Athens Half-Marathon took place this morning and you might be wondering what's the connection to China. Wait for it.
Sunday morning, end of March is the perfect time to run through the city. Unlike other regions of the world where it is still cold and snowing, here it is quite pleasant. Athens doesn't have a real winter and if it gets cold, then it usually does for a short time in February. Sunday morning is perfect, because the streets are empty and can easily be closed for such an event. So, today, the entire centre was closed to traffic all morning and more than 23,000 people participated in various runs. There were a 21.1 km, a 5 km, a 3 km and a 1 km run. The latter was for children and disabled people.
Over a month ago, I saw an ad on Facebook posted by the WWF. I clicked on it and some basic info about the half-marathon appeared. A few clicks later I was done with my registration and was very excited about it. There were no infos regarding the event up until a few days ago. A few emails with detailed information arrived and among them was a map and a detailed description of the route. Start and finish was on Syntagma Square in front of the parliament. The route passed very close to my house, so the thought of cheating arose. I looked closely at the map and found out that it is quite a scenic route, but at the same time a demanding one and we would have to go round the city twice.
Starting with the parliament on the right and the Syntagma Square on the left, we soon passed the National Library, the old university building and a church, all next to each other. After a turn, we passed by the old parliament, a Russian Orthodox church, Zappeion, the Panathanaikon Stadium where the first olympic games took place back in 1896, the iconic Hilton hotel, the Megaron Mousikis (THE place to go to listen to classical concerts, opera, ballet, etc), the US embassy, the archeological museum, many other museums and churches and old, stunning buildings, Hadrian's Gate, the Temple of Olympic Zeus, the police HQ, and much more.
In those emails was a link to the official website of the half-marathon with lots of useful information, such as: you have 3 hours and 10 minutes to finish. If you don't finish within this time, you'll either be escorted by the police or collected by a car and brought to the finish. If you feel unwell find the next volunteer or paramedic and they'll take care of you. My friends and I joked a little about it and said that after the first kilometre, I would dramatically fall on the floor and wave a volunteer to come rescue me and take me back to the start. Or I could cheat by taking the metro a few stops or go home to have a quick nap since the route was very close to my house. Or enter a church, light a candle and pray for strength and support.
I also had to go to the WWF headquarters to collect my BIB number with the chip, a plastic bag to put all my stuff in, the white jersey with the WWF logo and some leaflets from the sponsors.
My day started shortly after 6am. I got ready and walked to the nearby metro station. I was amazed to see that most people were athletes and volunteers. Many runners, apparently over 500 were foreigners. The biggest group, with 56 were Britons. Among the foreigners were Germans, Poles, Italians and even Brazilians.
We athletes had to be there before 8.30am in order to leave our belongings with the volunteers and take our positions before the starting line. For this we had to walk to the garden of the Zappeion and find the spot with our racing or BIB number as it is called. Then we had to go to the right block and wait.
The top athletes were in the first block, like winners of past runs, professional athletes, etc. In the second and third block were runners who participated in past runs and didn't have a good running time as the top athletes. I was in the fourth and last block with people who never participated in a marathon or simply did rubbish times.
While walking towards my block, I saw some Chinese tourists entering the gardens and smiling at the person walking in front of me. When I overtook that person, I saw that he was Chinese.
I moved to block 4 and went to the very back. From there I had a great view to all blocks in front, to the several thousand runners and I used my time to observe the runners around me. Some were there in professional gear with expensive clothes, the official jersey, bumbags for runners. Some looked well trained and full of muscles, while others weren't. I looked to find any other people from the WWF team and spotted only two, a woman around my age and a very tall grey haired man. I spotted another one man later in the run. TV cameras were also everywhere and along the route as it was broadcast live on TV.
Since this was my first time in such an event, I was quite touched. It was a great and emotional feeling to see all those people ready to give their best to make it across the finishing line.
Some 20 minutes later the run started with a gun shot and block 1 crossed the line. Blocks 2, 3 and 4 followed in one minute intervalls. I put my headphones on to listen to motivational music to keep me going through the next two and a half hours. What was on my playlist? I started with some Chinese songs. You can watch two of them here and here. I then listened to a Russian DJ called Bobina and then to a Greek DJ called Halaros (you can listen to his music here), who is my cousin.
A few kilometres later, I overtook a Chinese man and asked him: 你是中国人吗？Are you Chinese? He looked at me with a blank expression and didn't answer. I asked: 是不是？Are you? Again no answer. So I said 再见 - goodbye and continued. No idea why he didn't answer. Either I was mistaken and he wasn't Chinese or he found it strange that a westerner speaks his language.
The weather was almost perfect for running. It was cloudy, cool and sometimes windy with some strong winds at times. Despite being one of the last to cross the starting line I managed to overtake many of my fellow runners and my XiaoMi wristband was telling me over the headphones some good times. 谢谢你童童和第3组的礼物!
