Valencia half-marathon

This year edition of Valencia half-marathon was a real success. It was a perfect organization, the best from all the races I ever ran. During the race a new world record was established by Yomif Kejelcha from Ethiopia with 57:30. The weather and environment were perfect for running.

There are countless positive aspects to highlight about this event. I recommend that every major marathon organizer send a representative to run in Valencia and take notes. For runners, the course is flat with ample space for warm-ups, and it never felt overcrowded. Organizers provided water in bottles, gels, and isotonic drinks along the route. If you’re aiming for a personal best, Valencia is the place to be, the true city of running.

I traveled from Bucharest to Valencia with my colleague Bobo, and we stayed in a hotel conveniently located near the start and finish lines. We warmed up before the race began and started together.

My race was going well until the 15-kilometer mark. I clocked 10 km in 55:40 and 15 km in 1:23:17, maintaining a pace of 5:33/km. For context, I passed 15 km in Cardiff in 1:25:56. Unfortunately, I experienced stomach issues that slowed me down significantly, forcing me to walk the last kilometer, which took me a frustrating 10 minutes. My official finish time was 2:07:47- not ideal, but I persevered, received my medal, and added another super half-marathon to my list.
Over 24,000 participants finished the race, and the support along the route was phenomenal. I had heard before the event that they were aiming to break the world record and bring it back to Valencia, and I could feel the positive energy during the race. Light rain helped keep us cool as we ran.
Bobo had an outstanding race, running a negative split and gradually increasing his pace. He achieved his personal best of 1:42:05. Congratulations to him on a fantastic performance!

Bobo achieved a personal best in Valencia

Bobo’s achievement wasn’t a surprise; he dedicated a lot of time to training this year. I logged 1,200 km, while he ran a third more and incorporated various exercises. In running, results stem from hard work. There’s no substitute for proper training.

My T-shirt for this race was from “Trupa lui Fane”, a gift from Stefan just before leaving Bucharest. Runners from Trupa lui Fane have recently excelled, with four finishing under three hours at the Bucharest Marathon and winning multiple medals at the Balkan Championships. Bobo’s progress is another testament to the effectiveness of Stefan’s coaching. I also want to thank Stefan for training me remotely in the last years!

Valencia half-marathon is part of Superhalfs. You need to finish all six half-marathons to get the special medal. This was my 5th race with only Berlin left to finish the circuit. In Valencia the first Romanian to ever finish Superhalfs was Cosmin Gabinat. We congratulate him for this achievement! Here you can find a list with all Romanians participating in Superhalfs , 111 people registered at the end of 2024. Given the statistics, the next Romanians to finish Superhalfs circuit will be in Berlin.

Despite my challenges and results, I had an amazing time in Valencia and highly recommend this race to anyone looking to achieve great results!

Cardiff half-marathon

Cardiff half-marathon is part of Superhalfs which makes it one of the most attractive races in England. Initially my thought was to run there because it’s one of the 6 half-marathons you need to finish to complete the Superhalfs series. I didn’t know much about Cardiff or the race before going there; hence, this half marathon was a pleasant surprise for me.

By the time I wanted to register for the event in Cardiff, the registration was already closed. Generally, such races sell out more than six months before the event date, so you need to plan your participation well ahead of time. For example, by October 10, 2024, the Cardiff Half Marathon for 2025 was sold out. According to the organizers, all spots were sold within 12 hours of the registration opening.

If you are late and still want to run there, you can get help from a sports travel agency. Such agencies guarantee your participation and accommodation for a fee. They may also organize training sessions and a pasta party for their clients. This time, I went with Interair, a German sports travel agency, and I was happy with their services; everything was great.

On October 6th, it was a good time to run in Cardiff, with temperatures around 12 degrees Celsius and light drizzle at the start. There was enough space to warm up before the race. The runners were organized in waves, as is normal for a half marathon with 28,000 participants.

The start is at Cardiff Castle, and the route winds through the city, including the bay area, before returning to the center and the castle. The first part of the race is either descending or flat; from kilometer 15, it starts to ascend, with some hills around kilometer 18, and towards the end, there is a significant difference in altitude.

I started with a pace of around 5:40 per kilometer and maintained that until kilometer 10 when the two-hour pacers went ahead of me. I made an effort to keep them in sight for as long as I could. By the 18th kilometer, I was confident that I could finish in under two hours. Then the small hills came, and I thought there was no way I would finish in less than two hours. Fortunately, with a final burst of energy, I finished in 1:59:58!

