My acquaintance with Ukrainian marathons began in 2019 with a marathon in Kramatorsk. Therefore, this year he continued his acquaintance with marathons of Ukraine and in the fall decided to look for suitable marathons for this purpose.
I didn't have to think for a long time about which Ukrainian marathon I wanted to run, because I had long wanted to visit the town of Izmail, where a local marathon with a 20-year history was to take place at the end of September. Therefore, he decided to choose Izmail and its marathon.
Registration
It was not necessary to register in advance to participate in the “Izmail Marathon”, this could be done the day before the competition when you received your starting number, in addition, there was no entry fee, as the marathon was free for everyone. Those wishing to take part in the Izmail Marathon could choose one of three distances, namely a marathon (main), a half marathon, and a 5-kilometer run.
The route of the main distance of the "Izmail Marathon" consisted of one circle, which partly passed through the territory of the city and the village of Loshynivka. In addition, there were 8 food outlets at the distance, where marathon participants could regain their strength while running.
Run
As always, when running on the territory of Ukraine, the trip to the city of Izmail began on Friday night, where the train Kyiv - Izmail was to take me to the venue of the marathon. Saturday morning began at the station in the city of Izmail, where the participants of the marathon were met by the organizers. After a short tour of the city, we went to get our starter packs to participate in the marathon. In addition, for participants who arrived early for the marathon, the organizers have prepared two accommodation options, one free on the basis of the running club "Suvorovets", and the other paid (130 UAH per person) in a hotel room "Izmail". I really liked the walk through the city of Izmail, as the city is very clean, and most importantly has a large number of beautiful parks, where no one runs, which was quite strange for me.
The most interesting of the Izmail running adventures began on Sunday morning at 8 o'clock in the morning, when the participants of the "Izmail Marathon" started. Since there were not many participants in the marathon and half marathon, the start of these two distances was common.
The first 6 kilometers of the marathon route passed through the city of Izmail, and then ran outside the city and moved to the village of Loshchinovka, where they were waiting to turn, and ran in the opposite direction to the finish, which was located at the local stadium. The marathon route itself had several ascents and descents. In addition, 8 food outlets (3, 6, 10, 21, 36, 39 kilometers) were waiting for the participants on the route, where the participants could regain their strength with water and fruit.
Running the first 10 kilometers was quite comfortable, as the route passed through the city, and then went past the forest and surrounding fields. I managed to cover the first 7 miles of the marathon in one hour, in addition, at 6 and 10 kilometers I ran to the food station to refresh myself a bit.
The most interesting thing started for me after 10 kilometers. Since the next 10 kilometers had to be overcome without water because the next food point was located only 21 kilometers. But despite this, I still managed to overcome the first half of the marathon in 2 hours, although there was no great desire to run further. Especially when I mentioned that I would have to run 10 kilometers without water again. So I had to linger a bit at the food station to recover before overcoming the next 10 kilometers, but it turned out that to see the water again I had to run as much as 15 kilometers, as the next food station was located not at 32 but at 36 kilometers. Here it is necessary to note separately the team of insured physicians. It is hardly possible to say that after that there was a great desire to run, but little by little he continued his movement to the finish line in spite of everything. Before the finish at the fork in front of the station I had to wonder, this fact made me even more nervous, but still, after 5 hours of running, I still managed to reach the finish line. And this fact made me very happy because I was finally able to quench my thirst and I didn't have to run anywhere else.
Impression
What can I say here since I spoke with Oleg Rylsky before, and accordingly knowing the conditions of the Izmail Marathon, which has a 20-year history, was held this year, we can only sit on the banks of the Danube and cry that in Ukraine instead of supporting such starts they just die and the only thing that keeps them conscious is a small group of activists who like to run?
Of course, I would like to thank the organizers of the "Izmail Marathon", volunteers, doctors, who, despite the conditions before which they were set, still managed to hold this year's "Izmail Marathon", to provide participants with cheap accommodation and a festive buffet.
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