There are just a few days left until the main running event in the country. This weekend the Moscow Marathon will be held in the capital, this year for the tenth time. Over the course of 10 years, the marathon has grown from a race to a large urban festival, and the number of participants has increased approximately fivefold.
Among them are those who will participate in this year’s marathon for the tenth anniversary. Together with runners who have not missed a single Moscow marathon, they remembered what their first race was like and learned how their history as runners developed.
The previous article talked about what athletes from previous outings expected from the race:
Exclusive
The Moscow Marathon is coming soon. The athletes told what they expect from the race and their competitors
“I ran a marathon as a symbol of the conquest of the capital”
Anatoly Cherdakov
runner, 40 years old
“This was my first year of living in Moscow. Then I ran a little, about 10 kilometers once a week, there were signs saying “Your first 42 kilometers” all over the city. Since I was little I heard from my dad that there is a marathon and that it is impossible for an ordinary person to run it. In August I finished my first half and the next day I signed up for the first Moscow marathon, as a symbol of the conquest of the capital.”
The main preparation was psychological: it was necessary to increase the distance and run as far as possible a week before the race, so as not to give up and believe in one’s own strength. Since then, every year I have tried to improve the result. I experimented with nutrition and training volumes. Set personal bests at parkruns.
I have already completed 50 marathons in total.
Until now, the best time was in 2016, however, I could not meet the goal and I ran out of three hours, since that year I overdid it with marathons and in almost all of them my legs cramped a lot 8 km before the finish line . finish.
However, I really remember the end of 2016, when my friend and I were running the last kilometer: I was lame with cramped legs, he was “stuck by the wall” and saw everything in black and white and slow motion. We cross the line, tears flow and half a meter away from us there is a cameraman with a camera.
Anatoly Cherdakov
Photo: Running Community
Another shining moment happened in 2018. Then he paced me with a pace of 3:14. I was very worried about the responsibility, but I managed it.
And, of course, I remember the first Moscow marathon: the empty city, the rain, the feeling of being a hero. This is the most beautiful marathon (Peter, don’t be offended), this is the beginning of my journey as a runner, this, as they say, is sacred, you can’t miss it.
For those who plan to try their hand at the marathon distance, I advise you to prepare in advance and start in a way that makes it seem like you are running slowly and effortlessly, because if it seems like you are running fast, then you are also running. fast, and those tactics are not suitable for a marathon.
Anatoly Cherdakov
Photo: Running Community
“I reached the goal with the words: “Never, I repeat, never again!”
Dmitri Pobortsev
runner, 40 years old
“I ran my first marathon in 2013, so to speak, straight from the couch. Shortly before it happened, I saw a post on social media from a friend who ran regularly with the Moskva River Runners club. At the time, I don’t think I even knew exactly how many kilometers equaled the distance of a marathon.”
What prompted me to undertake this adventure was the desire to run through the center of my beloved city. Previously I ran 10 km on a treadmill. I multiplied the result by four and signed up for the race itself.
The marathon was a complete surprise for me in the best sense of the word: the number of participants and volunteers, the organization of the event, the remote support and the opportunity to look at the city from a different perspective.
Somehow I reached the goal with the words: “Never, I repeat, never again.” And now I speak of this, having gone through all nine in a row.
The path from my first to my tenth marathon consisted solely of trial and error. It sounds like I could easily write a book on “How Not to Train for Marathons.”
Dmitri Pobortsev
Photo: Running Community
No marathon has ever disappointed me. Extremely positive emotions from the organization as a whole and the most vivid impressions of the process. But I will highlight perhaps two of them: the first Moscow marathon, because I could (3:43), and the fifth, because of the result (2:59). I clearly remember my thoughts around km 35-37 that if I slow down now, there will never be a “two fifty nine” post, which I was planning to write after completing the first half of the distance.
Around the fifth marathon, I learned that it turns out that the organizers and enthusiasts keep secret statistics available from the participants who have run all the marathons since 2013. From this point on, you have to adjust your plans every year and get started. I consider this moment an excellent motivation for me.
