I chose the winter night half marathon in Belgrade because I wanted to reduce the time of the half marathon.
The cold weather and evenings suited me. Also, racing on the home field was good. On the day of the race itself, snow and wind started, which promised difficult running conditions. Before the race, only the wind remained, and for the whole race time.
The race was held at 7km and 21km (three laps were raced). As I knew who the organizer was, I was sure that the organization of the race would be good. I was mentally calm, and the only potential problem was not to freeze before the start. Dressing in layers in winter is very useful. I don’t like wearing a hat, but this time, that was necessary.
Start of Belgrade winter night half marathon
There were many people at the start of the Belgrade winter night half marathon, so everything started slowly. People did not respect standing in their running zone. At the beginning of the race, it was necessary to overtake many people until you reached your pace. Pacers wore vests with the time on the back, so it was hard to spot them at all in that crowd. My plan was to reach an average pace of 6:45, so I decided not to follow the pacer.
During the race
Since it was dark, all that crowd bothered me less, and my music also helped me focus on my run. It was a good decision of the organizers to set another refreshment at the Branko bridge, not only at the halfway point of the circle. I managed to keep the desired pace and stay calm. It was interesting to see some acquaintances and cheer each other on. I expected to have a mental crisis when I started the third round, but I didn’t have one. Everything came together for me. I expected myself to be able to run at that pace, and I was confident that I would achieve it.
At the refreshment stations, the volunteers were full of support. The finish line was almost empty because it was cold, and people were inside. I liked the fact that the finish line was almost empty. At the start of each lap, the wind was blowing from the front, and it was impossible to run fast. When I was halfway through the third lap, I was satisfied that the race was about to end. During the race, I had a problem because my stomach hurt a little from a couple of sips of cold water that I was taking.
Race finish
I held and fulfilled the desired pace all the time, so I was able to run fast at the finish line. In the end, somehow, everything ended quickly because it passed without any psychological crises or difficulties. As this was a particularly challenging half-marathon for me, I was glad that the medal as a memory was just as interesting.
This half-marathon was important and corrective for me. Due to various factors, I have been unable to run the Boka half-marathon as I had planned since December last year. For this year, I am done with half-marathons because the forest is still the best environment for me.