During the race, I used two GU gels and drank water twice, at kilometers 10 and 15. Water stations were available every 5 kilometers and also at kilometer 18.

One must remember that in England, races are marked in miles—13.1 miles as opposed to 21.1 kilometers in the rest of Europe. In this context, it’s useful to have an accurate GPS watch or to keep pace with the pacers if achieving a specific time is important to you.

As you can see, I’ve run many races in Europe, and I have never seen so many supporters encouraging runners as I did in Cardiff. The respect for runners is high in the UK compared to elsewhere. There were thousands of people spread over the half marathon distance, showing support for the runners. This can significantly boost one’s motivation to finish the race. I believe this played an important role in my success in finishing under two hours for the first time this year.

The other pleasant surprise was the city of Cardiff. The capital of Wales has a beautiful, typical British castle worth visiting. You can explore the bay area, the old market, and the city center. There is a village museum outside the city and a cathedral, but I did not have time to see them. There are nice restaurants and many people partying during the weekend.

The weekend after Cardiff, I traveled to Bucharest to watch the Bucharest Marathon and encourage my colleagues from “Trupa Lui Fane”. They achieved great results, with four of them finishing the marathon in less than three hours! That reflects a lot of hard work and training. There were also good results in the 10K, half marathon, and relay races. Many thanks to our coach, Stefan Oprina, who has been training me remotely for the last four years!

With colleagues and coach after their race in Bucharest

Cardiff was a great experience, and I encourage you to try it; it will be fun!

Helsinki half-marathon

Helsinki offers three half-marathons over the summer, but the most interesting is the one during City Running Day. The main attraction of this half-marathon is finishing inside the stadium that hosted the 1952 Summer Olympic Games. There are not many races in the world inside an Olympic stadium. Another attraction is that most of the route is on the seaside of Helsinki, in nature, around lakes, and inside forests. It is not a typical city marathon.

The event was very well organized and had many positive aspects. Many volunteers were on the route, ensuring things were okay—this was a record number of volunteers for a race. They served water and isotonic every 4-5 km. People started in waves every 10 minutes, so it was not crowded at the start, and you could run faster if you wanted to and were able to.

I would have preferred that they don’t have hills. Also, about 5 km of the total distance is not on asphalt but on gravel. You will definitely end up with pebbles inside your shoes. These are not good conditions for me, but they might be suitable for other runners. For people who like to run in the mountains, this is much better than running only on asphalt.

The race day was perfect, with temperatures of about 13 degrees Celsius. The only problem was the wind. The Marathon started at 9:30 AM, and the half-marathon was held in the afternoon from 2:20 PM, similar to in Gothenburg.

My race went according to plan for the first 3 km until I stopped to drink isotonic water. The hills came, and I went from a race mindset to a mood of enjoying nature and the moment and not focusing on the time to finish the race. I stopped and drank isotonic water at each post. Running on pebbles was also not fun.

Upon entering the stadium, I removed my cap as a sign of respect for the history of this temple of athletics. The finish was lovely, with many spectators encouraging the runners in the Olympic stadium. The organizers made the most of this attraction by charging a 50 euro entry fee for the Half-marathon and a 60 euro price for the pictures.

My friend Bogdan had an interesting number at the start. Compared with me, he is better trained and was able to focus on the race and finish in 1:47. If it wasn’t for the climbing and descending, he would have achieved a personal best at this race.

My main reason for choosing this race was the finish at the Olympic stadium. It was in this place, at the 1952 Olympic Games, that Emil Zatopek won gold at 5000m, 10000m and Marathon. No other athlete ever done that and very likely no one else will ever be able to achieve the triple win at an Olympics Game. I consider Zatopek the most remarkable human in athletics, not only for his results but also for the courage to always do what is right. In Czechia, they recently made a movie about his sports career.

Footage from the 1952 Olympic Marathon

Prague half-marathon

In 2024, Prague set a record for participants, with over 13,500 people at the finish. The previous editions had about 10,000 finishers, so there was a significant increase this year. More importantly, 57% of the participants were foreigners. The fact that the race is part of the SuperHalfs helps increase the number of participants.

On April 6th, the day of the race, it was hot in Prague. The temperatures reached 28 Celsius, and the sun was shining. These are not the best conditions for running a long distance.

The race route goes along the Vltava River and crosses five bridges between both sides of Prague. It continues in the old center through Venceslas Square and next to the famous astronomical clock. I am not a big fan of running on cobblestone. I prefer running on asphalt and visiting tourist attractions slowly and not during a run. The finish was in the same place as the start in Bubenské nábř. area.

