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То је мој маратон
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I walked the little alleys up to the start site and beside from some security and street cleaners, there was almost no one but those with the transparent marathon bags on the same way. Some were not really sure what route to take, neither was I, but I had a good feeling because the first part to the end of the Saint Stephen's green I ran several times during my trainings. After the park, the streets got really crowded and though the traffic was not totally blocked, even the police cars had to take it very slow to drive through all the runners. start of raceI took the turn through the gates that blocked all traffic from the start zone, but it was not yet the point of no return. At the end of the street, a sign announced exactly that. I put my over clothes on the bag and went for some short warm up sprints, people looked strangely at me, probably because their start was further away than 40 minutes and when I felt warm enough to wait like that in the two degree morning, I took my bag and entered the no return zone. I tried to take some selfies in there, but had no time to take as many until I had a good one. I packed my things and handed over my bag at the indicated number zone. I had to walk one more block until I could take the turn for the fast runners. There were a lot of them in all form and shapes, but most of us aimed for runner at three hours or below as our wrist bands indicated. I arrived about twenty five minutes before nine at the front of this group but only ten minutes later it started to get crowded there. Many people were wearing unusual sweaters, jackets or plastic bags and from ten until five minutes before nine, they started to throw them towards the end of the street. The organizers said they will collect them for charity, and after the race I saw many bags prepared for that, but a lot were also just discarded in the waste bins. They also said, that everyone caught peeing in the quarter will be disqualified, but one guy took the chance to pee in the crowd. I thought it was the guy next to me and the girls beside me were shaking their heads in disgust, but nobody was really sure who it was. And we had more important things to focus on. At that time I fell in a minute of crying, it just overcame me, maybe the stress or the release of the almost one year preparation phase for this marathon, nobody cared though and I was happy about that. Three minutes before the start, the bands were cut and we started to mix up with the challengers for the police championship and the other runners with special access towards the front as the blind runners and their guides. I could not push much further to the front as the police wall and there was not much more time until the race started.
It took me only like three seconds to the time line, and I tried to create a little gap in front of me to have more choice for overtaking. The start was though really slow, there was no chance to speed up in the first minute. Then some gaps opened but I had to slalom through the crowd. But soon I felt to have passed the runners who tried to take an easy start and could make it to the left side of the road. I had to pay a little bit more attention to the road demarcations and the cheering crowd, but could accelerate more than the field. I was looking around to find an elite runner, but it seemed that I still had some of the special challengers in front of me. Sometimes, I had the impression, that some non-runners were on the street, as they were jumping in with a false number or just wanted to join the feeling of a marathon field with the number of some injured runner. I was not really focusing on the road and soon we reached the turn at Saint Patrick's church. I knew that we have a short uphill and then a downhill part and prepared to take a little breather, when I saw a girl in an athletic dress and a running style that clearly announced that she was on a negative split and taking it easy, even though she ran at my speed. Just before we passed St. Patrick's park I could join up to her and she pulled me uphill through the first mini challenge. Running in Phenix parkThough, for me running downwards is almost more challenging and I was happy that she was not accelerating to much on that part, when some of the runners that we left behind us on the way up, now were rushing down to the Liffey. I knew that I could not hold on for three hours to that pace, but it was the best part of the marathon by far. We were running together at the board of the river Liffey and I left her the short cut to the bridge. I knew that know came the second uphill part and just at the beginning, when she didn't slowed down, I knew that the best part was over. I fell behind a bit and was looking for a new partner, tried to hold on to as many runner as I could, but they passed me at seconds intervals. After we reached the traffic fork, I was still running at a very high pace, but I had the impression, that there were no more elite runners around me. Still there were a lot of excellent runners and I was one among them. We turned to the North Circular Road and the sides of the streets were still full of people and it seemed, that every single one of the residents were there to cheer us up. I still lost probably more than sixty places per minute, but I knew that my start was almost fantastic. So we entered the Phenix Park by the gate and now I knew where I made the mistake on my training run. The street went uphill again but I knew, this was now ongoing until kilometer 10 at the end of the park. I could hold on my position now a little bit better as I was not willing to loose any more speed until the half distance, but until there it was a long way to go. The broad road offered plenty of choices where to run and I have chosen the middle line of the street, where at one point a wheel chair racer passed me, that we had probably passed on the uphill part after the river. There were still many spectators here in the park, but the crowd was no longer gap-less. Some of the runners preferred to take the roundabout wide on the flat asphalt route, but I was following the guy in front of me and made the cobblestoned round-about-center-hill a tiny obstacle to overcome. Some two hundred meters later we left the park and I saw the first split time control point. I knew it was at kilometer ten and saw the clock at 40 minutes and a half. A little bit above my record time, but a nice pace, thought-I. Only now, I realize, that for we made it up to the highest point of the race it was quite a