Big running celebration in Buenos Aires

It was time for a big celebration in my little running hobby running world when I tracked to Buenos Aires. I had signed up for my 50th marathon and that was the reason I went there. That the 50th one would take place in BA was a coincidence. I hoped to do one or two marathons during the summer but my hamstring started to fight against that after Rome marathon in March so had to cancel the summer marathon plans and build up strength instead. Got a 3 months gym pass and went there to do the work. 30 sessions done and my hamstring was (or is) almost back. I was looking forward to this run a lot and to revisit BA. Been there once but that was 12 years ago. I was imaging a lot of things had changed and it had. Let’s take the marathon weekend story from the beginning.

Star number collection

The venue to collect the number was outside of the city center so I took the metro to somewhere nearby and went for a sightseeing walk there. It turned out to be a very long walk tough and when I finally entered the race pickup it went quick. Wanted to buy a race jacket but the line was two hours and although it would be a nice souvenir I don’t do two hour line for shopping. Maybe I can find it online later wouldn’t wear it straight away anyhow. Bought three gels for the run and that was it before I went back to where I stayed in the neighboring of Palermo for a coffee. 

I really like that area. Felt like walking around in my Stockholm neighborhood of Vasastan with restaurants and coffee shops all around. Houses are though art deco style  which they aren’t in Stockholm. Later on I had dinner at a nice local spot before a good nights sleep.

Pre marathon day

I was planning a small run the day before but my step count was already well above 30K steps so I saved it for this morning. It was a great idea. Went out for a 5K in the nearby park and felt the pre marathon vibe. I was running in the same park the last visit and back then it was a bit run down with not the nicest klientel of people. That was changed now and it felt like Central Park of Buenos Aires. Didn’t wanted to end my run and the legs felt just perfect in shape for a run. Wished that would last also the next day.

Had another enjoyable coffee and a long breakfast to save my legs. It turned out to a very nice random conversation with two digital nomads from Europe that thought I was a local and could help them navigate the city since they planned to settle down working from there for some months. Meeting these random people is by far best part of solo traveling.

I had no need for sightseeing really since the run would cover the whole city so was just curious to go and check out the neighborhood San Telmo where I stayed last time to see how it changed so that I did. It also changed tons. From being pretty run down and where I honesty didn’t felt all safe walking around at all streets before it was now a normal place. And a lot of tourists and locals mixed. Many nice coffee places but I wanted some more filling so had an empanada and a glass of wine at San Telmo market while enjoying the vibe and doing what I love people watching.

Walked around a bit more towards the Obilisque with a coffee and mandatory alfajores stop. One cookie a day was my holiday rule so it was a forced stop. The coffee place was amazing. Thought it would be tourist only spot since it was very old and stylish but it wasn’t too much.

The foodie tour continued later at night with a pizza near my hotel. Fully carbo loaded i went back to put on the alarm very early.

Race day

Met two fellow runners at the hotel so we walked together to the start. I always try to book hotels in walking distance (1-2K) from the start to not have to rely on transport at race day. Was there in perfect time so had time for a very last toilet visit before entering my corral. We all had our nations flags and names on our bibs and honestly I didn’t see any other Europeans except a British guy next to me in the start. 

Just at 7 am we went off. It was a lot of space but what I missed out was pace ballon’s. Not that I’m following them but it is nice to have an idea when you see them. My legs felt super good and without knowing it 10K was done. Felt effortless. It was some early birds out watching but no hysteric cheering. Opened my gel at 12K according to plan but just couldn’t swallow anything so spitted it out and throw it away. Lesson learnt from before if I force myself to eat this it will come up and that if anything ruins a marathon. The next 10K I also had a very good flow. Weather was perfect and now we ran through the central boulevards and squares and the amount of spectators increased. 

Went to try my second gel at 24K and here I started to feel I need energy refill or it will be tough. It just didn’t work out to eat even with water. Luckily they had Gatorade as energy drink and that one is one of the few my stomach can handle. Took a cup and got a few zips and could feel the effect immediately. Then you know energy is needed if you kind of get high just after a zip or two. I knew I would not be able to push for any PB at this point so goal was to enjoy and keep on running. 

Went perfectly fine until 35K. Enjoyed to the max and we passed an area called Puerto Mujero. I also went running there last time and then it was just newly built and not even half size like today. The second half was a swamp and some railway tracks for transport I remembered. Now it looked like these skyscraper and mixed industrial zone every major city has. It went all good until 38K. Then I had to take out the real fighting face to run over the finish line. Felt my energy was close to zero and the track got a bit boring for 2K going into a container harbor. Nobody watching. Some guys were biking aside of us and that annoyed me a lot. Didn’t wanted to run any single meter more and having them by the side biking was a punch in the stomach. 

At 40ish K we entered the park where we started again and it had filled up with loads of people cheering. The last kilometers of pain was gone and the two final ones didn’t go very fast for me but they went by in close to 6 pace. Couldn’t start walking now although body battery was running on reserve. Then finish line reached and it was a decent time of 3:46 I would say. A very nice marathon and now I have conquered the marathon distance 50 times. Who could have thought that when I started my marathon running hobby?

Post race

Stayed and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather in the park a bit before walking back to the hotel for a long and hot shower. Rested a bit at my bed and went for an after run in the neighborhood. I was pretty tired after the early morning waking up 4:30 so needed a nap before eating some food so decided on a 30 min power nap at the hotel. When I woke up the sky had gone crazy and spitted out rain. Put on my rain jacket to check how bad it really was and go for dinner but the streets were like swimming pools and I couldn’t drain my only pair of proper shoes to travel in and I wasn’t too hungry so decided to stay at the hotel. Met the Brazilian guy that also been running so we had some post race briefing and chill. He also asked me if I heard when they said in the loudspeaker when I finished that I celebrated my 50th marathon, but I did not heard it. Made a tag with that on my instagram so they must picked it up there. Fun tough! 

That was it. 50 done. More to come I hope. 

/ Pernilla the hobby run around the world runner