The race day: We get here about 30 minutes early, but never leave the warm and cozy car until about 15 minutes before the race (it’s +5degrees Celsius, so standing there in your shorts and T-shirt = no fun). Once we mingle through the crowd to find our 4h pacemaker, we notice how wonderfully warm it is around all these people! Thousands of human bodies produce an amazing amount of heat, we discover.
I don’t even hear the starter go off, but suddenly the crowd is moving forwards and after a couple of hundred of metres the walk turns into a slow jog. When crossing the start line the big timer is showing 3 minutes 30 seconds already. At this point I turn on my personal timer. The race starts for real. We run one lap around Blonia – Krakow’s recreational area – and then proceeded to the historical centre. Not that I have much time to enjoy, though.
5k – 27:30 Not exactly my PB, but the slow pace doesn’t bother me. The aim is much further and the goal is to get there, I’m reassuring myself. At 5k there is also the first water and food (?) station in case somebody forgot their breakfast. I don’t need either, but decide to take a sip at the next pit stop. Me and my running mate, J. are chatting merrily until…
Somewhere in the city centre I notice a stomach cramp and it’s getting worse with every metre. Why today? I’m starting to recall the last time I got one and I can’t remember having one in years. It finally goes away after about 15 minutes and drinking some water.
We pass Wawel castle and jog to the river bank, where I’m anticipating my supporters. And, of course they don’t fail. I even get some pics waiving and grinning like a maniac. I grab my bottle of water and force myself to drink it all with small sips.
10k – 55:54 – Feeling like on a Sunday river walk. Watching fellow runners and chatting with my running mate. After a bit we turn from the cycling path by the river and follow a road to the industrial Nowa Huta. A wide and unexciting road takes us there. I see a line of cars waiting for runners to pass so they carry on with their Sunday drive. They don’t look very impressed by the marathon. Neither do the very few people who came to see the race. Just standing there, looking at the colourful crowd passing by, hands in their pockets. Once we get to Nowa Huta the crowd of supporters seems to thicken. They have drums and whistles and other noisy stuff. Good job, people of Nowa Huta! You make my day.
21,1k – 1:58:48 Half way through. I notice a little bit of a pain in my knee and one of my toes, but try not to think about it. Overall, I feel much better than in my last half-marathon. I eat one of my power bars and leave 2 for later. Meanwhile the knee starts to hurt more and more and suddenly all I can think of is the knee. I’m trying to focus on something else, like talking, so I bore J. to death with some trivial stories.
30k – 2:48:52 The knee pain mysteriously goes away, but this time my feet remind me of their existence. I can feel huge blisters on my toes. I’m also trying not to think of all these people who have already crossed the finish line and are happily getting their free massages and enjoying their meals.
At 35k it’s getting pretty rough. J. asks me not to go faster. By which he means to slow down. I’m trying to cheer him up, but I doubt it sounds very reassuring. I cheer myself up by eating another power bar.
37k – we get to Blonia again and have 1,5 lap around the park. We decide to split as I really want to catch up with the guy holding up the 4:00 balloon. I can see the balloon well ahead. But once I’m in Blonia, I feel hyper. It’s amazing, but I start to overtake people one after another. When pass the big sign with 41k on it, the green balloon is just metres away. I switch my brain off running mode and it just does automatically. 500m before the finish line I notice my people trying to make it on time. And here I am, arriving 2 minutes before my planned 4 hours.
42k 195m is a long way to run, but definitely worth a try…
… only except for these 
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