A marathon in beautiful surroundings along the riverbank in Budapest
This was my first time in both Hungary and Budapest. In the marathon series, this was race number 18 and country number 9.
In the pursuit of 40 marathons before the age of 40, my goal is that several of the races should be adventures, new experiences and long trips in atmospheric surroundings. I chase times in certain races, but have accepted that you can't break new records in every race. This is how I maintain balance and motivation on the road.
Therefore, the main goal this time was to help my good friend Christian through his first marathon. My job was to keep the pace, push/motivate if necessary and tell when gel should be consumed along the way.
In terms of time, we were to run a half marathon in just under two hours, so keep it steady and see if it lasted just under 4 hours, with the caveat that unexpected things can happen after passing 30 km. Everything after 30 km was a new distance press for Christian and his legs got it towards the end. The last 7 km had to be fought hard and we crossed the finish line in 04:10:26.
The temperature in Budapest in October is roughly Norwegian summer (Trønder perspective), 18-20 degrees and sunny. I myself am sensitive to heat, but it must be said that a light and nice breeze from the river did the trick along the way.
The trail is mostly flat, with a minor climb of around 3 km, some easier altitude meters over bridges and a slightly larger but short climb of around 29 km. In total, Strava showed 105 meters of elevation in 42.2 km.
You run on both sides of the river through both the "Buda" and "Pest" parts of the city. Here you can see several spectacular buildings in the city. After 14 km you are back at the start and then the next lap is extended with, among other things, a lap into "Margaret Island". The latter is a small island in the middle of the Danube River, reminiscent of running through a small park, nice and airy and well shaded
The atmosphere around the trail is very good. The crowd creates life, several take high fives with you and the race has as many as 36 music stations around.
11 drinking stations with water, as well as sports drinks and bananas at the vast majority. Water is served in cups and I suspect it is from the tap (tasted a little chlorine). The latter went well even for a sensitive stomach, with imodium inside.
(+) Benefits
- Good life in the start/finish area and around the course
- SMS with the time after the finish line
- Content-rich goodie bag after the finish line with drinks, protein bars, snacks
- Women's T-shirt that actually fit well, not in men's fit "S"
- Relatively easy retrieval of start number
(-) Disadvantages
- Get your start number right in your hand without a bag/envelope
- Final trail map was made available a few days before the race
- Not possible to track runners along the way
- The list of results was first published on Monday afternoon
- Photos not yet available on Wednesday after the race