During hot weather, it is essential to choose carefully how you dress

My race went okay in these circumstances, as I know how to run safely in hot weather. If you want to survive a race in hot weather, you need to do a few things: stop and drink water or isotonic at every hydration point, wear a cap, wear a tank top (not a T-shirt), keep the pace in the safe zone, have a couple of gels with you.

I finished at 2:14 without any incident. It was my third-worst time ever, but that did not matter as I checked my third super half race and did not focus on time.

I am very serious about the weather problem while running. In Prague, 102 people fell on the street during the race for different reasons. Of these runners, 36 went to hospital. The authorities declared a trauma plan (a local form of a disaster plan). There was a campaign hospital called Golem at the finish line in a huge tent with air conditioning and ambulances driving people there and into the hospital. I lost the count of fallen runners I saw during this race. It was much worse than in Lisbon. In fact, the sound I heard most during the race was the sound of ambulances. The medical help was very well organized. As a kid in the 80s, I remember watching a Czech serial called “Sanitka” ( The Ambulance) on TV. It was like seeing scenes from those series in Prague that Saturday.

Muj cas

There are many news articles about the problems at the Prague half-marathon, all in the Czech language. I found this post by a Cardiologist, Hanka Štefaničová, who, as a participant, described what happened during the race very well.

What I learned. At the end of the race, there was a problem. The runners who finished had to go on a tight corridor guardrail by fences for 200 meters to get the medals, and then they would get water, bananas, and other refreshments from the organizers. A few volunteers handled medals to racers at the end of these fences. But too many people finished simultaneously, and the queue of racers waiting because of this bottleneck was very long. Imagine the situation: you run under the sun for more than 2 hours, then you have to stop under the sun for 10 minutes or more to wait for the medal. If you get no water, you will collapse.

After getting the medals, some runners understood the gap, took water bottles, and gave them to the people in the queue. I drank 2 such bottles until I got the medal. That saved the other runners and me while waiting in the queue. I know those were ad-hoc volunteers because they all had finishers’ medals on their chests. They were not organizers. At the time, I took the medal and was happy to get the baggage and talk to Bogdan after the race. It didn’t cross my mind to stay and become one of the ad-hoc volunteers to give water to people waiting in the queue. In my mind, I was a participant who finished the race and not an organizer. Sometimes, you need to get out of your role, become human, and do what it takes to help others, even if no one has asked you or is not expecting you to do that.

With Bogdan, after the race. He had a good race in these circumstances, finishing in 1:50

Some statistics are relevant to what happened. For races with many runners, I look at the time of the runner who finished precisely in the middle of all the runners. If the race has 10k finishers, I look at the time of the runner who finished exactly at 5k at the finish. The table below clearly shows how external factors influence race results.

City	Date	Finishers	Middle time
Warsaw	18.03.2024	13422	1:55:20
Lisbon	18.03.2024	13247	2:02:40
Prague	06.04.2024	13557	2:03:40

There are considerable differences in time when the weather is hot. The route in Warsaw is more difficult than the other 2. I can say that as I ran all 3 half-marathons (Warsaw in 2022).

I have some suggestions for the organizers. For example, they could give runners bottles of water instead of glasses. The volunteers were overwhelmed and did not have enough time to pour water into glasses to give to runners. At the finish, they could have more people to handle medals. Also, if possible, provide water to people once they finish and don’t let them wait under the sun. Set the check time posts in the farthest areas of the route, where people need to turn around. This is a simple mechanism to avoid cheating.

Despite the problems mentioned above, the organizers did a good job overall. A positive note for the area to leave and pick up baggage: it was the best organized I have ever witnessed. The rest of the nice things are expected for major half-marathons: SMS with your result, pictures after the race, refreshments during and after the race.

As for my plans, I traveled by plane four out of five consecutive weekends in March and April for events covered in this blog. It is time to rest and train before my next half-marathon in Helsinki in May.

Trupa lui Fane’s motto: “Together we are stronger!”

Lisbon half-marathon

My running season this year began with the Lisbon half-marathon. Lisbon is part of Superhalfs, a series of 6 half-marathons you can complete in five years for an extra medal. Together with Bogdan, we registered for this race for a long time.