There were policemen, volunteers, paramedics and people from the sponsors everywhere along the way. Many spectators waved at us and screamed 'Bravo guys!' There were some children with their parents taking photos and some runners, me included, hi-fived them, which they found very exciting and got even happier.
Running on tarmac isn't easy and for me it was the first time. I usually run on treadmills or around 400 m tracks. I trained in the park the last few weeks to get used to it, but the park has a brand-new tarmac and not one with potholes and of rather bad quality. In the meantime I was taken by the sheer beauty of the car-free city and all the marvellous buildings.
My wristband was interrupting the music every kilometre by telling me something like this: You have run 5 km in 31.36 minutes. The last kilometre took you 5 minutes 23. Your current heart rate is 167. And the music continued.
While running, I had time to thing about and observe many things. For example I noticed that most people took bottles of water at the various stations and threw the empty bottles in the blue bins for recycling when they found one on the way. They didn't litter the streets. I noticed many little groups who were running and talking and wearing the same jerseys. They were teams from either running or sports clubs, hospitals or companies. There was even one man running barefoot. While I was at kilometre 8, I heard people behind me clapping their hands and turned around to see why. I soon realised that the first runners were overtaking us on the lane next to the traffic island escorted by the police. So I too joined the clapping and cheering. Amazing how fast they were running. The first finished the 21.1 km in 1:08:30!!!!!!! When they overtook us they had another 3 km to go and we had another 13. Can you imagine that? Great respect ladies and gents!
I have to admit that I walked part of the way, especially after I drinking something at the various stations or when running uphill. I also walked while passing the stations, because the road surface was wet and slippery and I didn't want to fall. I also walked most of the last straight because it was going uphill, it was very windy and it had started to rain a little.
Running across the finishing line made me feel like a hero, even though I did rather rubbish as you can see from my lap times further down. It was the cheering of the many spectators that made me feel good and positive. And then suddenly it was all over. What a great feeling that was! I would have liked to stay a little more to enjoy the event, but had to leave due to the bad weather. I collected my medal and went back to the gardens to get my belongings.
Many special thanks to all the volunteers, the traffic police (some were standing along the way with a cup of coffee in their hands), the paramedics, the teams by the sponsors who performed live music at various points along the route and everyone else who made this event possible and unforgettable.
If you would like to read more by me, type in my name, Theodore Goumas, in the amazon search bar and the following two should appear in English and German language.
Sunday morning, end of March is the perfect time to run through the city. Unlike other regions of the world where it is still cold and snowing, here it is quite pleasant. Athens doesn't have a real winter and if it gets cold, then it usually does for a short time in February. Sunday morning is perfect, because the streets are empty and can easily be closed for such an event. So, today, the entire centre was closed to traffic all morning and more than 23,000 people participated in various runs. There were a 21.1 km, a 5 km, a 3 km and a 1 km run. The latter was for children and disabled people.
Over a month ago, I saw an ad on Facebook posted by the WWF. I clicked on it and some basic info about the half-marathon appeared. A few clicks later I was done with my registration and was very excited about it. There were no infos regarding the event up until a few days ago. A few emails with detailed information arrived and among them was a map and a detailed description of the route. Start and finish was on Syntagma Square in front of the parliament. The route passed very close to my house, so the thought of cheating arose. I looked closely at the map and found out that it is quite a scenic route, but at the same time a demanding one and we would have to go round the city twice.
Starting with the parliament on the right and the Syntagma Square on the left, we soon passed the National Library, the old university building and a church, all next to each other. After a turn, we passed by the old parliament, a Russian Orthodox church, Zappeion, the Panathanaikon Stadium where the first olympic games took place back in 1896, the iconic Hilton hotel, the Megaron Mousikis (THE place to go to listen to classical concerts, opera, ballet, etc), the US embassy, the archeological museum, many other museums and churches and old, stunning buildings, Hadrian's Gate, the Temple of Olympic Zeus, the police HQ, and much more.
In those emails was a link to the official website of the half-marathon with lots of useful information, such as: you have 3 hours and 10 minutes to finish. If you don't finish within this time, you'll either be escorted by the police or collected by a car and brought to the finish. If you feel unwell find the next volunteer or paramedic and they'll take care of you. My friends and I joked a little about it and said that after the first kilometre, I would dramatically fall on the floor and wave a volunteer to come rescue me and take me back to the start. Or I could cheat by taking the metro a few stops or go home to have a quick nap since the route was very close to my house. Or enter a church, light a candle and pray for strength and support.
I also had to go to the WWF headquarters to collect my BIB number with the chip, a plastic bag to put all my stuff in, the white jersey with the WWF logo and some leaflets from the sponsors.
My day started shortly after 6am. I got ready and walked to the nearby metro station. I was amazed to see that most people were athletes and volunteers. Many runners, apparently over 500 were foreigners. The biggest group, with 56 were Britons. Among the foreigners were Germans, Poles, Italians and even Brazilians.
