All Runners are Beautiful

It was sometime in autumn 2017 when I was talking to my dear friend Yi on WeChat. Suddenly she mentioned the Prague marathon taking place in May 2018 and said that her friend registered them to race. She asked if I wanted to join, then she gave me a bit of information and sent me the link to the official website to read more about it. I said I’d think about it and would get back to her in a day or two.

My dream was and is to run the Athens Marathon, the Authentic as it is called, but back then, due to an injury, I wasn’t fit enough, nor was I prepared for such a long run. The Authentic Marathon is quite demanding, because it goes uphill from km 10 to km 31. It is almost flat for the first ten kilometres and goes downhill the last eleven. Since I wanted to participate in such a long run, I visited the website of the Prague Marathon, read all about it, registered and delivered Yi the happy news. 

The thing is, that I still couldn’t start training, due to the injury I had. It was almost mid-January when I slowly started with the training. I then discovered the Athens Half-Marathon and participated to see what it is like to run in a city, on hard tarmac with potholes and all sorts of difficulties one might face. It was more or less like a Prova Generale. 

After that event, I took things more seriously and practiced in a nearby park, on a treadmill in the gym, on the streets with my dog and the children of my neighbour. My dog did the first round of 2.5 miles and abandoned me. He walked home. Calling or shouting didn’t help. The first day he abandoned me, I thought he simply followed the neighbour’s child and didn’t understand that I was about to go on a second round. The following day, when I ran without the company of the children, he again walked home and wouldn’t listen to me.

Unfortunately he is nothing like a Canadian dog who ran a half-marathon and even got a medal. The article can be found here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/dog-accidently-finishes-half-marathon-in-seventh-place-after-being-let-out-to-pee-a6832821.html?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook

Months passed and here we are. I thought that Yi would come with her friend only, but it was six of them who came, not all of them for the race. We met last Friday and went to the expo to collect the bags with our starting numbers and other material that came with it and was included, like a vest for runners with the official motto of the event. There I met Yi’s friends. Besides her, the other participants were Guowei and Xiaofang. I looked at Guowei and got scared. He looks like a ‘Kampfmaschine’ as we say in German. I thought, look at his well trained body, at his stature, I looked down at me asking myself, where are you going poor man? We entered a beautiful building, quite impressive as well as from the in- as from the outside and slowly made our way to the registration desks. There were many booths, where runners and athletes could buy or get things for free, so we spent some time looking around. We found a wall with the names of all participants, found our names and took photos. Then, as we were walking through the hall, I spotted a huge ‘ON’ sign. ON is the name of a Swiss sports shoes manufacturer, who do also some clothing. I discovered the brand by accident three years ago in a shop in Munich. I was looking for a pair of Adidas running shoes, but caught sight of a beautiful pair of yellow trainers with an uncommon design. I put them on, fell in love with them and have since then bought another seven pairs of different models. I sent a photo of those yellow trainers to Yi, she visited the website, and since ON don’t deliver to China, I bought a pair of purple trainers for her and took them with me to Guiyang. 

We moved towards that huge ON sign and a sales person approached us when we were standing in front of it. I said: ‘nice shoes’ and Yi and I shuffled with our feet so he could see that both of us were wearing ONs. The sales person repeated ‘nice shoes’ and, professional as he is, noticed that we were wearing older models and started promoting the newest one. We put a smile on his face by telling him that Yi had bought it a few days earlier.

Then we moved to the registration desks and once done, we saw our names on a screen (photo below). We then walked around the booths in search for bumbags, gels and cereal bars. We were not sure if there would be any food on the course. The info-brochure was a bit vague about it (could be that we didn’t understand what they were trying to say) and there were no icons of food on the map of the course, only water, sponges and Gatorade. 

Since the Chinese, especially Guowei, are experienced runners (he has run six or seven marathons so far), I followed them around and bought whatever they bought, that is a bumbag and two gels. I had cereal bars with me from home.

I went back on Saturday for the pasta-party, an event I was really looking forward to, but got disappointed. It wasn’t a party at all. You had to line up for at least ten minutes for a small plastic plate of bad pasta. A can of non-alcoholic beer with some fruity flavour came with it. So I left hungry and disappointed and went to have proper lunch.

The night before the race I was asking myself ‘What the hell am I doing here? Why am I doing this to myself? I am so not ready for this. I could stay in bed instead of running.’ The brochure says: Time limit is 7 hours from start. The limit is listed for each kilometre in the map of the race. All runners behind this time must leave the course and finish their participation in the race for safety reasons. We were joking about this by saying that somebody would approach you from the side and like in the films would whisper to you, please follow me discreetly and don’t make a scene, and would then accompany you out of the course.

