Running the Half Marathon in Vienna

Inspired by my friend Annie’s motivation, endurance and discipline and by Derek’s Ironman torture, I registered for the Half Marathon during the Vienna City Marathon event which took place last Sunday, April 27. I had registered for it back in March, after I had done longer runs than usual (including Stanley Park in Vancouver) and figured that a Half Marathon should be doable. Finally, on Sunday, the time had come to prove it.

My friend Annie wanted to run the London Marathon for quite a while, but due to the strict entry regulations, it is pretty hard to get a spot. So she finally decided to run the Marathon in Vienna instead. I was really inspired and impressed but also thought that I couldn’t do such a thing—mainly because I consider the time commitment (training runs at least 4 times a week) being simply too much for me. But, on the other hand, I figured that I maybe might not be able to do 42 kilometers, but 21 maybe? So I signed up for the Half Marathon in Vienna, my hometown.

So we rolled into Vienna on Friday. Unfortunately, I was still feeling a bit sick from a slight cold I caught the week before. But I figured and hoped that everything will be fine on Sunday, the day of the big event. I did not sleep well the night from Friday to Saturday cause I had trouble breathing through my nose because of the cold, woke up at 3 in the morning and fearing that I won’t be able to run. I felt pretty miserable but decided I will try it and if I feel bad during the run, I will just stop.

On Saturday, Annie and I picked up our numbers and the timing chip, which was pretty exciting. Also, the weather was really gorgeous with sunshine all over the place, warm temperatures and an even better forecast for Sunday, the day of the event.

In our “Marathon package” we had also included a carb loading party, which was actually called “Kaiserschmarrn” Party in the City Hall in Vienna. That was pretty nice, had a portion or two of this traditional Austrian dish and chilled out in Rathauspark afterwards to enjoy the beautiful weather.

Sunday. The big day. We got up around 6 in the morning (the start was scheduled for 9), had some carb-rich stuff for breakfast (Palatschinken) and made it to the starting area at Reichsbrücke around 8. It was pretty interesting to see that street, which is a popular high traffic street in Vienna, completely sealed off and instead of cars, there were only runners.

We came across people from all over the world (apparently there were participants from more than 100 countries) and found a spot in the middle of the crowd. Then, at 9am sharp, we heard the start signal and the two of us plus about 30,000 other runners were on our way to conquer 21,0975km and 42,195km respectively. For me, the feeling of being part of such an event with so many other people felt really great.

We made our way over the Reichsbrücke along Lassallestraße with spectators watching and cheering, it was so great and it filled me up with more energy than any drug in this world could have given me probably. I was emotionally touched by the whole atmosphere and I felt just great.

We ran along Prater Hauptallee and I was already running considerably faster than on any of my training runs, but the combination of the great weather, the atmosphere, the stream of people that are in this with you together just pushed me to keep up the speed and it felt really good—at this stage.

After the Prater, we made it to the Ringstraße, along the Ring and turned left after the Opera House into Linke Wienzeile. Again, at the Opera House, lots of people chanting and supporting the runners. Another touching highlight.

Then came the hardest part for me. Along Linke Wienzeile, passing the Naschmarkt, we were supposed to go to Schönbrunn, make a turn and then go along Mariahilfer Straße, back to the Ring. Towards Schönbrunn, we had to go slightly uphill, with no shade in sight, in the bright sun…it was definitely a tough couple of kilometers. For the first time during the run I felt my body aching, especially my knees and I thought: “Oh jeez, that is going to be tough.” But I also said to myself, as Annie and I noted a couple of times during our training runs: it is all mental. Your body tries to tell you a lot of times that you should stop because of some little pain here and there and that what you are doing does not really serve ANY purpose at all.

But that is a lie. The thing is that your body is capable of much more than any normal person needs in his or her everyday life. We are just used to have it comfortable and not challenge our bodies that much. So in situations like that, it is normal to think that lying on a couch with your feet on the table should have been the better choice. But that is not the case. You can do it. It is all mental.

Finally we made it to the turning point at Schönbrunn and made our way back to the city center. Going back again felt rather easy, there were some areas of shade from the adjacent buildings and the fact that it was going slightly downhill made the thing a lot easier too. Then we crossed the Gürtel at Westbahnhof and I knew: now it is just down Mariahilfer Straße (a famous shopping street, kind of like Oxford Street in London).

Well, and kinda like Oxford Street, Mariahilfer Straße is, in fact, pretty long too. But finally, we got to Museumsquartier and made the left turn onto the Ringstraße again. I could already see the last turning point onto the Heldenplatz so I started to run faster, already sprinting actually. There were lots of people, more than on any other area along the route. It was just electrifying, gave me a last push of energy. I was making the last turn, through the Heldentor, into the finish area. There were, again, lots of people on the stands, chanting, applauding, shouting and with a couple of other people I crossed the finish line. It was awesome, the feelings I had were hard to describe in words. I felt happy, exhausted, but happy, disbelieving that I really achieved my goal of finishing it. It felt just great. My time in end was 02:03:02, with some more details on the VCM web site.

After picking up some refreshments and resting on the grass in the park, I waited for Annie to finish the real challenge, the full marathon. I was waiting along the Ringstraße behind the barricades and a little bit before 3pm, I crossed the finish line with her. I felt so happy for her and have so much respect for her for achieving this goal—running the whole marathon. My deepest respect, I am really proud of her. Proud of both of us.

It has been such an amazing experience, the atmosphere, the weather, it was just great. And now I can finally understand why people get addicted to running and doing these kind of events. At least for me, I feel that doing this with so many other people, conquering the distance with other runners and the support from the other runners and especially from the people watching is just so emotionally touching, it is hard to describe. It is an incredibly good feeling of happiness. Something I could see myself wanting to feel again.

PS: As soon as I find the time, I will upload some pictures to the Photos section. Meanwhile, check out some pics on flickr about the Vienna City Marathon.