A friend Alexi just ran the Athens marathon on November 4th - same day as I was doing the NYC one. They followed some of the original route - in fact heres
his race report from our triathlon website - www.piranha.com. Details are at the bottom of the report re the Classic Marathon
Jane
Race Report
It’s 7:30 in the morning on a Sunday morning, 4th of November. Myself and my father in-law are at Marathon village (it’s actually the name of the place) waiting for the bang to send us on our way to running the Athens Classic Marathon. He is experienced but for myself this is the first of many masochistic attempts of spending a good four hours plus of a day running to prove nothing else than I am an addict.
The weather was perfect, 15 degrees overcast, so things looked great. I was happy that this moment had finally come as, being a tri athlete, running all the time was turning a bit boring. I like a good mix! I’ve have been having my fare share of problems as well what with getting a cold and having an ill tempered IT band.
Today I was aiming to finish the race. Time was not important because I didn’t want to get wrapped up in pushing myself to silly limits that might eventually go against me. The pressure was on me though as it was THE marathon and I couldn’t disappoint my ancestors with anything less than crossing the finishing line.
8:57, Ready to go, Franco’s heart rate monitor is at 79. The speaker starts the countdown: 5 ....the HRM shows 81, 4 ....83, 3..... 87, 2....89, 1.....91, .GO....93! We fell down laughing as we realised that Franco didn’t have his strap on and he was picking up the heart rate of people around us.
We settled in to a nice easy pace to get our limbs and blood flow moving. There weren’t too many houses around as it’s an agricultural area but the few people were on the road cheering and giving the occasional olive twig to carry as a message of peace to Athens. A few km down we came to a diversion. I was ticked off initially as didn’t know about it before but then I recognised the road and relaxed again. We were actually going round the perimeter of the burial tomb where 192 Greek soldiers were buried after the battle between the Greeks and the Persians in 490 BC. This battle is what led the soldier Phidipides to run all the way to Athens to break the news to the city that peace had finally come, and therefore creating the legendary race.
As we approached the first water stop at 5k we made a grim discovery. The organisers hadn’t calculated that everybody would need water on the first stop so there wasn’t any left. We could see half empty bottles on the road but that was it. At this point it wasn’t essential but if this persisted I would be grabbing them off the ground. Luckily there was plenty of it later on.
The road continued pretty nice and flat! Our No1 fans were at km 10 and gave us a good cheer. From here on thing would get messier. It wasn’t long till the road gradient changed and the first hill came into our site. On the other side of the hill was the first powerade station. There were cheers of joy from a group of girls as they seem to be needing a boost. Running with an experienced runner like Franco with 42 marathons under his belt was great because he was making me pace the first 15k which was the key to this race. The Athens race is about pacing yourself because each stage has its tricks.
I stuck with him till the 18k mark. From here on it was mainly uphill and we needed to go at our own pace so I ended up going on ahead. I have to say I owe a lot to the Wicklow Mountains for that amazing training they gave me as I found myself strolling up the hill at a very good pace passing a whole lot of runners. The frequent water stops made things easier and I got into a good rhythm and habit.
Finally the 21.1k mark, halfway there it is. Jaysus I will be in bits by the end, focus, focus. Had to think on a more realistic goal..... the 25k mark, just one step at a time. By this time there a light drizzle which kept things nice a cool
At the 29k mark there was a friend with his wife and four daughters so they made enough racket to get the spirits up and dancing! At the 30k mark there was a water and Powerade stop but the sadistic organisers had it at the bottom of the 1,5 k last bit of a pretty horrific hill that was added to the surroundings in 2004 as a part of a new junction. As soon I reach the top of it a feeling overcame me as I knew that that was the last hill. During the race there were cyclists with times on a little flag so if for e.g. you wanted to do 4:30h you followed the bike going at that speed. That same one passed me on the way up. That was the time that I wished to be under but seeing it go by, broke my heart. Then I remembered from my training that even though you are slower on the way up you go faster on the way down so it evens out. He on the other hand goes at the same pace so there was hope yet! Once I reached the top the hill I took a few deep breaths and picked up the pace. I was a apprehensive though as I still had another 11+k to go. The road had a slight inclination down and I was flying!
Around the 35k mark alarm bells went off. The road went flat. This wasn’t in the route diagram. It was supposed to be ALL various degrees of downhill. Worst of all I knew the road and I was no where near to the ministry’s of defence building which would signal the last downhill 5k bit. All along I was preparing for the uphill and this ended up being the most difficult part of all. I was literally going from water station to water station while keeping my head down in the middle bits.
By the 37k mark my knees were hurting and I could feel a blister coming along fine on my right baby toe. The knees were a bit of a problem but I didn’t care about the blister. The aim was clear. Finish..... and pick up the pieces after!
I finally turned into the last 3k straight stretch and it was all downhill. I was waiting for the best moment to kick into my reserves for the last sprint. Passing the 41kmark I knew that was it. I accelerated and just went for it. Its times like these that you surprise yourself with how much energy you have saved aside. I remember approaching and seeing more and more people but I wasn’t focusing on them. I was not stopping till the end.
Then out of nowhere I entered the stadium and yes there in the background was the finishing arch! Yes I’m here, I’m here! As I came closer I finally got my first glimpse of a clock and it said 4:26:44 and that was gross time!
No amount of preparation will prepare you for the feeling of finishing a marathon! You want to cry from happiness, pain, all the above and other things you just don’t know about!
The strangest thing that happens in a marathon is you are running for such a long time and then suddenly its over in a flash. To this day it still hasn’t sunk in that I have completed a marathon, The Marathon!
Anybody wanting to do the Athens Classic Marathon can find out more about it on www.athensclassicmarathon.gr . It usually is held on the first weekend of November. If you need any info about Athens what to do where to eat and where its best to stay just let me know and I will you all the info!
