Last running season, he took part mainly in road races, and this year I focused on trails. This was facilitated by the realities of today, namely the situation with covid. After all, most of the road races were then suddenly canceled, unlike the trails, which are less popular and take place in mostly sparsely populated places. Therefore, their implementation was more likely. And although I like them trail races, they are very interesting, but after four months of constant participation in such competitions, they still started to bore me. So, I constantly felt the need to visit something interesting road half marathon. Between the third and fourth stages “Kremen Trail League” I tried to find such a half marathon for myself. Fortunately, I did not have to do this for a long time, the choice fell on the city of Uzhhorod and the half-marathon held in it - “Uzhhorod Half Marathon”.
Registration
Registration for "Uzhhorod Half Marathon" відбувається на сайті athletic-events.com. Each participant has the opportunity to choose one of the two distances offered by the organizers: the main 21-kilometer distance consisting of four laps, as well as the companion distance of 10 kilometers (2 laps). At the same time, it is necessary to pay the registration fee, the cost of which is about 450 hryvnias, which depends on the time of registration and the type of discipline.
Route
The route of the half marathon in Uzhhorod is a well-paved route, mostly flat without sharp climbs, passing through cozy streets the capital of Transcarpathia - the city of Uzhhorod. Every athlete can admire the beautiful architecture of the old city and feel its atmosphere during the race. The route runs through Maloy and Velikiy Galagov, Korzo and Voloshyn Streets, Koryatovych Square, then the athletes have to cross two bridges, namely the pedestrian bridge and the Tomas Masaryk Bridge, and of course run along the embankment Uzh River One circle is 5.3 kilometers.
The organizers have taken care of the hydration points, each circle has two such food and drink stations, where you can refuel with water or isotonic, try delicious fruits, etc. First food point located near the pedestrian bridge, and the second - at the start of a new circuit.
Run
After registering for the Uzhhorod Half Marathon, he started planning his own a trip to the city of sakura. Uzhhorod is at a fairly long distance from Kyiv, so the journey took me from 12 to 16 hours, trains arrive in the city mainly between 9 and 14 in the afternoon, so I decided to go on another running trip on Friday evening, rather than on Saturday it was already possible in the morning enjoy the walk the streets of Uzhgorod.
On Saturday, I mainly got to know the city of Uzhgorod, its streets and embankment, and took a short walk along the route where the half-marathon was supposed to take place. The distribution of starter packs was scheduled for the second half of the day. It was held on Postova Square. So after lunch I headed there to get my starter pack and get to know the runners a bit. As for the Uzhhorod Half Marathon itself, it started on Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. 145 participants expressed their desire to take part in it.
Although the route of the half marathon was flat, it had one small feature - most of the route passed through the old streets of the city paved with cobblestones. But it didn't create a particularly big discomfort, and the track itself gave only pleasant sensations from the contemplation of the surrounding locations and landscapes that opened to all athletes from the embankment. By the way, this is a good distraction from the circular route, which I don't really like.
I ran the half marathon at a pretty good pace, I ran the first three miles in 26 minutes, the next six miles in 51 minutes, the nine miles in 1 hour and 18 minutes. So I slowly made my way to the finish line, stopping every now and then at food stations to drink water. I crossed the finish line 1 hour 50 minutes after the start.
Impression
“Uzhhorod Half Marathon” turned out to be quite interesting and well organized. And this is taking into account the situation with covid, because only a week before the start they started to allow people to go to Transcarpathia.
The route of the half marathon in Uzhhorod was well marked, completely blocked from outside traffic. Volunteers were present at every turn, directing the participants in the right direction. In addition, the guests of the competition well supported each athlete. So, "Uzhhorod Half Marathon" left only pleasant impressions!
