Vienna City Marathon
I run a widget on my dashboard that counts down the days to an event
. I remember after I made the decision to take part at the Vienna City Marathon back in November 2006, I set the widget. Back then it said something like 120 days to the VCM, which appeared to be a long, long time . But now my first marathon lies less than 45 hours in the future .
120 days are equivalent to 4 months, in which I spend a lot of time on the track or rather the Murpromenade, runnning from Haydngasse down South beyond the highway to Feldkirchen and on my long jogs even beyond Kalsdorf and Werndorf. The unusually warm and snow-free winter provided perfect conditions for jogging and thus I feel in very good shape for Sunday. Well, I think I’d rather made sure of that.
A record of 25.273 runners are registered for the VCM, tackling the long distance in front of an expected crowd of 300.000 people. Since as a footballer I never ever played in front of more than a thousand people, this will be a very specific experience, one, I think, that will send shivers down my spine.
I have prepared, as I said, my body thoroughly for this event: Since the beginning of November I covered 1.615 kilometres, spending 138 hours on the track. I haven’t calculated the calories I burned on these runs but with an average of 750 per hour the total amount of energy used on these training runs would be around 103.500 kilocalories. You would have to digest a few Wienerschnitzl to make up for this, wouldn’t you? 😉
Since I completed my last test – a half-marathon – in 1.21.50, I am confident to beat 3.20 hours on Sunday and if all goes well, I will be going for 3.10 .
Sylvia is coming to Vienna with me, which I very much appreciate. She will be the one who picks me up on Heldenplatz after the finish line, hopefully in good condition, smiling.
The VCM is broadcast live on TV, ORF 1 at 08.30 a.m. on Sunday.
Links:
Vienna City Marathon
Record participants at the VCM
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