I returned to Lisbon after ten years and found the city had changed positively. Many buildings were renovated, the cost of living was good compared to central Europe, and people were very relaxed.
On March 17th, we took a morning train to Pragal station and followed the crowds to the start. The first negative surprise was that the organizers blocked the people from getting to the start line for a long time. The problem was that we had no space for warmup before the race. We stayed only in crowds until we went over the start line. This was the worst organization of a start to a half-marathon I have ever witnessed, and you can see I have some experience.
The run starts from Pragal, on the other side of the Tagus River from Lisbon. First, you cross the April 25th bridge. The Lisbon half-marathon is the only way a pedestrian can cross this impressive bridge. If you are afraid of heights, this might be an interesting challenge.

Then, the runners continue off the bridge in Lisbon. The first 5 km are in general descending which is appropriate for speed. From km 7 until the end, the race is flat on the shore of the Tegus River. The finish is next to Belem Tower in front of the spectacular Jeronimos Monastery.

At the start on the other side of the river Tagus from Lisbon

The second negative surprise was the temperature. That day, the weather went up to 27 degrees Celsius, but the main problem was that with a humidity of 80-90%, you feel the temperature is 35 degrees Celsius. If you don’t hydrate well, you risk not finishing the race. On a positive note, the organizers added ad hoc more hydration points towards the end of the race.

During this race, I saw at least 15 people who had fallen and were taken by ambulance or treated on the spot. This is a negative record. I’ve never seen that many people injured in a race. About 250 people abandoned the race.

As for me, I wanted to finish in less than 2 hours, and after 9 km, it seemed possible. Unfortunately, at that moment, the third negative surprise happened. As I later found out, I had some food poisoning from the day before, which made me look for a toilet. After solving the problem, I continued the race at around 6’30” pace until the finish line, which I crossed at 2:19. This was my worst time ever in a half-marathon, but I am happy that I finished the race. Even in this challenging situation, I managed to be in the top 10000 from 13200 finishers.

On a positive note, Bogdan had a perfect race in such circumstances, finishing at 1:46:46 ( a time that happens to be my personal best). It was an excellent result for him, being 3062 out of all runners or the top 23%.
All’s well that ends well. Both of us finished the race on time and got medals. Later, I underwent antibiotic treatment, and I was fine.

Please find some insights for people interested in running this half-marathon in the future. Register at least half a year in advance as the race is quickly sold out. Try to get to the start as early as possible. We arrived at 8:55 ( while the race was scheduled for 10:05), but it needed to be earlier. The organizers created some bottlenecks around the start, and it took a lot of work to get there. The start and finish are not on the same spot, and you can’t bring stuff to leave at the garderobe and pick it back up after the finish. If it is a hot day, please wear a cap. It makes a big difference.

They say that the more challenging the race, the longer you will remember it. This was definitely a race I’ll remember.

10000 km run in 8 years

I started running in 2015. After 8 years, I recently crossed a distance of 10k km running. I am happy with my motivation to continue running for 8 years at an average of 2 miles (3.2 km)/day. The 10k km is not a long distance for 8 years. People who want performance in running should aim for at least twice as much as I did. A professional runner covers a distance four times longer than I did within the same time, so 10k km in just two years!

Statistics say I ran, on average, over 100 km each month. The total time spent on running is 41 days, or 1.5% of 8 years. It was the best time invested in one activity as it gave me much health in return. My average pace was 5’52” per km. I ran alone for 6 out of the 8 years.

Of great help for me was running with the running group “Trupa lui Fane”. Although I moved to Krakow in 2020, we continued the collaboration remotely all these years. Many thanks to Stefan Oprina and “Trupa lui Fane” members for their support!

I crossed the 10k km mark at the last training before running the half-marathon in Bucharest. This way, the first and the last of the 10k km were run in the same stadium (the one in the picture above).

My first half-marathon was 8 years ago at Bucharest MIB. As mentioned in a previous post, to celebrate this distance milestone, I chose to run this year’s edition of the same half-marathon in Bucharest on October 15th. I participated in 6 of the last 8 editions of MIB.

With Bobo at the start. He finished 12 minutes ahead of me. Great run!

The organization for this event was amazing, as usual. Music bands, water and isotonic, pacemakers, and many volunteers make it a great event. The only thing I would like to see improved is the opportunity for runners to buy their photos at a good resolution and without a watermark. The pictures are free now but with a watermark, as shown above and below.

I wasn’t in good shape for this half-marathon, but I know my limits well. It was also hot that day, not ideal for running.

I kept my pace around 5’30” for most of the race, with the last 2 km being the most difficult, and ran harder for the final straight line. My official time was 1:57:40.

I met many people I knew before or during the half-marathon. This was cool and makes MIB my favorite race. You get in line with someone you know, exchange a few words, and continue the race. Precisely like in life, only at a different pace.

I registered for 3 half-marathons in the spring 2024 to celebrate this achievement. Lisbon on March 10th, Prague on April 6th, and Helsinki on May 11th. Lisbon and Prague are part of the “super halves”, while Helsinki has a unique story. Superhalfs are a series of 6 essential half-marathons in Europe. You get an additional medal if you finish all 6 in 5 years or less.

Celebrating with colleagues after the finish

Running shaped my personality and helped me deal with many things in life. I met great people while running. It is a walk of life that you can do at a slower or faster pace, how you like it. During the first years, it was hard to motivate myself to go outside in cold weather and run. I had no coach at the time and did everything alone. Today, I am happy I chose to continue running those days despite the hardships.

I had no talent for running and no experience before I started to run. It is never too late to change your life and run, even if this is not your strength. If I could do it, everyone can.

“I’m learning to fly, but I ain’t got wings.” – I saw running as a way to learn to fly.

Gothenburg half-marathon 2023

Gothenburg has a long tradition of organizing running competitions. The first edition of the Gothenburg half-marathon was in 1980. Before the pandemic, there were over 60000 runners in some years participating in this famous race.

This building is called “The Lipstick” because of its shape. It is considered the ugliest building in Sweden. You have excellent views from the top of it because you don’t see “The Lipstick” building.

This year there were only 38000 people registered as the race is growing again after the first post-pandemic edition last year. Some things make this race unique. It happens on Saturday, while most marathons and half-marathons happen on Sunday. Another thing is that the race starts at 1 PM in contrast with other races that begin in the morning. People are grouped in 25 chunks, departing one after another based on their expected finishing time. Due to the grouping of people, the start lasts for 3 hours ( from 1 PM to 4 PM). If we add that the last people pass the finish line sometime after 7 PM, that makes it a full-day event in Gothenburg from the morning until evening.

The Poseidon statue is a symbol of Gothenburg. At km 16 in the race, you run around this monument.

Each group has a designated area where the people should gather at a specific time. The organizers take that group of people and bring them to the start when their time to run has come. It is pretty impressive to see that.

Unfortunately, I was seeded by default in the group with a target time of 2:50. The only way to be moved to a faster group was to have a time faster than 1:45 in an official half-marathon ( or similar times in 10k or marathon). Based on my previous results, I wrote to organizers asking to start in the 1:50 group, but they rejected my ask because the rules needed to cover that. My suggestion to organizers is to improve those thresholds ( add more criteria, not just 1:45), as it’s not fun if you want to run with a pace of 5’15″/km to run in a group that has an average speed of 7’30″/km on narrow streets. My friend Bobo was lucky. He had an official time under 1:45 and was placed in the 1:45 group.

It was a hot day on May 13th. The organizers emailed participants the day before, asking people to keep it calm and not target personal records or good times because of the weather. On the positive side, they had water and isotonic drinks every other kilometer. That differs from most races with only 3 or 4 refreshing points on the route.

View from the fortress at km 18 of the race.

Considering these things and that the route had uphills and downhills, I decided to enjoy the sightseeing and do a slow race. To enjoy the run and the show and not care about the time. By the time I started the race, Bobo was about to finish it. There were no events during the race, and I finished at 2:10, less tired than after other races. Bobo had an ambitious race and good result finishing in 1:48. Quite impressive given the circumstances.

I liked that many improvised showers were on the route with cold water. You were supposed to run through them, but one participant in front of me stopped under the water, and I had difficulty avoiding him.

Close to the finish line after 20 km run

Another positive thing was the live singing bands. There were more live bands than kilometers on the way. They played music from classical, marching bands, rock, or PostModern Jukebox style. Generally, you’ll see three or maybe four bands in every half-marathon, but not around 20.

The finish happened inside a stadium, similar to the Malaga half-marathon, and I like this part as a running competition is historically connected with the stadium. A special mention to the wonderful crowd of people that was encouraging the runners all the way in the city. Some people brought chairs and drinks on the street and sat to enjoy the show.

I am delighted that I had the chance to run all the races I planned last year and even one more (Malaga). That means five half-marathons in 9 months. In the meantime, I also ran 1000 km from that moment, and now I passed the 9400 km mark.

This time I will not make plans like the previous year, but I would like to run in the Bucharest half-marathon on October 15th as it would be a symbolic cross of the 10000 km run in a race that was my first half-marathon run back in 2015.

Paris half-marathon 2023

Last weekend, on March 5th, I ran the half marathon in Paris. Harmonie Mutuelle Semi was the best organized half marathon of the ones that I participated in. With over 45000 finishers, this was also the biggest running event I had ever attended.

