Planning my trip to Moscow earlier in the year had turned out to be tainted with various political issues. Firstly the introduction of the laws preventing the promotion of homosexuality had naturally struck a chord with me but then with the current situation with Ukraine it seemed that things may not be that great over in Moscow.
However; I decided I still wanted to go and must say that somewhat weirdly had it not been for the media of both situations in the UK I would have been totally unaware of these topics when I was in Moscow.
I love the city as the architecture and setting of Red Square and the Kremlin is so spectacular. It is a massive place and from my previous trip I should have learnt that walking around is amazing to see the sights but my feet would be tired by the end of the day. Lesson not learnt and I did it again this time. I don't regret it though as the sights both overground and underground are amazing. The metro is without doubt the most splendid subterranean network I have had the pleasure to travel on.
The run itself was a small run that took place in a park about 20 minutes train ride from the center. I was the only non Russian taking part but the registration went smoothly and given that there was only about 2,000 people running in total it meant finding my way to the start was not going to be a challenge. Competitors could choose between two distances (7km or half marathon.) I had opted for the shorter one as it would allow time for more sightseeing and also to reach the half marathon meant doing a further two laps of the 7km race which I wasn't too keen on doing as it is pretty tough mentally to do races that consist of laps.
Gathering at the start area all looked in order. The organisers started to mark out the start pens (based on expected times) by putting up tape between the barriers. Good idea....apart from a truck then drove down the road straight through all the tape. Marvellous planning. Tape back up it was then time to start.
The race kicked off on time and I was at the front so was fairly easy to get a good pace early on. The route talk us around the park which was beautiful. It was a real contrast to the urban setting of Moscow city center. It was quite an undulating course with one hill in particular that I didn't envy the half marathoners having to do a further two times! I wasn't used to doing such a short distance and was quite surprised how quickly the kilometer markers were flying by. I also felt pretty smug thinking that at each marker they also displayed the distance covered for the second and third laps which I knew I wouldn't be doing and by the time most runners were going past them I would hopefully be showered and back out sightseeing!
There were some great local drum bands along the way (the race was subtitled Drum & Race) and in the final few hundred meters there was quite a crowd. Crossing the line was great and I finished in 4th place (out of 419 who were running that distance) with a time of 26 minutes on the nose. Not bad eh?!
So post run (and shower) it was time to explore the city's metro system which was amazing and some rooftop cocktails overlooking Red Square and the Kremlin.
Loved it and now that means that city number 15 is done. Only 8 more cities left to go of the challenge then!
On the way to the start...can you spot the only non Russian?!
Me at the finish line:
Until next time....
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