6 July 2024
I was a little nervous that morning. I wondered how the race would go. Was I ready?
I arrived an hour before the race started, dropped my bag at the baggage drop and did some stretching. I wasn't sure if I was ready for the half marathon. According to Strava I was ready for this challenging distance, but running non-stop in less than 2 hours is quite a challenge.
There were about 5,000 people that day. Some of them were walkers or 5-mile runners, but the majority were half marathoners. I heard that waves 3 and 4 would be crowded and there was a possibility of walking the first few kilometers, so I decided to start in wave 2. I began with an easy pace. I also wasn't using a smartwatch and to be honest I wasn't aware of my pace. I usually run by instinct. If I feel I have energy, I run faster. Simple.
My plan was to stick to the group and find someone fast for a steady pace. At first I was totally focused on avoiding the wind and lost some time. Then I realized that I had to run by my pace, so I accelerated. By the time I reached 15th kilometer I was starting to struggle.
It wasn’t fun anymore and I wanted to stop. My body was giving me signals. My legs were aching. My foots were begging. My lungs needed more oxygen. However, I didn’t stop. I kept continue. That’s the important step on cardio exercises. It’s all about your mindset. Similar to cycling, after some amount of time and distance I don’t want to stop anymore. I urge to use all of my energy. Perhaps, I’m getting rid of all my energy. I tried to increase my pace by 15th KM but I couldn’t. It was really difficult to even maintain the pace. Since, the start, I was mostly overtaking people ahead of me. After 10th KM, there were less people. I was mostly alone compared to earlier. There was a head wind as well. Thankfully I had a windbreaker and I wasn’t cold.
I remember I was at kilometer 16th, two kilometers to the next and last water station. I wanted to increase my pace. I wanted to get there as soon as possible and drink water. I planned to stop for 15-20 seconds. And then, I planned to go full gas to the finish line. Those two kilometers were really hard. However, people were cheering. "Well done! Keep going!" and I was smiling.
Forget that I wrote it like that, I wasn't really struggling, I wasn't out of breath, I was running at a relatively good pace, smiling :) So, I'm dramatising it a bit.
I am telling you, it was very hard to stop after 18th km. And it was even harder to start running again! The body doesn't want to move. But, I was determined to finish this race. I asked the marshals (at least 2 of them) "Have you seen Pacer?" she said, "Around the corner, a few hundred meters away".
I couldn’t catch him.
At 19th Kilometre, I touched the Super Mario Mushroom on a poster of a little kid to boost my pace. I started to accelerate. Faster.
Faster.
Much faster.
I had goosebumps. I was planning to speed up gradually till 20th Kilometre and then go full throttle. 100%. Luckily, the last kilometer was downhill. I started overtaking people. I took off my sunglasses for the first time and I increased my speed even more. I think I was approaching by 20 kilometers per hour.
Here I am! I was sprinting through last 200 meters. People were walking or running on really slow pace I suppose they consumed all of their energy to run anymore. However, I was sprinting. Nobody can catch me! I overtook like 50 people on last kilometre!
In the end, I finished the Half Marathon in 1:37:35, 286th overall. I feel great about my result. Remember that this was my first running race.
Osman Kerem
Dublin
8 July 2024