Bratislava marathon : Photos story - Laurent
Running a marathon in Bratislava
This is me, during my first official marathon, in Bratislava. Let's rewind until the start of this journey.
After I achieved my first marathon on my own around a track, I definitely wanted to perform this distance during a race. As I was preparing my Erasmus, I checked if there were not marathons around Bratislava during my stay there. Luckily, there was one !
And that is not all ! One of my Erasmus mates, a friend from my home university Chloë was searching for a running challenge, and I shared her this event. Not think twice about this opportunity, we signed up to the Bratislava marathon (me) and half-marathon (Chloë). You might suppose we had to train before, and you would be right.
We started to run regularly before to leave France, but we didn't follow any training program. Yet, I know it's a must to be well prepared for this kind of challenge, so I inform myself, cross advices from medias and experienced athletes. That is how I created a training program for her and another one for me, during our train trip. It started the same week we arrived. We only had 2 months and a half to be prepared. I know it's short, surely too much. But it was worth it. It helped us to organize our weeks, to have a follow-up, to prevent injuries, and finally to observe our progress over time.
It was tough, we felt the tiredness but we didn't give up. In total, I ran 262km and spend 28h56min running outside, mostly alone. We shared some sessions with Chloë and Suzanne, particularly our intervals sessions at different paces around the Mladá Garda track.
Picnic with home university friends
As the Bratislava (half-)marathon was the main event of our Erasmus, we invite our friends who are studying in other universities around Europe. And 19 of them came to support Chloë and I !
A total of 3258 cumulative kilometres separates our respective Erasmus destinations :
◦ Athens : 1251km (2 of them)
◦ Vilnius : 922km (4 of them)
◦ Rijeka : 373km (5 of them)
◦ Debrecen : 344km (1 of them)
◦ Ostrava : 207km (5 of them)
◦ Budapest : 161km (2 of them)
Despite of the distance, they came !
It was ideal for a little weekend before the long-awaited moment. As you can see, we enjoyed a picnic in Kamzik forest under the sun, which was pretty shy until this moment. We also visited Bratislava, which is a quick task as it's the smallest capital of Europe. Friends tried chimney cakes, which is well-known in the centre of Europe. By the way, you can see a lot of pictures about it, by following this link :
Time to run
Finally, the race day came.
Sunday, 9am the race started. The first loop (half-marathon) was amazing. So many people were supporting us with music and applause along the road. I saw my friends at the 10th, 12th and 21st kilometer. I felt boosted each time. But in the second loop, most people left. I had difficulties and everything hadn't happened like it was supposed to be… I cracked on the 30th km despite of all my preparation. I walked several times and arrived after 3h46min running, instead of 3h20min.
Yet, it is a blessing in disguise.
Friends helping me to finish the race
Thanks to my friends, I realize that I still finished a marathon (under 4h moreover). Above all, this race was so much more than just a chrono. It was all about love and friendship.
As you can see, Tim and Alex accompanied me for the last 5 kilometres.
Friends supporting and refueling me
Adeline and Chaimaa were there to give me homemade energy drink, take photos and videos.
Motivating sign on my room wall
All others were there to encourage me by shouting. They also prepared a sign to support me, and I hung it on my shared room wall…
How lucky I am to have friends like them ! I am so grateful for their support.
Time to celebrate
After the race, it was time to relax. I did for sure ! I rarely drink but it was time to celebrate the come of our friends, and our accomplishments.
During this night, we talked a lot about sports and ambitions of other friends. A lot of them want to start running now ! And making them move is my hugest achievement about this story.
I believe the moral of the story is : sport unifies us.
So let's keep running and see you at my next marathon in La Rochelle, on the 30th of November 2025. Well it will be OUR marathon… because Chloë, Delvin and Mathieu will be there too !
;))