Moscow Marathon: being an example for many, 3 runners' stories

There are only a few days left before the country’s main running event. This weekend the Moscow Marathon will take place in the capital, this year for the 10th time. For 10 years the marathon has grown from a running event into a large-scale city holiday, and the number of participants has increased about five times.

Among them are those who this year will go to the start of the marathon for the 10th, jubilee time. Together with the runners, who have not missed a single Moscow Marathon, we remembered how their first race went and learned how their running history developed.

Indholdsfortegnelse

“I ran the marathon as a symbol of conquering the capital city.”

Anatoly Cherdakov

runner, 40 years old

“It was my first year of life in Moscow. At that time I ran a little, once a week, about 10 kilometers. There were banners “Your first 42 km” all over the city. Since childhood I had heard from my dad that there was a marathon and it was impossible for an ordinary person to run it. In August I finished my first half and the next day I registered for the first Moscow Marathon – as a symbol of conquering the capital.

The main preparation was psychological: it was necessary to increase the distance and run the maximum possible one week before the race in order not to give up and believe in my strength. Since then, every year I tried to improve my results. I experimented with nutrition and training volumes. I set personal bests at parkruns.

I’ve now run 50 marathons in total.

My best time so far was in 2016, though I couldn’t fulfill my goal of running out of three hours, as I had too many marathons that year and my legs cramped up badly at almost every one 8 km before the finish line.

However, a very memorable finish in 2016 was when my friend and I ran the last kilometer: me limping on cramped legs, him “catching the wall” and seeing everything in black and white and slow motion. We cross the line, tears are flowing, and a cameraman with a camera stands half a meter away from us.

Anatoly Cherdakov

Another shining moment happened in 2018. Back then, I was a pacesetter with a 3:14 pace. I was very nervous because of the responsibility, but I managed.

And, of course, I remember the first Moscow Marathon – the empty city, the rain, the feeling of being a hero. It is the most beautiful marathon (Peter, no offense), it is the beginning of my running journey, it is, as they say, sacred, you can not miss.

For those who plan to try their hand at the marathon distance, I advise you to prepare in advance and start so that it seems that you run slowly and without effort, because if it seems that you run fast, it means that you run too fast, and such tactics are not suitable for the marathon.

Anatoly Cherdakov

“I reached the finish line with the words: “Never, I repeat, never again!””

Dmitry Pobortsev

runner, 40 years old

“I ran my first marathon in 2013, if I may say so, straight from the couch. Shortly before it was held, I saw a post in social network from a friend who ran periodically with the Moskva River Runners club. At that time, I think I didn’t even know how many kilometers the marathon distance was.

I was driven to this adventure by the desire to run through the center of my favorite city. Beforehand I ran 10 kilometers on a treadmill. I multiplied the result by four and registered for the race.

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, support on the distance and the opportunity to look at the city from a different angle.

I somehow made it to the finish line with the words: “Never, I repeat, never again”. And here I am telling about it, having run all nine in a row.

My journey from my first marathon to my 10th marathon consisted entirely of trial and error. I think I could easily write a book called “How Not to Prepare for Marathons”.

Dmitry Pobortsev

I have never been disappointed in any marathon. Exceptionally positive emotions from the organization as a whole and the brightest impressions from the process. But I will single out, perhaps, two of them: the first Moscow Marathon – because I could (3:43) – and the fifth – because of the result (2:59). I distinctly remember thinking at about 35-37 kilometers that if I slow down now, there will never be a post “two-mattyegopentadye nine”, which I planned to write after the first half of the distance.

By about the fifth marathon I learned that, it turns out, the organizers secretly and enthusiastically in free access keep statistics of those participants who have run all marathons since 2013. From that point on, you have to adjust your plans and get out to the start line every year. I consider this moment a great motivation for myself.

I can’t say that in all this time, running has become my full time hobby or training process.

I try to go jogging one to three times a week whenever possible. Working at a relatively high position in a large company for 10-12 hours a day, evening workouts help me clear my head and give me some time to myself. Plus it helps me keep myself in shape.

Running has been the easiest option for me as a lazy person: I don’t have to adjust to time and place. I put on my sneakers, walk out the door and run.

I would like to celebrate my 10th marathon by repeating the result of the fifth, also anniversary marathon. To prove to myself that it wasn’t a fluke. For this purpose, I have been running three times a week for the past six months.

“Preparation for mountain climbing helped me to overcome the distance”.

Nadezhda Khramova

runner, 45 years old

“My running history began a long time ago, with the May relay race held around the garden ring. I looked with admiration at the runners and also wanted to run against them. In 1989 I was illegally taken to a sports school, where I successfully performed until the end of the 90s. Then injuries, the institute and searching for myself in other sports: mountaineering and acrobatics”.

I learned about the first marathon and the marathon distance in general by chance, when I joined a young running club. Initially, I was preparing to climb the Seven Thousanders, so the training was aimed simply at working up my endurance. There were no special trainings: I ran with the club twice a week for 10-12 km and on my own three times a week from 7 to 12 km.

In May I ran my first official “ten”, and in July I was told about the Moscow Marathon. In 2013, it seemed that the whole city was waiting for this event. “Your first 42” – the billboards read. For me it was completely unclear what this beast was and how to prepare for it. That’s why it was interesting and exciting.

Nadezhda Khramova

It turns out that there was no special preparation for the first Moscow Marathon. My legs got stronger, I remembered the past. But what it was like to run 42.2 kilometers was not clear at all. My club friends told me that I should eat, drink and just feel the distance. Of course, I didn’t manage to do it at the race.

It turned out that you had to be able to drink and eat on the move too. I ran without food. It was such a powerful experience that I immediately wanted to sign up for the next one.

In 2014 I started training with a coach. Serious training. By 2015 I had formulated a goal to run out of three hours. However, a series of injuries and illnesses set me back a lot.

Now I train with the best and most attentive coach, who has raised many strong runners, stars of amateur starts. I run 80 to 100 kilometers a week. The work is hard and interesting.

But due to my age and heavy workload, of course, I have to pay attention to recovery. This is the next task, so that I can still run a three-hour marathon.

Nadezhda Khramova

I managed to set the highest results in 2017-2019: then I had the best form, so the results of those years are the best. It was strongly motivating to qualify for the Boston Marathon. And twice I qualified, but then kovid, and both trips burned out.

But the most vivid impressions, of course, remained from the first marathon with the finish line at the main arena of Luzhniki, on the tracks on which Usain Bolt himself ran. I was so happy that I didn’t need the medals that were given to all the finishers a month later.

I loved the Moscow Marathon so much that somehow it turned out to be a mandatory event in the calendar. A home course along streets familiar from childhood, a large number of runners from all corners of the country, many friends, a convenient season. Year after year the marathon is improving, more fans come to support, the volunteers have become very experienced and support the runners with all their heart, it’s the most real holiday, the only one of this scale in the country.

Nadezhda Khramova

I would like that someday our whole city will be waiting for this event and all 42 km will be fans and spectators, like in Berlin and Paris.

For those who are preparing to start the Moscow Marathon for the first time this weekend, I advise you to save your strength until the 35th kilometer. The marathon will start there, after the descent from Lubyanka.

Be sure to drink, test nutrition (gels), run in working sneakers. Do not rush from side to side and mark the re-building with your hand, do not interfere with faster runners, soberly assess your strength and do not forget that the most important thing is still health.