We athletes had to be there before 8.30am in order to leave our belongings with the volunteers and take our positions before the starting line. For this we had to walk to the garden of the Zappeion and find the spot with our racing or BIB number as it is called. Then we had to go to the right block and wait.
The top athletes were in the first block, like winners of past runs, professional athletes, etc. In the second and third block were runners who participated in past runs and didn't have a good running time as the top athletes. I was in the fourth and last block with people who never participated in a marathon or simply did rubbish times.
While walking towards my block, I saw some Chinese tourists entering the gardens and smiling at the person walking in front of me. When I overtook that person, I saw that he was Chinese.
I moved to block 4 and went to the very back. From there I had a great view to all blocks in front, to the several thousand runners and I used my time to observe the runners around me. Some were there in professional gear with expensive clothes, the official jersey, bumbags for runners. Some looked well trained and full of muscles, while others weren't. I looked to find any other people from the WWF team and spotted only two, a woman around my age and a very tall grey haired man. I spotted another one man later in the run. TV cameras were also everywhere and along the route as it was broadcast live on TV.
Since this was my first time in such an event, I was quite touched. It was a great and emotional feeling to see all those people ready to give their best to make it across the finishing line.
Some 20 minutes later the run started with a gun shot and block 1 crossed the line. Blocks 2, 3 and 4 followed in one minute intervalls. I put my headphones on to listen to motivational music to keep me going through the next two and a half hours. What was on my playlist? I started with some Chinese songs. You can watch two of them here and here. I then listened to a Russian DJ called Bobina and then to a Greek DJ called Halaros (you can listen to his music here), who is my cousin.
A few kilometres later, I overtook a Chinese man and asked him: 你是中国人吗？Are you Chinese? He looked at me with a blank expression and didn't answer. I asked: 是不是？Are you? Again no answer. So I said 再见 - goodbye and continued. No idea why he didn't answer. Either I was mistaken and he wasn't Chinese or he found it strange that a westerner speaks his language.
The weather was almost perfect for running. It was cloudy, cool and sometimes windy with some strong winds at times. Despite being one of the last to cross the starting line I managed to overtake many of my fellow runners and my XiaoMi wristband was telling me over the headphones some good times. 谢谢你童童和第3组的礼物!
There were policemen, volunteers, paramedics and people from the sponsors everywhere along the way. Many spectators waved at us and screamed 'Bravo guys!' There were some children with their parents taking photos and some runners, me included, hi-fived them, which they found very exciting and got even happier.
Running on tarmac isn't easy and for me it was the first time. I usually run on treadmills or around 400 m tracks. I trained in the park the last few weeks to get used to it, but the park has a brand-new tarmac and not one with potholes and of rather bad quality. In the meantime I was taken by the sheer beauty of the car-free city and all the marvellous buildings.
My wristband was interrupting the music every kilometre by telling me something like this: You have run 5 km in 31.36 minutes. The last kilometre took you 5 minutes 23. Your current heart rate is 167. And the music continued.
While running, I had time to thing about and observe many things. For example I noticed that most people took bottles of water at the various stations and threw the empty bottles in the blue bins for recycling when they found one on the way. They didn't litter the streets. I noticed many little groups who were running and talking and wearing the same jerseys. They were teams from either running or sports clubs, hospitals or companies. There was even one man running barefoot. While I was at kilometre 8, I heard people behind me clapping their hands and turned around to see why. I soon realised that the first runners were overtaking us on the lane next to the traffic island escorted by the police. So I too joined the clapping and cheering. Amazing how fast they were running. The first finished the 21.1 km in 1:08:30!!!!!!! When they overtook us they had another 3 km to go and we had another 13. Can you imagine that? Great respect ladies and gents!
I have to admit that I walked part of the way, especially after I drinking something at the various stations or when running uphill. I also walked while passing the stations, because the road surface was wet and slippery and I didn't want to fall. I also walked most of the last straight because it was going uphill, it was very windy and it had started to rain a little.
Running across the finishing line made me feel like a hero, even though I did rather rubbish as you can see from my lap times further down. It was the cheering of the many spectators that made me feel good and positive. And then suddenly it was all over. What a great feeling that was! I would have liked to stay a little more to enjoy the event, but had to leave due to the bad weather. I collected my medal and went back to the gardens to get my belongings.
Many special thanks to all the volunteers, the traffic police (some were standing along the way with a cup of coffee in their hands), the paramedics, the teams by the sponsors who performed live music at various points along the route and everyone else who made this event possible and unforgettable.
My BIB number
WWF jersey front
WWF jersey back
around 8.20am at the start
Hellenic Parliament
Syntagma Square
Start and finish
sea of runners
Me before the run waiting for the gun shot
Me after 21.1 km
The medal I got
Lap times. To quote Jeremy Clarkson: You did it in ...
The route. My house is close to the green dot on the top left
If you would like to read more by me, type in my name, Theodore Goumas, in the amazon search bar and the following two should appear in English and German language.