Here are some highlights of this event for people interested in participating in the following editions. The 45k runners are leaving in groups based on the target time to finish. You know when to go at the start line. Around 200 people start every minute, then the next group follows. The time is measured from the moment you cross the start line. The route is not through the center of Paris; therefore, only a few people will try to cross the street in front of you. You can have a personalized T-shirt with your name on it. This was helpful as many people on the road encouraged the runners by their names when reading them on the T-shirt. There are lots of entertaining points during the course. Over the last kilometer, thousands of people strongly encouraged the runners, which was quite spectacular. You get an SMS with your official time once you cross the finish time. The organizers take pictures of the runners during the race, which you can pay for and download later.

I don’t know the general statistics of half marathons, but 37% of Paris participants were women, which looks great.

Suppose you want to run in France or Italy half marathons (or marathons) distance in official events. In that case, you need to obtain a certificate from sports or general medicine that you are healthy to run for such an event. A runner should get the certificate less than one year before the event. The doctor who gave me the certificate told me they conducted a study in Italy and observed that people who participated in long-distance running without proper training had a higher incidence of a heart attack after the race. Second, there were no isotonic beverages, only water or fruits at refreshments points at km 6, 12, and 17. It was the first time during a half marathon that I saw no isotonic drinks provided to runners. Isotonic drinks are absorbed faster and help you keep hydrated without decreasing performance.

The Harmonie Mutulle Semi de Paris was sold out six weeks before the race day. Keep that in mind if you want to register for next year. If they kept the registration open, there were probably 50k runners at the start.

Enthusiasm in the first part of the race

It was a cold morning in Paris last Sunday, about 5 degrees Celsius, but it was ok for a run. Runners were admitted at the start based on their Bib numbers. Trainers on platforms above the crowd were helping the participants to warm up before going into the race.

Usually, I have no aim for a particular time, but this time I made an exception. I wanted to finish in less than 1:53 to apply for the 1:49-1:53 group at the Gothenburg half marathon in May. In Malaga, I finished at 1:53:10, so I needed a better time.

I planned to take two gels and drink isotonic at the refreshments places. I took one gel after 9 km but chose not to drink water (because there was no isotonic available). In my case, drinking water slows me down until the liquid is absorbed. Because of the lack of beverages, I chose not to take the second gel.

I went a little faster than planned for the first part of the race, and things were ok until the 18th km with an average time of 5’15” per km. For the next 2 km, I struggled at a 5’48” pace. Then something happened when it seemed that I would not achieve my goal. On the last kilometer, the thousands of people strongly encouraging us created an extraordinary atmosphere for runners. That helped me regain my strength and finish with a 5’10” on that km for an official time of 1:52:40, thus achieving my goal at the last moment. I was placed 20k from 45.3k finishers.

Although it was a race with a happy ending, I’ve learned from my mistake. Next time I will drink water if isotonic is unavailable and take the second gel.

My friend Bobo had a great race finishing in 1:52:02, a fantastic time given that he was not at his full potential and was still recovering after some health issues the month before.

The last achievement was that I passed the 9200 km run threshold in this race, and I hope to pass the 10k km later this year.

As usual, many thanks to my coach Stefan Oprina who continued to train me remotely all this time!

The Paris Half Marathon starts on the small island on the Seine river, continues on the Seine shores, and then goes around Bois de Vincennes to return on the other side of the Seine and finish on Place de la Bastille. This route reminded me of a song of Barbara: “Bien sûr nous, nous avons la Seine, Et puis notre bois de Vincennes…”. “Göttingen” is a famous song that started the rebuilding of French and Germans friendship after World War II. War is still going on, and we should hope for better times.

Barbara – Göttingen

Recommendations for half-marathon runners

Statistics say that in 2018 there were 2.1 million finishers in half marathons. This distance is becoming more popular because of its benefit for people’s health. The tips provided here are for people who aim at finishing a half marathon in the range of 1:40-2:10, which is a time that covers the majority of runners. Some recommendations apply to any runner, regardless of speed or distance.

I’ve run around 20 official half-marathons, with 5 races in 2022. My times range from 1:46 to 2:10. Here, I want to share my experiences; maybe some people will find them helpful. Of course, I made mistakes during my races and learned from them, but I made good progress in preparing for the race.

Many thanks to my coach, Stefan Oprina, who reviewed the initial form of this article and made valuable suggestions added to the text below. He has a lot of experience in running marathons and half-marathons.

