Sad Janka Kráľa park. I enjoyed this part quite a lot and there were some good water stations with chocolate and bananas to munch on. This section of the course was actually quite close to the border with Hungary which was quite cool and I got thinking about my trip to Budapest for race no.23 in September. Next up on the in-flight entertainment was some salt tablets and an energy gel, important to have regular things to look forward to in a 4+ hour race! I'd treat myself to another one in 3 miles I thought.
After the maze of the park, there was a sharp climb to get back on the bridge and head back towards the start line. Veering left to keep going or right to pick up the Half marathon medal, a handful of us headed out for another lap to some nice applause. I knew the next 8 miles or so would be mind-numbingly boring business district and industrial carriageway so I changed up my playlist and tried to keep my mind occupied again. Back in the shanty town suburb with the barking alsatian and then the long stretch of doom again. My pace was starting to slow significantly as I hit 17 miles and my quads were starting to feel ominously crampy. It had started to get pretty warm and I knew I was a bit dehydrated so I had to be careful and not push the achilles too hard. One girl passed me in a Depeche Mode t-shirt which was pretty cool and I decided to try and keep up with her for a bit to finish reading the back of it, she left me for dead.
End
Up to 20 miles and I was over-heating a fair bit, from a fairly promising position I saw the 4 hour pacemaker trot up past me once again. Ah well, I thought, unlikely to PB 3 weeks after my last marathon and I resolved to just beat Cyprus. The next hour and fifteen minutes were pretty gruelling, not just physically but because it was a 2 lap race I knew exactly what was left to come. Back through the gate, fighting my way through tour guide groups and this time there were lots of British stag do's toasting our arrival, that's better I thought. I stopped for a quick chat with Mike before the last few miles back near our hotel and apologised for delaying his lunch. I got going again and headed back towards the bridge and the park once more. There wasn't many behind or in front of me at this point so motivation was tough to find but I knew there would be some shade around the park soon enough.
Earlier on I saw someone getting some magic spray on their quads and I thought I'd see if the first aiders in the park would oblige, they just scowled at me though and said no, haha OK then, I'll just get on with it. I was into the emergency tunes now and trying to work out a likely finish time target, sub 4.20 was looking good, maybe even 4.15 but this didn't feel like an especially good race and I was starting to really weaken. Finally out of the park, I climbed the path to the bridge and knew it wouldn't be long until I could rest my nagging achilles. I popped my last energy gel, grabbed a water and tried to speed up a bit as I could see the line in the distance. I got down towards it and tripped on the concrete block holding up one of the barriers and immediately cramped up (facing the wrong way). Luckily it was just out of view of the masses cheering runners down the home straight and after a minute or so I got going to a jog and trundled over the line happy to be done. Next up is Riga in just over a month!
Pics
Trip pics here. Waiting for official photos.
Weather
14C start rising to 20C by the end. Cool in the shade with occasional breeze and proper hot when the sun was out.
Ratings
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