I can’t say that during all this time running has become my hobby or full-fledged training process.
I try, whenever possible, to go for a run one to three times a week. Working in a relatively high position in a large company 10-12 hours a day, thanks to night training I unload my head and can be alone with myself. Plus it helps me stay in shape.
In the previous article we told you what absolutely cannot be done remotely:
11 things you should not do before and during a marathon Running for me, as a lazy person, turned out to be the easiest option: I do not need to adapt to the time and place. I put on my sneakers, left through the entrance and ran.
I would like to celebrate my tenth marathon by repeating the results of the fifth marathon, also an anniversary. Prove to yourself that this was no accident. To do this, I have been running three times a week for the last six months.
“Preparing to climb a mountain helped overcome the distance”
Nadezhda Khramova
runner, 45 years old
“My story as a runner began a long time ago, with the relay race held in May on the Garden Ring. He looked at the runners with admiration and wanted to run with them too. In 1989 I was illegally taken to a sports school, where I performed successfully until the end of the 90s. Then injuries, university and the search for myself in other sports: mountaineering and acrobatics.”
I learned about the first marathon and the marathon distance in general by chance, when I had already joined a young running club. At first I was preparing to climb the seven thousand, so the training was aimed simply at building endurance. There were no special training sessions: I ran with the club twice a week from 10 to 12 km and only three times a week from 7 to 12 km.
In May I ran my first official “top ten” and in July they already told me about the Moscow marathon. In 2013 it seemed like the entire city was waiting for this event. “Your first 42,” the signs said. It was not entirely clear to me what kind of animal it was and how to cook it. And that’s why it was interesting and exciting.
Nadezhda Khramova
Photo: Running Community
It turns out that there was no special preparation for the first Moscow marathon. My legs became stronger and I remembered the past. But it wasn’t entirely clear what it was like to run 42.2 km. Friends at the club suggested we eat, drink, and just feel the distance. Of course, I didn’t manage to do this during the race.
It turned out that it was also necessary to be able to drink and eat while traveling. She ran without food. It was such a powerful experience that she immediately wanted to sign me up for the next one.
In 2014 I already started training with a coach. The training is serious. In 2015, I set the task of running out of three hours. It is true that a series of injuries and sores set me back a lot.
Now I am training with the best and most attentive trainer, who has raised many strong runners, stars of amateur racing. I run 80 to 100 km per week. The work is hard and interesting.
But due to age and heavy workload, of course we must pay attention to recovery. This is the next task for running a three-hour marathon.
Nadezhda Khramova
Photo: Running Community
The highest results were achieved in 2017-2019: then the form was the best, therefore the results of those years were the best. It was very motivating to qualify for the Boston Marathon. And I qualified twice, but then Covid, and both trips were ruined.
But the most vivid impressions, of course, we had at the first marathon finishing in the main arena of the Luzhniki Stadium, along the paths along which Usain Bolt himself ran. I was very glad that the medals that were awarded to all the finalists a month later were not necessary.
The Moscow Marathon was so loved that it somehow happened that it became a mandatory event on the calendar. A home track on streets known since childhood, a large number of runners from all over the country, many friends, a convenient season. From year to year the marathon improves, more fans come to support, the volunteers have become very experienced and support the runners with all their hearts, this is a real holiday, the only one of this scale in the country.
Nadezhda Khramova
Photo: Running Community
I would like that one day our entire city would be waiting for this event and there would be fans and spectators along the 42 kilometers, like in Berlin and Paris.
For those who are preparing to run the Moscow Marathon for the first time this weekend, I advise you to save energy up to 35 km. The marathon will start exactly there, after the Lubyanka descent.
Be sure to drink, try nutrition (gels) and run in work shoes. Do not run from one side to the other and indicate the change of lane with your hand, do not interfere with the fastest runners, seriously evaluate your strength and do not forget that the most important thing is health.
We talked about running the distance to the finish here:
Question of the day
One day before the marathon: how to prepare to finish the distance
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