This post will cover three moments: before, during, and after the race.

Before the race
- Equipment
  - Shoes
    - Try the shoes before buying them. Don’t buy them online just because you read excellent reviews or because they look nice.
    - Buy shoes with 1/2 or 1 number in size more than what you usually wear. During the race, your feet will swallow. Having more oversized shoes will help with that.
    - Don’t lace your shoes tight for the same reason as above.
    - Buy good shoes even if they are more expensive. Otherwise, you risk injuries and pay the doctors the money. I have an upper weight limit of 210-215 g per shoe. If you get injuries or black nails because of the shoe, you should stop using them. For example, I have Adidas Adizero Takumi Sen 8 and Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next 2%. Both are under 200 g. A light shoe has a good impact on your running time.
    - Make sure your laces will stay intact during the race. Lace your shoes with a double knot and slide the tip of the laces under the lace. If, during the race, your shoes untie when you bend to lace them back, you’ll become instantly dizzy because of the blood pumping through your body. You don’t want that to happen.
  - Shorts/pants
    - Use synthetic shorts. I’ve tried many types, and so far, Nike shorts are the best for me.
    - Buy shorts that have pockets and zippers. If you have to carry a key with you, don’t risk losing it. Also, if you take a phone, gels, etc., it’s good to have more pockets to avoid your pants sliding down.
    - In the case of winter running, I prefer leggings from Salomon.
  - T-Shirts
    - Use synthetic T-Shirts. You get T-Shirts from any competition organizer.
    - Wear the T-Shirt over the shorts. When running, the shorts slide easier on the T-shirt than on the skin.
    - I put a blouse over the T-shirt if the weather is under 10 Celsius for the whole race. If you start at 8 Celsius but finish at 15 Celsius, I wouldn’t add clothes over the T-Shirt. It is better to endure cold at the start than to sweat hard during the race.
  - Other
    - Lately, I am running with a belt around the waist where I carry gels or a phone protected with a zipper.
    - You can use a cardio belt to accurately measure the pulse during the run. That is good if you follow and set your pace according to your heart rate.
    - You can add a foot pod or other devices.
- Nutrition
  - Everyone knows about the party pasta before the race. Pasta is good because it contains carbohydrates, and the energy is released over an extended period.
  - In the morning before the race, you can get proteins.
  - Don’t drink too much coffee, especially on a sunny day.
- Warm-up
  - Come to the start 45-60 minutes before the beginning of the race.
  - Begin with a 2 km slow run in 13-14 minutes
  - Do a stretching session for 5-10 minutes.
  - Do special runs to warm the body and prepare it for the race.
  - Run at full speed for 50-60 meters, then walk back to the starting point. Repeat this 6-8 times.
During the race
- Nutrition
  - It is possible to run a half-marathon without drinking any liquid; I have done that in the past. Now I am drinking once or twice but not more.
  - In all the races, you’ll see volunteers providing the runners’ with water and isotonic drinks every 4-5 kilometers. Drink isotonic and don’t drink water. I’ve tried both options water only made things harder for me. You are already low on minerals, and water only dilutes them.
  - It is possible to run 21.1 km without taking a gel. Before 2022 I didn’t use any gel during races. However, if you take gels, you will suffer much less during the run. Lately, I took one gel at km 9 and one at km 16. I’ve read that most people recommend one single gel after 45 minutes in the race. You need to read the contents of the gel carefully, as you are taking that at your own risk. I have limited experience with gels and can’t make a strong recommendation on this topic.
  - Don’t try any gel or something else during the race you did not experience before. I tried GU gel and Maurten jelly, and both were ok. Maurten and GU have different options with caffeine or without. You can choose whatever works for you. Keep in mind that one cup of coffee has 100mg of caffeine.
- Strategy
  - Before each race, I make a table with intended times at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 21.1 km. I do this to ensure I run smoothly during the first part of the race. This exercise reduces the pressure on me and ensures I start slowly.
  - Human nature is to run fast for the first part of the race (you feel strong, adrenaline is high, many people around) and slow for the second part. My advice above helps you avoid this.
  - Ideally, you should start slowly and increase the pace as you go. Otherwise, for every minute you run faster in the first part of the race, you lose 2 minutes in the second part. Running fast at the beginning is a bad strategy. However, if you feel you are well-trained for a certain pace, you can start with that pace throughout the race.
  - In the most favorable scenario, you should run as fast as possible during the last few kilometers. If you have a muscular fever after the race, it means you had a good race.
  - If you feel you can’t keep up that pace, slow down. If you continue, you’ll end up in an ambulance in an optimistic scenario. In every race with more than 1000 runners, I’ve seen people lying down under medical assistance or taken to the ambulance. Some competitive people find it hard to know they are running out of steam.
  - You can follow some pacers aiming your desired time. Most races have pacemakers for 1:30, 1:40, 1:45, 1:50, 1:55, 2:00, 2:10, etc. I only used pacers to see where I was, compared to a targeted time but did not run with them.
- Control
  - You can control your pace based on your watch. Most runners do that.
  - You can set a limit for your heart rate, and if you pass over that heart rate, you slow down.
  - You can set the desired time to finish on your watch, and the clock will tell you how you’re doing. I don’t recommend it as it adds more pressure on you to see that you are lagging N minutes.
After the race
- It is good to run 2 km at a slow pace to recover after the race, but in reality, it is less likely to be able to do that because of the crowded finishing lines.
- If it’s your first race, you need to get some rest.
- Otherwise, you need to drink some water and don’t stay under the sun’s heat. If it’s cold, change your clothes.
- Celebrate, take pictures!

