Valencia marathon race report

The day was here 04 of December 2022. I signed up for the marathon in Valencia, Spain back in March. At that point I had no clue what 04 December was going to be like and I don’t like to sign up so long in advance for things. But the alarm clock turned on at 06:30 and had to get ready to run yet another marathon in a country where I haven’t been running any marathon before. I wasn’t nervous at all. Was just getting out there to enjoy it. My only goal was to make it to my flight to Munich.

First half

I thought I was in good time to the start but no. It was impossible to get on the subway so had to run the 2,4 kilometers to the bag drop. I knew I would not have time for lining up in a bathroom que so passed by a. Coffee shop and asked the nice staff if I could visit the toilet and of course. Life saviors. I dumped my bag and went right to my corral. Waited zero minutes before we started to walk to the starting line. The first ten K I call it a wake-up part. Legs felt good. Clothes felt appropriate and energy levels were fine. All good to go the remaining 32K.

The ambience was great! At 12K they played the Macarena song when we passed so everyone were dancing and it was just fun. Samba orchestras were playing all along the course and it was enjoyable. They served water each 5ish K so I had maximum two zips at each place. Plastic fantastic dieting people would not like it though. Water was served in 0,5L bottles. Throughout the whole race including post race I got 8 bottles and we were 30 000 runners. That is a lot of plastic bottles. I kept on doing my race and passed 21K at 1:52 which is perfect. Wasn’t feeling tired.

Second part

My legs were collaborating perfectly. Maybe due to that they didn’t had to face their hilly enemies. This race was close to flat. I loved the city the day before when I walked around. Felt like Chicago, Spain and Los Angeles all together. Streets like Chicago, Spanish atmosphere and architecture and an ocean front like LA. At 26K I got a bit bored. But that is usual. Still a fair share to go and the first major goal at half marathon has been finished. I had a treat to myself at 30K – energy gum. It’s fun at a marathon that you really appreciate the small things. Then at 30K when fellow runners started to walk and my legs still felt perfect I got more motivation to finish without any walking.

It was a good day and I could just keep on running without suffering from any pain. At 35K I knew I would make it sub 4 hours which always makes me happy. Without to my struggling (read none) I passed 40K knowing the race was almost over. My body hoped because after 40K it felt tough for the first time. I had margins to my goal of the day so could have walked over the finish line and still made it but I was running.

It was definitely one of the most beautiful finishes of a marathon. Think only a few like the beach in Santa Monica and the Olympic stadium I Athens beat this one. After the finish it was a pretty long walk to exit the arena. We got our medals, water and a goodie bag including the weirdest things. First time ever I get canned chicken after a run and fresh broccoli.

All good. I finished at 3:54:51 and hand loads of fun enjoying everything of this race. Would warmly recommend both the race and the city to travel lovers.

/ Pernilla that had a successful last marathon of 2022