Sunday morning came and I took the metro to the centre. I observed the many runners in their professional gear. There were very tall Germans, Swedes, Dutch, Austrians, short Italians, Mexicans and Asians, but all had something in common: trained bodies, expensive clothes and smartwatches (Apple, Suunto, Garmin, you name it). Where was I going with my XiaoMi wristband (15 GBP) and Under Armour shorts and top from the fake-market in Shanghai, both together bought for 10 pounds? I not only looked like an amateur, I felt like one. Who are we kidding? I am one!

Some were there and ran with their partners, some with their entire families, some were there with their families, but ran alone and had their family members waiting along the course to applaud, hold banners and take photos, a Chinese young lady was all dressed in tight black clothes and looked like Catwoman. Several Asians looked like ninjas and most Africans were in the first few groups. I wished my idol Haile Gebrselassie were here, but he retired years ago. Others had their national flags sewn onto their clothes and I saw one running with a massive Chinese flag and one with a Bavarian flag. That made me remember that I forgot to bring my Bavarian flag and wave it when crossing the finishing line.

My Chinese friends and I met in town. Xiaofang and I were in group L, the last group, Yi and Guowei were in group K. Both groups were a long way from the starting line. It took us about a quarter of an hour to reach the start. We took some photos while waiting and did some warming up. Then we started moving towards the starting line and somewhere near it were speakers from which sounded loud Rocky Balboa and Gladiator-style music. Right before and long after the starting line were many spectators who applauded and cheered. It was a very touching moment and I was close to tears. We ran a bit through the old town, crossed a bridge, ran sort of under the castle, made a round in that area and approached the famous Charles Bridge, which we crossed. The course was quite scenic and I took several photos of both, of the surroundings and of some runners. It was then when I realised why we were given seven hours and not six or even less to finish. Despite being a mainly flat course, there are reasons like cobbled stoned streets, narrow streets where you couldn’t overtake easily, tram-tracks, tourists crossing and later on the burning sun. 

When I first looked at the map and saw that a large part is along the river, I was afraid of humidity, but to my surprise, it wasn’t humid at all. It was hot at parts and in other parts a strong headwind was blowing. The most pleasant part were the tunnels, nice and cool and no sun. The course went along sights, bridges, old town, industrial and newly built areas. There was fruit, bananas and oranges at the stations, which I completely ignored for over half of the course. I had a rich breakfast and enough energy to burn. I did the half-marathon quite easily and quicker than in Athens, which pleased me and when I looked at the RunCzech app and found out that it said I would finish it in just under 5 hours, I was even happier. That was good news.

I bumped into Yi at one of the stations, we had some oranges and continued running together. Before we reached the next station she asked if I had had any of the gels and if not, I should drink one, as we were approaching km 30 and I’d certainly need the energy. I obeyed. At the station she asked if I had had any salt, and since I said no, she led me to the plates with the salt and the sugar, I dipped my fingers into the salt, ate it, pulled faces and made some funny sounds, which made Yi burst out with laughter. 

Everything was fine up to km 32. I had reached runner’s high, the endorphins were on a rollercoaster ride and I had a big grin on my face. But then runner’s high disappeared, my left foot started to ache, the breakfast was burnt, the water, Gatorade and fruit didn’t deliver enough energy and power was abandoning me slowly. I partly ran and partly walked for about five kilometres and walked the last five. Some cyclists were passing on the paths along the route and the thought of asking them for a lift arose. The music had stopped playing and mine and the other’s panting hypnotised me to an extent, that I closed my eyes and ran with them closed for a while. The voice of the Mi Fit application brought me back to reality: You ran 33 km in 4:23:37. The last km took you 7’ 58”. Your current heart rate is 149.

I ran the last 500 metres and regained power by hearing the spectators applaud and scream. The thought of playing Pheidippides and collapse theatrically after crossing the finishing line arose, but then about 300 metres before the finish I saw a runner lying on the ground with two doctors above him. I felt so sorry for him. It looked like he had a cramp and was not able to walk or run. I made it through the finish under the cheering of the spectators feeling like a hero, collected a bottle of water, passed by the girls to get my medal and went to meet my Chinese friends. 

My goals to make it to the finish and not being last were hereby achieved. It was the first time I had run such a long distance. My record had been 33 km on the 400 m course opposite the hotel in Shanghai I was living at last summer. 

We were happy to have made it and all pain seemed to have disappeared. We spent a bit of time on the square taking photos, drinking smoothies, eating fruit, before we walked to the technical area to collect our bags.

It was time to say and hug each other goodbye. Will we do it again? Of course we will. When and where? Who knows? Guowei mentioned the marathon in Wuhan, where local food is served along the course. I have registered to run the Authentic Marathon in Athens in November. Six months to train until then.

