The first time is always special. How the debut races after the abolition of self-isolation went

By the fall, after the lifting of self-imposed isolation, running starts were finally resumed. After a long period of confinement in four walls, each athlete surely remembered how he ran the coveted ten, half or marathon. Some athletes felt that they were able to improve their form, others were disappointed to notice their own shortcomings, but found the strength to fight them, and others simply could not enjoy the scenery along the route. All of these feelings are special.

We talked to seven athletes of New Balance Team Russia and asked them to remember their first post-quarantine run. The guys did a good job of fantasizing, because they had to not just share their personal experience, but compare their emotions with the topic we suggested.

By taking part in the contest, you agree to its rules.

Sergey Matyukha

Distance: 52 km, trail.
Theme: animals.

Design: Arexander Grishin, “Championship”.

This is a feeling of freedom comparable to the emotions and habits of a wild animal – a tiger, which has spent a long time locked up and found itself in a familiar habitat. The Russian Amazon, or 52 kilometers through Suzdal jungle with fords and grass above my head, more than fed me and quenched my animal thirst for competition and struggle.

The first kilometers of the course were urban. The leaders from the start took a high race pace and I was a bit behind them. But when after 24 kilometers we found ourselves in the jungle, I managed to catch up with my rivals and even lead. Not sparing myself and my bruised knees, I was breaking through the tall grass, which occasionally entwined my legs. I fell and immediately got up and ran on.

The jungle ended. I was overtaken and overtaken again, but I will remember those 7 km forever.

Sveta Aplachkina

Distance: 5 km.
Subject: extreme.

Design: Alexander Grishin, “Championship”

The first start after quarantine made me get an adrenaline rush, as if I was standing on the edge of a high tower and a step separates me from the jump. Taking it would allow me to step out of my comfort zone and test myself again. But before I make up my mind, I feel an excitement that’s hard to handle after a long break. I’ve already forgotten what it’s like to compete. There’s even a touch of nervousness.

The countdown begins: four, three, two… The starting gun goes off. I take that step, forgetting about excitement and fear and everything in the world. It’s just me and the highway: the feeling of euphoria is constant throughout the race. I can finally enjoy competitive running again – I can’t even believe it.

The finish line. Did I really do it?! A surge of endorphins and slight dizziness. I’m happy! I want to stand on the start line again and again in the excitement of waiting for the shot.

Sasha Borodinova

Distance: 109 km, trail.
Subject: auto.

Design: Arexander Grishin, “Championship”.

On the first start after quarantine I felt like an auto that didn’t pass a couple of TOTs. Having missed the first one, the car is still going. But after skipping the second one, the engine started knocking, oil was at zero, and then antifreeze leaked. And I had not refueled before the trip, and the canisters were filled with low-quality fuel. I thought I would have a great ride, but in the end I stalled in the field and I’m going home on a tow truck.

Alina Romashova

Distance: Wings for Life with no finish line.
Theme: traveling.

Design: Arexander Grishin, “Championship”.

When you stay inside four walls for more than a month, running further than the dacha fence is like taking a breath of fresh air in the mountains. My return to normal training began after the start of Wings for Life, where I ran across the expanses of the Leningrad region.

The race was a bit spontaneous and therefore insanely exciting and memorable, like any journey. When you are in a state of anticipation of the trip, painstaking planning. You’re packing, calculating, and it’s about to happen. You’re already in beautiful places with new people, and sometimes not everything goes according to plan. These feelings were insanely lacking on the quarantine.

Igor Lisnik

Distance: 7 km in training.
Theme: music.

Design: Arexander Grishin, “Championship”.

О! My first cross-country workout after confinement was most reminiscent of the one-and-a-half minute song Egg Raid on Mojo from the Beastie Boys’ Some Old Bullshit album: rough, loud, dirty, fun, and slightly insecure. I think I was screaming with a sense of happiness and freedom and screaming like the New York trio in the archival footage before they got bogged down in hip-hop….

In general, punk is the perfect style to describe running: lots of energy, drive, borderline emotions, noisy improvisation, and sometimes provocation. Punk, like running, is a damn democratic thing and terrifyingly diverse. You can be a multi-platinum winner of anything and everything, like Green Day or Offspring; you can burn in the conscious underground, like Minor Threat; you can be trendy and multistyle, like John Lydon of the Sex Pistols; you can be local and beloved, like “Tarakany!” or “NAIV”. You can even be inexperienced but daring, like “Kiss-Kiss”. In general, turn up the combi, strings looser, distortion to the right – and burn to the full. It’s just like on a highway or a treadmill.

Katya Slobodkina

Distance: 21 km.
Theme: movies.

Design: Arexander Grishin, “Championship”.

My first start after quarantine was the Moscow Half Marathon, and for me it was also my debut. It’s like a new TV series: everyone around you has already watched it and recommends it, but you spend a long time looking for reasons why you haven’t tried it yet. You have to prepare for it, study it in detail, find the time… Finally you decide to download the whole season. Responsible day: the power is ready, you press the “Start” button. The first episode passes imperceptibly, you go to the second – also not bad, but something is missing. The third one doesn’t drag you down. The fourth – maybe it will be better? But the interest fades.

You watch a few more episodes out of inertia. The actors aren’t bad and the scenery is great, but you don’t want to watch any more. And you leave before you get to the halfway point. Disappointment. And friends write, ask, are surprised: it turns out that the most interesting was at the end and just had to be patient.

Artyom Aplachkin

Distance: 10 km.
Theme: food.

Design: Arexander Grishin, “Championship”.

All the months of preparation I had been running on the dirt, breathing in the freshness of the fields. And then I go out to start on the highway in a huge metropolis. During this time, I have already forgotten what the bustle of the city is, the buzz of fans and athletes around me.

Here it is – the aroma of the start, the aroma of the highway, so long-awaited and pleasant. It’s like I was in business all day and didn’t have time even for a snack. And here I am back home, where the table is waiting for me. I walk up to the house in anticipation, already smelling the aroma. I sit down at the table, but I don’t eat everything at once, because I know it will be hard later. I try a little bit at a time to stretch the pleasure and feel the true flavor of each dish.

The starter fires – did I really wait for it? I start to run smoothly to feel the asphalt, the atmosphere, to catch every moment and enjoy it. And for dessert, the finish line – the sweetest thing you can think of! I’m in total self-indulgence. But I am already looking forward to the next start, because it will be even tastier.