Vienna City Marathon 2017: 1st Marathon

In Running, Travel, Race

Post-Race Notes

First full marathon. Never would’ve imagined it would turn out to be on a different continent, and in Vienna, of all places, and on a three week notice (!). In a nutshell… everything about the race blew me away. This was

* by far the biggest race I’ve ever run in;
* the most diverse by nationality (>130 countries represented);
* the most interesting, with respect to the diverse, historic scenery (and the “new”-ness of it all — I intended to run this race as a tourist, after all!);
* and last but not least, the most well crowd-supported race I’ve ever run. There was literally no stretch of the 42.195km race where there weren’t groups of supporters and/or curious spectators.

Sadly bonked at the dreaded 20-mile wall, which made the last 10K rather miserable. Nowhere as bad as the last 4 miles three weeks ago during my ORF Half, but it took me by surprise because of how sudden it was, especially after doing and feeling so good during the first 19 miles.

Made it a point to at least jog the last mile to the finish line. Got a bit emotional realizing what I’ve done, and where I did it in.

Race Day: Sunday, April 23, 2017
Bib: 8847. Overall: 1195.
Chip Time: 3:27:20 (7:55 min/mile)
1st Half: 1:38:25 (7:31 min/mile)
2nd Half: 1:48:56 (8:19 min/mile)

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