Podgorica Half Marathon, 7 November
Report by Paul Ackerley
Recently I took part in the Montenegrin National Championships by competing in the Podgorica Half Marathon. I didn’t realise that it was a National Championship when I entered, but I later found out it was a qualifying event for international events for Montenegrin and Serbian athletes (they were one country until 2005). And I came first!*
I had registered a few weeks ago, once Montenegro was finally off the Covid Red list. It wasn’t possible to pay the 10 Euros entry fee on-line – this had to be done in person, in cash, in the two days prior to the race. Once the starting lists were out, it transpired that I was the only UK entrant in any of the distances (they also had 5k, 10k and Marathon) … and so I had a feeling of responsibility. So much so, I decided to wear my RR shirt for the race. About 15 – 20 countries were represented.
For Covid reasons, they couldn’t / didn’t use their usual routes, so they blocked off a 1km stretch of dual carriageway in the city and used that as a 2km track. This provided a track with a good surface but with little shade (the organisers looked after themselves by putting the start / finish in the only place there was shade!).
The best bit … on the start line, they read out the names of all the competitors over the loudspeakers (there were about 150 in the Half Marathon) … “Paul Ackerley, GBR” How cool is that!? … At which point that feeling of responsibility increased further. I pay subs to England Athletics and don’t get that sort of treatment … in Montenegro I get treated like athletic royalty for free!
Sadly, I couldn’t live up to the hype and responsibility. The lack of shade was a problem, certainly for me – and I suspect for some others too; it was interesting to see some competitors running a longer distance by ‘following’ the shade, and in doing so moving well off the racing line. The temperature in the shade was 25C and in the direct sun it was 36C … and just to make sure we got the full benefit of the heat, the Marathon and Half Marathon started at 11.30 am!
It was very well marshalled including 6 police officers (in the Balkan countries, they have one of the highest police:public ratios), and a really friendly atmosphere with a relaxed approach to track invasion’ which added to rather than detracted from the event.
The finish didn’t go quite to plan … I had agreed with Mrs A that she would take a photo of me crossing the line, but there she was trying to hand me more banana … “No thanks, this is my last lap”; “You have one more to do, don’t you?”, was the reply. I didn’t. So I didn’t have any banana. Nor did I have a photo of me crossing the line. So we took one 3 minutes after my actual finish time on 2 hours 13 minutes.
Their approach to providing drinking water was interesting too … they had accessed some sort of underground pipe and attached a thick rubber hose. This was connected to a hose pipe and tap, from which they filled water containers. These were carried across the road to be tipped into jugs and then into cups. I only discovered this after the event, but I seem to be fine … There were a number of other fizzy drinks available, together with communal bowls of peeled bananas and quartered lemons … I avoided them due to the communal aspect.
What did I like about it?
- Entry was £8.50 – for that I got a shirt, a medal, chip timing, and food and drink for the duration of the race.
- A real family occasion – lots of families supporting runners, a very relaxed atmosphere
- Lots of space
- Parking so close that supports could sit in the car and watch
- Very strict guidelines on the wearing of masks, keeping social distancing
- Running a 2km track meant that it was easy to have some ‘support’ and more interesting for supporters.
- Just taking in how another country administers and runs an event
- Flat most of the way
- The last 10 yards of the race
- My introduction (soooooo good!)
What didn’t I like about it?
- I struggled with the heat. Not in any particularly bad way, it just sapped my energy.
- Nobody paid any attention to the strict Covid guidelines (perhaps why Montenegro was the last European country to be removed from the UK’s red list)
- Running a 2km route is so boring
What did I learn?
- I tried running with sunglasses for the first time. I had never tried it, not even on practice runs, but it worked really well. I forgot I had them on. Definite plus point.
- It was a trek getting there. Croatia was the closest place to fly to, and both BA and Easyjet cancelled the flights we had booked. Eventually we flew via Zagreb with Croatia Airlines, and then had to drive out of the EU to get to Montenegro … but it was worth it. Montenegro is a beautiful country and we had an apartment with a pool and a view for £39 per night…
*First Brit, that is (and last Brit)