fabulous effort. It didn't felt like that though, people were passing me still very frequently and at times, there was a group of ten or twenty people. When there was a girl among them, I tried to keep up for as long as I possibly could and I remember those girls running for Germany especially, that were showing a running style as for an easy fartlek training run. I knew I would not see them again in this race, but after the park it went down for a long period. We ran through the suburbs there and from time to time I felt like keeping up with these guys that were pushing downhill a bit more than me. When we entered the park, the spectators were almost totally gone and probably I could not hold on to my initial speed any-more or the others were just stronger on the down hill part. Some of them, though took the chance of being off the turmoil and watered the trees in the park. end of raceAt least I could take back some of my positions like that and I could show my strength when the road turned upward toward a bridge. But as soon as we reached the top peak it was harder again to be motivated to run downhill when more and more runners passed me. I was watching the signs announcing nine and ten miles, and calculated how far it went until the half distance. Okay, it is just half of 26 and only three more miles until then. We had left the park gate and made a turn, we were running under a bridge and I was pulled by a girl running in a little group. It helped me that we were running uphill again, and I knew it was like one kilometer like that until we reached a flat part again. I lost contact to the group and was once again running on my own. I knew the music by heart and changed it whenever I felt not totally motivated. We were running in urban territory again that I knew from one of my training runs. After that we took a turn over a bridge and the half distance was in sight. At this time the balloon with the 3:00 overtook, I felt it already when I had a tight group of five runners in one line approaching me and I tried to accelerate a bit to keep ahead of them, it hold only for one minute. We were getting closer to the half-distance gate, but I knew I could never hold this speed for another hour and a half. I fell behind the five runners, then the balloon and was trying to follow their asses for another minute until I gave up, still hundred meter to go till the gate. Then shortly before it, the second red balloon overtook and I passed the half-marathon distance in 01:29:12, what would have been my third best half-marathon, but this didn't count now. I had to bury my dream of running below three hours and focus on setting a new personal best. I had to keep fast but retain some energy for the second half. I let the field of three hour runners pass and there were many more that followed. I not only felt to be setting my speed to plan B, amazingly the pace between there and kilometer thirty was almost as slow as the rest of the race. It took me three miles to get fine with that speed, I felt my legs want to keep me slowing down, but my head told me otherwise. It was a though fight and I entered the road I was walking back the day before from my personal best on five kilometers. I knew that soon will come the first park I stopped on my first day in Dublin. I still hoped that my friend would understand how much it would mean for me to have a special support, someone who calculates, what time I may pass if I am running my dream race. My focus was for once away from the love that pushes me to my most recent personal best and I was praying, as I wrote on the good-luck wish-board for forgiveness, that I put my racing ambitions above keeping up friendships that don't understand that. I passed the park when I said the prayer and before the bushy park, we passed a church and I was crying again, not because my legs hurt, that thing my body can overcome easily, but because I knew, my prophecy will become real at least for my stay in Ireland. We had passed bushy park and I knew the road now only from the video of the biker, we were running through those street where stone walls or trees block the sight of what is behind and I think there may have been one or the other embassy, there were still many people along the street, but many more were running with me. From time to time there was a runner walking now, and not like at the first half of the race where some of the elite runners gave up and were walking to the next water station to get a ride back to the start. I was sure, they were willing to finish the race, but gave up in their mind to keep running. This was no option for me though, I was running from mile to mile and was happy whenever I spot the next mile mark. We ran around University College and entered the street I was driving up in June, it is always nice to have some points to recognize back on a race. The mileage was 23, three miles to go, the 3:10 balloon hadn't passed me yet, but I felt slowing down more and more. Finish photoThere were some crazy runners already starting their finish sprint, and there were the runners that gave up, probably had already had better intermediate times at that distance. I was still better than in Athens, every step now I had to push, but my legs didn't wanted any-more. I tried to change music, play mind games and we passed the 24 mile mark and took the turn some hundred meters later. I knew the last two miles are ahead and we were getting closer to the center. Now the 3:10 balloon took over. I had no chance to even hold on for more than one step, they were to strong or my legs to stiff, but I tried to give my best, I knew I had still one minute to beat my record, and at the expo he said, they don't pass at 3:10 they pass at 3:09:30. I couldn't give up know, we passed the river Dodder and entered the city now definitively. I was waiting until the expo center building appeared and knew it can't be far any more.The second 3:10 balloon passed me a little bit before, but I saw still the first one running ahead of the street. I tried to start a finish sprint when we passed the grand canal and there was only 0.2 miles to go. I had no idea how much that was, but I know that can hold on to a sprint for 500 meters and that was less. There were definitively faster sprinters than me and it appeared that some of the runners just seemed to run as normal as they would finish an easily 5km park run. I saw the clock in a distance of about 50 meters, it was still at 3:10 something, looked like 3:10:10, but I was not sure, I could not run faster, but I was not loosing any speed any more. I crossed the line with a new personal record in the backpack.

