... just one cornetto !!!! (a.k.a. venice marathon 09) by jezz09

As i said on my previous post, this weekend was one of decorating the main living room and the large kids bedroom, and i remember adding a top 10 of donts during marathon training (which is still available on my berlin blog), one of which was not to decorate, and i gave that some brief thought a few days before this race as i couldnt remember why I added that but i did come the day of the race, as i knew that the only way i would possibly get it done was by waking up at 4am to get as much done as possible - which i did but then i was rushing to get to the race by the start time which was (I thought 1030).

The traffic on the way down was typically bloddy awful, and every one of the 30 or so traffic lights turned a bl00dy red.  I rushed to the start, but i couldnt find it.  Like most races, they had a dj there but he was nowhere near the start. I had to ask traffic wardens, and it was a 5min walk away, and even then - there were only about 6 people in running gear hiding in the dorrway of this office block - avoiding the rain.  I thought - is this it.  I was very disappointed, and whatever they paid for the dj was a complete waste of time as he was hidden away and you couldnt hear him anyway so there was no race information at all.  I remember thinking that i have done well in excess of 20 races over the last two years in preparing not only for the venice marathon this year but also berlin last year, and london the year before and i had a lot more information, in fact everything i needed to know last year at germany even though i dont speak a word of german, and so before race start i was considering just jumping in the car and going back home as the preparation seemed awful compared to last years race which was well put together by Bupa. 

Although the rain increased, so did the number of runners, and a start line seemed to come together at around 11:00am which was the official start time, although it also said 10:30 on their documentation.  I was relieved to start it.  It was a very different route to last year, and i ran the race with two work collegues, and i was in the middle of both of them, and right behind the one at the front, and we were pacing together from about the 3m mark but the weather was terrible, i followed him into the finish and i guess we were just happy it was all over, well i was anyways - definitely - good job i know that races can be much better than this, even those with no big charities and sponsors behind it like my last race - the scenic seven.  2 races down, 5 to go!!!  Oh no!!!