A (very short) Story of my first ever Marathon – “nikomen”
It all started with my 40th anniversary birthday gift from friends Paula & Marco. The gift was a book of Murakami “What I talk about when I talk about running – a memoir”. I read it on the 5th of December 2017, in less than 24 hours, while travelling from Portugal to Magdeburg in Germany. It was the ignition for my 2018 goal of running a Marathon.
Where? Easy. It would have to be, just like in Murakami’s case, the authentic one – in Athens. But unlike Murakami, who made it from Athens to Marathon (now I understand why, since it’s much easier!!!) I did the original course, just like Pheidippides, who run around 42kms from the battlefield near Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek’s victory over Persia in 490 BC.
Every pleasure in life is always much richer when you share it with those you love. I embarked on this adventure with my 3 best friends: João Neves, João Matias and Luis Pipoca, who accepted this, some might say, stupid challenge. Over the course of those 10 months we supported each other, we run sometimes together, others alone. We run under the sun or under the rain. We run at 11pm or 6am. We run whenever we could and in many occasions when we had no motivation whatsoever to go running. But we had a mission, we had a goal – we wanted to complete our first ever marathon.
Therefore, during 2018 I changed my diet, went to the gym, changed some of my routines, lost 8kgs on the way, run over 1300kms just before the day of the race and counted, on each of those days over the course of 10 months, with the incredible and unrelenting support from my wife – Natasa. As in any other personal or professional goal I’ve achieved over the last 10 years, I have only made it because she was there. Because she is always here.
Where? Easy. It would have to be, just like in Murakami’s case, the authentic one – in Athens. But unlike Murakami, who made it from Athens to Marathon (now I understand why, since it’s much easier!!!) I did the original course, just like Pheidippides, who run around 42kms from the battlefield near Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek’s victory over Persia in 490 BC.
Every pleasure in life is always much richer when you share it with those you love. I embarked on this adventure with my 3 best friends: João Neves, João Matias and Luis Pipoca, who accepted this, some might say, stupid challenge. Over the course of those 10 months we supported each other, we run sometimes together, others alone. We run under the sun or under the rain. We run at 11pm or 6am. We run whenever we could and in many occasions when we had no motivation whatsoever to go running. But we had a mission, we had a goal – we wanted to complete our first ever marathon.
Therefore, during 2018 I changed my diet, went to the gym, changed some of my routines, lost 8kgs on the way, run over 1300kms just before the day of the race and counted, on each of those days over the course of 10 months, with the incredible and unrelenting support from my wife – Natasa. As in any other personal or professional goal I’ve achieved over the last 10 years, I have only made it because she was there. Because she is always here.
Day of the Marathon [11.11.2018]
Well, don’t ask me why but I only managed to sleep for 3 hours. At 5am I was not that confident, but the bus journey from Athens to Marathon was good to focus on the run and remember every step of my preparation. Well, that day I would have to run longer than what I have slept :)
At 9am, I started my run from Marathon. While passing through the burned areas from last summer fires, we felt the support from the local population. I “hi-fived” surely over 100 kids throughout the course of the race and believe it or not, that cheering from the crowd was actually giving me an extra stamina. From the 14th to the 31st kilometer, it was all uphill… tough, but the truth is that during the marathon it never gets easier, you just get stronger. In the last 10 kilometers I was physically well and mentally controlling myself not to burst in tears. I could feel that I was going to make it. I entered the Panathinaiko Stadium, and my thoughts were with my wife, family and friends. I remembered my dad, sister and niece. I felt an incredible joy and pride. Mainly Pride. For some it’s only a run, for me it was one more proof that, when you want, everything is possible.
As Murakami states “Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that’s the essence of running, and a metaphor for life”. For those who know me well, they know that is a metaphor for everything I do in life. With running I wanted to know my limits and overcome them and that limit was, to run the Marathon. With my 3 best buddies and the support from my wife, on the 11th of November 2018, I did it, in Athens, City of Nike, the goddess who personified victory.
Note: Pictures from Athens with Huawei P8 and from the race some from the Organization [All without editing]
At 9am, I started my run from Marathon. While passing through the burned areas from last summer fires, we felt the support from the local population. I “hi-fived” surely over 100 kids throughout the course of the race and believe it or not, that cheering from the crowd was actually giving me an extra stamina. From the 14th to the 31st kilometer, it was all uphill… tough, but the truth is that during the marathon it never gets easier, you just get stronger. In the last 10 kilometers I was physically well and mentally controlling myself not to burst in tears. I could feel that I was going to make it. I entered the Panathinaiko Stadium, and my thoughts were with my wife, family and friends. I remembered my dad, sister and niece. I felt an incredible joy and pride. Mainly Pride. For some it’s only a run, for me it was one more proof that, when you want, everything is possible.
As Murakami states “Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that’s the essence of running, and a metaphor for life”. For those who know me well, they know that is a metaphor for everything I do in life. With running I wanted to know my limits and overcome them and that limit was, to run the Marathon. With my 3 best buddies and the support from my wife, on the 11th of November 2018, I did it, in Athens, City of Nike, the goddess who personified victory.
Note: Pictures from Athens with Huawei P8 and from the race some from the Organization [All without editing]