NOT running the Krakow marathon....

I was invited to run the Krakow marathon in 2017 and, despite being knocked down at the start, acquitted myself fairly well by finishing in 4th place. I was invited back for the 17th edition this year and things couldn't have been more different. It would have been a totally different experience to (re)run the race, as the course had changed from a 2-lapper (with a very sharp downhill switchback to connect the 2 laps) to a single loop, and the 2018 weather (sunny and warm) was the complete opposite of 2017's cold rain!
 

The main reason why I got such a different view of the race this year was because I was still not running (this pesky leg of mine isn't making many friends). Despite this, the elite organiser still invited me out to Poland for the weekend, so I took my friend and GB teammate Sue Harrison along to run instead. The race was also applying to become a "Bronze Label" event with the IAAF so Hilary Walker was there assessing it on behalf of the IAAF. I have known Hilary for many years (as she also wears IAU and British Athletics hats) so it was also a chance to catch up with her and learn about how these events earn their accreditation.

The Elite photoshoot

Saturday was taken up with the usual duties of having photos taken, being presented to the general public on stage, and a "technical meeting" (where start details, antidoping, pacemaker times and bottle drops are discussed) but I decided not to go on a drive over the race route. Instead of this I pored over the course map and worked out that there were several places I could get to during the race to support without having to "run" between them in order to make it. 

I left Sue making up her drinks bottles after the technical meeting and headed to the Main Square in the Old Town for the sound and light show followed by the night 10K. It had sounded rather interesting last year, but I had been tucked up in the hotel resting my legs.....and the poor weather hadn't exactly been conducive to going along to watch.
 

"Running" the course

It was definitely worth attending this year....as they put on a great performance. Figures of runners moving along the course lit up the old buildings, and certain historical features were also portrayed in coloured lights. Then there were lasers, music and a lot of smoke (but a slight downside to standing up on the VIP platform was that some of the lasers shone directly into your eyes!).

The laser show

Everyone lined up for the 10K, and the starter fired a gun from right next to myself and Hilary. Hundreds of runners swarmed past just below us (it was rather reminiscent of the scene of the stampede in The Lion King) though I was rather surprised to see people wearing headphones in the race considering how loudly the music was blaring out of multiple speakers (in fact it was so loud that our platform was shaking and I had to stand on one leg to prevent feeling pain in my fracture site).

Catching up with friends at the 10K

Despite the time of the event (to be fair, it was run mainly in the city centre and so was relatively well lit) there were some speedy times recorded with the winning man coming home in just over 30minutes and the leading ladies under 36minutes. The time limit for the event was 90minutes which meant I had to negotiate runners when crossing the course on my way back to the hotel (I didn't want to get back late and keep Sue up before the marathon the next day), but at least they all seemed to be really enjoying themselves.

I confess it was very tempting to just lounge around in my bed while Sue went and raced, but I couldn't do that to her so I went down for a first breakfast with her, did my sunscreen application duties, made sure I knew how her camera worked and planned where I'd be to support her, and then had a second breakfast once all of the elite field had gone off on the official bus to the start and I had the dining room (and hence whole buffet) to myself.

With Sue pre-race

I'd worked out a quick route from the start to the 2k point that I could make while the runners did a big loop...and managed to be there well before the leaders came through. I started taking photos of the front men and then the ladies as they passed but didn't spot Sue. By the time the 3:15 and 3:30 pacers had gone past, I was starting to worry. I made sure that I could also see the runners coming back towards me at the 3K point, but didn't want to turn away from my first viewing position as Sue had told me that she would be starting slowly.......though I doubted it would have been so slow that she'd be this far back.

Supporting is obviously a tough job!!

Suddenly my phone rang, and my heart sank when I saw it was Sue calling me - her hamstring had gone within the first half mile and so she had been forced to stop and make her way back to the start - she was obviously very upset so I made my way back there as fast as I could (but not running). I was so upset for Sue as there was nothing she could have done about it, but she felt that she'd let people down. We got her some ice and a massage (or two)...and the massage therapists kindly offered to give my legs a rub as they had little to do until the rest of the elites finished.

We stayed around the race area to watch how it unfolded. Unlike the previous year, it was a nice warm sunny day, so although I made sure that Sue got treatment on her leg and didn't have to walk around much, I enjoyed wandering backwards and forwards across the square checking on her but also watching the big TV screen showing the runners at the sharp end of the field. I heard the race announcer talking about me and saying that he hadn't spotted me running this year, so I went and explained the situation to him. This seemed to earn me a media pass which meant that I could be right on the finish line when the leaders came in.

The leading ladies early on

It was quite exciting in the end as the Kenyan man who'd won the race in  2016 and 2017 was actually beaten by two Ethiopians this year...the first of whom missed the course record by a mere 7 seconds!! In the ladies' race, there had been a lead pack consisting of a Kenyan, an Ethiopian and a Moldovan (paced by the Moldovan Ukrainian husband). I didn't see "the move" but in the latter stages the Moldovan lady was running alone some distance ahead of the others, and took a fine victory by several minutes.

It was very difficult to be an impartial bystander rather than a medic at the end of the race, as I wanted to get the exhausted runners into the shade rather than having them sitting/standing in direct sunlight for photographs and interviews.....but it was important not to interfere, especially as Hilary was watching to see how the race organisers had prepared and how they reacted to developing situations, eg the 3rd placed lady's legs giving way when she finished necessitating her being carried back to the Elite tent, yet also needing to go to antidoping.

 

My new roles...

Although I really did wish that I had been able to run, I found it a very "educational" event. I hope that I was also useful to the organisers as I helped to make sure they understood the IAAF rules and protocols (as they were all written in English), eg what was required of an invited Elite field, and also learnt some of the issues facing a race organiser (who wanted to give advice to runners on course, eg to slow down in the early stages so they had more chance of running faster times overall, but was obviously not allowed as that would be "coaching them"), and some of the frustrations with interpretations of rules, eg that struggling runners do not realise that they can get assistance from someone outwith the race such as water without being DQ'd as long as that assistance does not constitute forward propulsion.

Hmmm.....maybe I could develop my skills in the race accreditation department...either that or athlete support/management.....