Thank you Prague, thank you everyone who made this possible! It certainly was a fantastic experience.

You can see the course by clicking on this link: https://www.runczech.com/file/edee/2018/05/fm_prague_map_2018.pdf.
The official website can be found here: https://www.runczech.com/en/
Spectacular and peculiar photos can be viewed here: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/praguemarathon/
ON shoes: https://www.on-running.com/en-gb
My cousin's music accompanied me. Halaros: https://soundcloud.com/halarosofficial

Expo main entrance with the official motto.

 inside

 The wall with the names. I've spotted mine.

 Exactly there.

 ON, the Swiss shoe manufacturer.

 In order of appearance as they say in film credits. That's how we finished. First Xiaofang, then Guowei, followed by me and Yi. Was it prophecy? 

 Me with slogan.

 Yi with slogans.

 Windows

 Ceiling

 Expo main building

 Selfie time!

 Expo

 At the Start/Finish, two days before the race.

 My BIB, start number.

 There was a family run and a walk with dogs event the day before the marathon. The dogs had to run on a leash and had numbers on their backs. This is the final straight and especially some younger dogs started jumping up and down when they heard people clapping and cheering.

 Old Town Square, Sunday, 8.30am.

 Selfie with Yi and Guowei.

 Fresh as daisies.

 Waiting to be allowed to move toward the starting line. We have to go left at the end,

 then right at the end,

 then comes a long straight,

 still in the long straight,

 passing time with sightseeing,

 approaching Old Town Square,

 and finally the starting line after another right bend and 15 minutes of walking.

 Running toward the first bridge.

 A ballerina.

 For my family, for my grandma.

 Charles Bridge

 Nice hat!

 Rudolfinum concert hall (took this photo the day before).

Bridge crossing.

 Gotcha! Found Yi in the crowd after 3 km.

 Selfie time!

 Beautiful buildings along the way.

 The most beautiful tunnel we passed.

 Views from a bridge.

 Another ballerina.

 Sponge from the sponsor.

 The end is near!!!!!

 Four happy runners. Xiaofang (standing next to me) was the fittest and best prepared and did it in 4:30:53. Respect!

 Our medals.

 Look what I got!

 Total steps of the day according to my XiaoMi wristband.

 Total kilometres of the day according to XiaoMi wristband.

 Total calories burnt according to XiaoMi wristband.

 Medal.

 Times.

 Total steps of the day according to WeRun.

 The Dancing House. We passed it before crossing the river. I wasn't sure if this was really the famous house, that's why I didn't take a photo while passing it. Once I confirmed, I returned the following day to take this photo.

 Captain Morgan bar.

 According to Mi Fit, the course was 43.28 km and not 42.195 km.

 Pace makers. If you want to make it at a specific time, find the ones with the time you want and follow them. If you zoom in the photo titled ' Waiting to be allowed to move toward the starting line', you'll see two of them with the 5 hours mark. I passed them at some point and left them far behind me, so I thought that I would make it in way under 5 hours. Oh, how wrong I was!

'Running with those that can't' say their T-Shirts. There were several of them. What a great initiative! 

Official photos from the organisers.

 Running in gear bought in the fake market in Shanghai. 

 Notice the sponges in my hand?

 I've made it! Yes, the torture is over!

 somewhere in town.

 On the Charles Bridge. Notice the older man on the right side?

 Aerial views

Jogging with my dog Aris (Aris is the Greek name for Mars, the God of war).

