When we were dating in 2011-2012, his unit was stationed in Northern Italy, a small beautiful town called Vicenza. That’s why it was pretty easy to visit each other even though we lived in different countries. The first few months after we started dating he had just finished a marathon and it was all he could talk about.
– You should definitely run a marathon! – he kept telling me, only to hear my “NO way”, “Why would I torture myself like that?” However, slowly, gradually his ideas about a marathon crept into my mind and I started training.
Now, six years and five marathons later I can definitely say that my first marathon in Venice and the last one in New York have been the brightest memories so far. These are two dramatically different stories, like day and night, I must tell you, but they are for sure carved into my memory as the worst and the best races ever.
My Worst Race
So, let’s rewind to October 2012. I’m sitting at the airport waiting for my flight to Venice, massaging my injured leg and hoping that four days are enough for it to heal. Apparently, too much training and too little knowledge could award you with an injury. Do you think it healed in four days? It didn’t. That fracture of my left foot was the first disaster. After that everything went wrong.
Two days before the marathon Tom and I found out the weather was changing drastically, the temperature was dropping and it was going to rain. We had to buy new running clothes – a hat, a buff, tights and gloves. I’m so happy I had a sweatshirt with me. So, just imagine me limping 42 km in the rain from the little town called Stra to Venice and then crossing the Liberty bridge that gets you into the city. I thought the wind would blow me off the bridge and had to hold the hood above my head most of the time.
And if all of this is not enough, two days after the marathon during one of our celebration meals after touring Florence my wonderful boyfriend broke up with me.
My Best Race
You should know that it’s the biggest marathon in the world and it’s almost impossible to get into it unless you raise a few thousand dollars for a charity. At the same time you can put your name into the lottery and hope that it’s drawn. Every year 90,000 people apply and only 50,000 get to run it. My friend and I dreamed of running it together, so we put our names in and they were both drawn this year. We got to run it together! This whole experience seemed like a miracle from the very beginning.
The race itself looked like a celebration of life! The sun was shining from the early morning, the temperature was perfect. New York crowds were cheering as if we were all Olympic gold medalists. They were standing along the whole course (in Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and of course, Manhattan). In some spots there were several lines of people on both sides. I hadn’t seen such support anywhere in the world!
I also had never met Ukrainians on the course. This time my T-shirt helped me to be noticable. First a girl ran up to me with a small Ukrainian flag and said she’s from Kiev too. Then two different groups of supporters with huge Ukrainian flags saw me and started screaming like crazy. My adrenaline was pumping like never before, I was chatting, yelling, thrusting my arms in the air after completing each mile, high-fiving little kids that lined up along the course to give you a boost. It was something unbelievable!
And finally, after 4 hours 20 minutes we get to the moment of triumph and the main reason I run marathons. The finish line! The feeling of crossing it after all that hard work is indescribable! You want to cry, you want to weep, to laugh, to kiss and hug everybody. You’re in love with the whole world and feel like you can move mountains.
Then you walk a few feet and get your medal! It’s a tangible representation of your accomplishment and a reminder that you can achieve anything you put your mind to if you work hard and don’t give up in the face of obstacles.
Conclusion
So, why do I run marathons? First of all, I crave that feeling of crossing the finish line like drug addicts crave another fix. Why do you think most marathoners start thinking about their next race almost right away after finishing? We want to experience these emotions again. We get addicted to the feeling of exhilaration, relief and satisfaction.
These are only two most important reasons. There are more of them which I will share with you in another post.