finisher medal with Dublin localThey told us to keep going after the finish line, but I had to perform a little dance, showing that I had a good time. I was thinking during the race to collapse afterwards, but I felt strong for having a new record. Though my legs now forced their demand to stop. I could hardly walk and was going in tiny steps through the gates. There were four lanes for the medals and I took the most right one. An error, as there were two medal boys on this side, so I had to open the barrier to get to the second on the right, three girls were standing there and I didn't cared much whom to kiss but I guess I have chosen the most attractive one. Maybe I tried to kiss the air, but I touched her cheek a bit, she took it with humour and I went on walking. I could hardly keep standing up and supported myself on the shoulder of a police man. He asked me if everything was okay and I said, as much as it can be. I was looking around for something to drink and had to walk for about five minutes, maybe it was only 50 meters, but it took me that long. I was happy to be on the side that was be served earlier, but they gave me my XS shirt and no water, they said it follows just next. It took me some more minutes to go there and I had problems only to open the bottle. On the street, I always chewed off the cap of the bottles and was pretty accurate on aiming at the waste containers, but now I knew I needed a rest. I also got cold by now, the sun was mostly shining during the race and warmed us up, but some parts after the race were in the shadow and I was standing there without any power to do the hundred meters to reach my bag with the dry, warm clothes. But anyway I knew it will be hard to bend down and get off my wet things. I saw a girl with her finisher medal and the photographer and took my chance to get a picture with her after the race, as there was no friend waiting for me at the finish zone. Anyway, there was no opportunity for a non-runner to get into this zone, unless they were resident in one of the adjacent houses. I was chatting to a guy who congratulated me for my record, I was happy to have achieved at least Plan B, but with a little bit more power in my legs, my mindset was very fine to reach my lifetime goal. I was smiling all way long, at least for more than half of the race, as I did in Sarajevo and it were the same thought that made me keep running until the end. Finally, I had reached the bag-drop zone, could get my bag very quick, as only 1500 runners had passed already, and as predicted it took my many minutes to dress to dry clothes. I ate the sandwich I had prepared before, the other stuff I got in the package and on the finish zone and walked through the gate were the family members of the other runners were waiting for their heroes. I was just walking slowly, happy to find a toilet now free and not with tens of runners waiting as before the start. And did quite a bit of an detour to reach my hostel as I had no idea where the exit was and which direction it headed. Yes, I am happy that the last quantile was almost as good as the third, and it is fantastic to see all the training work out for a new personal best, but the weather, my mindset, the crowd was so perfect, that I should have been better and pushed under the 4:30 min/km mark on this day at least.

Fredy Siegrist
M40 No.1890


Point Time Time of Day Pace
START 00:00:00 09:00:07 ---
10K 00:40:30 09:40:37 06:33 min/mile
HALF 01:29:12 10:29:18 07:04 min/mile
30K 02:11:39 11:11:46 07:41 min/mile
FINISH 03:10:31 12:10:37 07:46 min/mile
Avg. Pace 07:17
min/mile

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