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Taxi, taxi! Part II

We all have certain mental images when it comes to taxis. Either from one we have used ourselves or from ones we have seen in films and photos. A taxi is a mean of public transport that can be found everywhere in the world. It comes in different shapes and colours, but the purpose is the same, to take customers wherever they want to, no matter the time.
A while ago, I blogged about taxis in Guiyang and Shanghai and said that at least in Guiyang, there are no taxi ranks and that you can't call a taxi to pick you up. You have to go to a corner and hail one. I had the same experience in Shanghai. The receptionist of the hotel I was staying at, was unable to book a taxi for me and advised to try my luck on the street. This can be difficult and time consuming. For a start, finding an empty taxi is sheer impossible and if you happen to find one, you might not be the only customer, because the driver will try to find other people along the route who go more or less the same way. This means that you might end up sharing your cab with complete strangers who get on and off and each pays their share of the fare. If your Chinese is at an advanced level, you can demand to be the only customer, after all it is your right.
The only ranks in Guiyang can be found at the two train stations, the bus station and the airport. I noticed that other cities have ranks at train and bus stations and airports, but I'm not sure about ranks in the cities.
Since China allows certain western goods, ideas and services, it was a question of time for UBER to enter the country. And like in many cases, the Chinese copied it and invented DIDI. The result was that the two companies merged and UBER is no more. So, if you want to be picked up, you have to call a DIDI-driver via an App. Not sure if the App is available in any foreign languages as I have never used it. You can order a private cab via the WeChat App, but the booking service is available in Chinese only. Don't expect official taxi drivers to speak any foreign languages (I have had the fortune of finding an English speaking driver only twice), know the address or the landmark you want to go to. Many drivers are from rural areas and therefore illiterate. They don't know places such as the Grand Theatre or the Rainbow Bridge in Guiyang, they can't read the address on the paper or the mobile phone screen, etc. If you don't speak any Chinese and/or don't know the way yourself, call a friend who is or speaks Chinese and let them guide the driver to the destination. Or open Baidu Maps (in Chinese only) or iMaps (Google maps work only with a VPN and are not reliable, I got lost many times) and hand your mobile phone over to the driver until you reach your destination. Most taxi drivers (at least from my experience) don't have a Sat-Nav in their car.
I had much trouble in Guiyang going either into town or back to Jinyang, a suburb in the north, on a night out. Things improved when I moved to the centre of Huaguoyuan in the city, the drivers knew where to take me.
Taxis are very cheap in China and you can cover long distances and pay very little compared to what you would pay anywhere in the West. I once took a cab in Zhengzhou, central China and paid 100 yuan (approx. 11 GBP) for a journey that lasted about an hour. I was on a tour around the country and got off the bullet train at the station of Zhengzhou, only to find out that I was in the middle of nowhere, somewhere west of the city. I fired up various maps to make sure of the location, and all of them showed a dot far outside the city. The city however has a train station in the centre, but for trains that either start or end there. Bullet trains that go to other destinations stop far outside. This station also shuts a few minutes after the train has left. If you need to go to the loo, do it quick. Outside the station you'll find various taxis and drivers who will approach you. When they saw me, they started shouting numbers in English, even though they didn't know where I wanted to go. I then walked to a taxi that was parked aside. The driver wasn't there, but he came running when he saw me. I showed him the name of the hotel and the address and got in. The taxi was filthy, the seatbelt worked with some effort, but left a black stain across my white t-shirt and the driver didn't know the way. He called someone who gave him instructions and about an hour later, he stopped at the side of the hotel.
Two days later, I asked at reception if they could call me a taxi to drive me to the bus station of Zhengzhou. To my surprise, they could. The second surprise followed a few minutes later, when a taxi with a female driver stopped in front of the hotel. I sat as always on the backseat and noticed that the driver was watching me through the rearview mirror the entire journey. The third surprise was that her car was clean and not dirty or filthy like many taxis.
Taxis in China have different colours, even in the same city. There are four different colours in Guiyang. The green ones are the filthiest and the ones to avoid, which is hard, because they are everywhere. The white ones are the cleanest, best and newest cars.
The picture changes with the private drivers. Their cars are clean, the drivers are clean too, they use Baidu Maps or Sat-Navs and they seem to know their way round. Only once in Shanghai had the driver trouble finding the club we wanted to go to, but I can't blame him, it was very difficult to find it. We had to ask for directions many times.
Besides taxi cars, you can find motorcycle taxis, like in many other places in Asia. In touristy places, they usually have three wheels, in cities and towns, they have two wheels. These kind of taxis usually have ranks, at least the three wheel ones in touristy places. But also the normal motorcycle taxis often wait for customers at certain squares, streets, sights or shopping centres or outside night clubs. They do not have metres, so you'll need to negotiate the price. They put on some sort of umbrella/parasol for rainy and sunny days, but you may catch a cold in winter. They are cheaper than normal taxis and at least the two wheel motorcycle taxis are quite fast. If the drivers know the area well, they will use shortcuts, drive on pavements to avoid traffic jams and manoeuvre between cars.
Many drivers will try to cheat you, by driving a longer way or not using the metre. To avoid that, point at the metre if you don't speak the language and insist on it using it, if not, get off and take another taxi. Fire up maps on your smartphone and check the route or have a Chinese person with you. If you know the way communicate it to the driver either orally (if you speak the language) or by using the international language of gestures. Don't be surprised if the driver stops instead of going straight or does not understand your hand signs. He may be confused because you might be the first customer using sign language or he knows different hand signs than you do. Ask a Chinese to show you how to indicate straight, left, right and stop. Then get on a taxi and try it. It's a lot of fun.

This is my friend Jerry in Suzhou a few months ago.

This sleeping beauty is in Guiyang.

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Athens Half-Marathon

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.

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

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