23,8 km or 14.8 miles

I have been talking about this Monaco Run thing for a while. For nine weeks or so, I had been alternately training for a half-marathon and being sick, but nevertheless gearing up for a 13-mile race on March 20th. A couple of days before the race, I learned that the course, starting in Ventimiglia, Italy, passing through Menton, France, and ending in Monaco, was actually closer to 15 miles. Yipes. I missed two weeks of training from being sick. I have never run a race before. Am I even athletic in the first place? No.

But my only goal was to finish it within the 2 hour and 45 minute time limit, and I knew I wasn’t going to give up at any point. So, last Sunday, race day, came around. The route was beautiful, along the coast the whole way and mostly flat except for two mountainish hills we had to climb. The people along the way were very supportive and it was a great feeling to get applause and cheers from total strangers, especially as a straggler practically at the very end.

When I got into Monaco, and the finish line came into view, I saw on the official clock that it was 2:44:and a couple seconds already, and I bolted into a sprint, but still didn’t make it until about five seconds after the time limit (because by sprint, I mean Alice at my fastest after having run 15 miles). HOWEVER, if you count my time starting from when I actually crossed the start line, which was not right at the very beginning of the race, then technically I did it in time. I got a medal and everything. I did it! I feel legitimately proud. And unless I can find a marathon that goes through four countries, I am going to say that this is going to be the peak of my running career.

Here are my pictures:

Monaco Run

And I stole some from my friends' facebooks, because I didn't take any pictures of myself running, obviously: