Third Polish running event in a series of distances that I need to run to get "Crowns of Polish Half Marathons", Became the "Bialystok Half Marathon". I doubted for a long time whether to take part in it or not. Hesitated mainly because of "Prague Marathon“, As I would like that marathon in Prague became my first race for 42 kilometers. But since the Prague Marathon is part of a running series calledCrown of Visegrad Marathons“, and I postponed my participation in this running series to a later period. So I decided to register for the Bialystok Half Marathon, which became another half marathon that brought me closer to conquering my first running series, namely run a running series "Crown of Polish Half Marathons".
Registration
In the half marathon "Bialystok Half Marathon” has its own official website, where you can register to participate in a running event. When registering, you must indicate the approximate time for which you will be able to cover a distance of 21 kilometers, as well as your T-shirt size.
The path to the starting town
Getting to the destination was quite difficult, so you had to think carefully about the logistics of your journey. There is a direct bus from Kyiv to Bialystok, but this option was inconvenient for me. So I decided to go first to Warsaw by direct bus from Kyiv, and then change to the train to Bialystok. This train was very comfortable and the road, which took 2 hours, passed unnoticed.
I already have a tradition - upon arrival in the city, where the next running event is held, the first thing to do is to visit the starting town and pick up your starting number of the participant. The venue for the "Bialystok Half Marathon" was the central square of the city, near the "Branicki Palace", which is now called "Podlasie Versailles". On the way to the starting town, I admired the beautiful local architecture and cozy city streets.
Near the starting town "Bialystok Half Marathon” sports exhibition “SportExpo” took place. In my opinion, this time she was unsuccessful. Similar exhibitions in Gdynia and Poznan were much larger, so that's probably what influenced my impression. The “SportExpo” half marathon of the “Bialystok Half Marathon” did not please with a large number of sporting goods, and only one race was presented at it. So this time I did not stay at "SportExpo" and immediately went to the point of issuance of starter packs to pick up my start number.
To compensate for the sports exhibition, which was not interesting for me, I went to the local bookstore, as I had already swallowed the book "Ultra. You'll get further than you think“, written by a well-known polish runner R. Zakrzewski, so I really wanted to buy something new to read. Leaving the bookstore, I slowly traveled to my hotel.
Run
Half marathon launch pad placed right next to the complex "Podlasie Versailles". The route was one circle that circles the central streets of Bialystok and its surroundings. Almost the entire route is paved and flat, but there was a small section with cobblestones. According to the time declared during the registration, the participants were divided into groups and started at exactly 10:00.
I chose the time 1:45 - 1:55 for registration, so I started in the third group of runners. The half marathon started quite easily due to the fact that it was gloomy and not hot. He decided to run near the pacemaker, which set the pace of the run. So I tried to keep up the pace during the first half of the marathon.
He started to lag behind the pacemaker somewhere after 12 - 13 kilometers. He also did not neglect the opportunity to run to each hydration and nutrition station to keep fit. There was a lot of spectator support throughout the "Bialystok Half Marathon". But the most insane support awaited the participants in the last kilometers before the finish line. This is what kept me relaxed and inspired me to keep running. The support of the spectators helped many participants to reach the finish line with a great mood and good emotions from the running event.
Impression
The "Bialystok Half Marathon" left only the most pleasant memories and impressions of the organization of the half marathon and its route. During registration I managed to guess my time, but my result turned out to be quite good - 21 kilometers were covered in 1:50 hours.
Booking.com