The purpose of this article is not to cover training for half marathons. That is a much more complex topic, and I should have covered other topics like cadence, posture, nutrition, etc.

Remember Emil Zatopek, the great runner, if all the things written here seem complicated and you lack motivation. He said: “If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.” We’re talking only about half of that here.

Malaga half-marathon 2022

We did not plan to participate in another marathon this year, but the experience of running in Copenhagen was fun, and we decided to repeat it sooner. Malaga was a good option as the weather is good for running there, even in winter.

It was the 31st edition of the Malaga half-marathon. There are many things I liked about this event. They have an official 4* hotel, and the price to stay there is 90 Eur/night alone in a room with breakfast included. This is an excellent discount of about 40 Eur/night on booking.com for the same hotel. On the day of the race, you have late check-out until 4PM to allow runners to take a shower and recover after the race before leaving for home. The organizers take pictures of the participants during the race, and you can buy all the photos later for 19 Eur if you want. Finishing inside a stadium is lovely, with people cheering from the tribune. The course is flat, with just 6 meters difference between the race’s lowest and highest points.

“to run where the braves dare not go” – Man of La Mancha

I did not like that you turn 90 degrees left immediately after the start, and people had to stop there because of a bottleneck. You start running and immediately stop because of that. As a result, I ran my first km in 6 minutes, compared with an average of 5’20″/km for the whole race. It was also hot weather that day, November 13th.

Although the pictures show something else, I did not run with my thumbs up for the whole race 🙂

The race was perfect for me despite the first kilometer and the need to recover that lost time. I was hoping for my best time this year, below 1:54, but I knew that I couldn’t do much better because of the injury that limited my training. I did not put pressure on myself, just enjoyed the run. This race went according to my plan, with a slower start and constantly increasing speed throughout the distance.

Palm trees are on both sides of the street for the whole distance.

The start and finish are close to the airport. The participants run on the street next to the beach towards the city center for 10-11 km and then return. It is a race on asphalt but near the beach. You enjoy the sea breeze and see the waves. Because it’s a flat race, the elite runners finish it in 1 hour or even less. Also, 50% of the finishers had a time better than 1:52:30, which makes it a speedy race.

Unfortunately, a 58-year-old runner died after finishing the race, as I read later that day the news. It was the first time since I ran half marathons that such a tragic event happened in a race where I ran. Statistics say that in marathon races, 1 runner dies for every 150000 finishers, while for half-marathon, the death rate is 40% lower. The advantages that running brings to one’s health are worth taking this minimal risk.

This was my 5th half-marathon in 2022 and the one where I got my best result in 1:53:10. The rest were in 1:54 except for Krakow, where being injured, I had to stay with 2:00. I learned my lesson after the mistake I made when preparing for Krakow half-marathon. I took a break for a week before preparing for Malaga, which was a good idea. This time, the Voltaren and Nurofen were enough for a race without pain before the start. My focus was not on time but on reducing the pain and enjoying the race.

In long-distance running, you must learn from your mistakes to avoid suffering.

As always, many thanks to my coach Stefan Oprina who provided me training programs remotely and discussed the plans and strategy for each run! He has done that for the past 5 years. A coach is vital for people who intend to run many long-distance races.

I am happy that I could finish five half-marathon races this year, and I hope that by the end of 2023 to run at least one half-marathon in less than 1:50. I know what training needs to be done to reach that level as I had run 3 times half marathons in less than 1:50 in 2018 and 2019.