The reason why I came here in the first place – the Leiden Marathon. The start (and nearby finish) was just a few minutes’ walk from the hotel which made everything a bit easier. The morning started pretty chilly at around 8°C but the forecasts promised warmer weather within 1-2 hours after the start topping up at around 13-15°C so I wasn’t really worried despite being a bit cold in just shorts and a t-shirt.
There were 3 starting groups and being placed in the last one I had no hopes of placing well when finishing. We were all sent off as planned at 1000 and after some frustrating narrow sections in town (no wider than 2 meters) and a few kilometers we reached the city limits and things opened up.
Throughout the run between the towns we passed through assigned mostly to cycling paths that seem to connect everything around here. The paths were everywhere from 1-1½ and 3-4 meters wide, and while it was narrow at times, because there were only 588 starters and as soon as we left Leiden we started getting spread out, it was never really an issue.
Throughout the run, whenever there could be the slightest doubt where to go there would be marshals pointing the way so despite the limited signage there was never a risk of turning the wrong way. When passing through towns the main intersections were fenced in to lead us along, but as soon as we were out in the open there were nothing that could prevent non-racers to move about. That wasn’t really an issue, either, though, as all the locals seemed very respectful and supportive of the race and racers. There was the occasional biker that wanted to use the bike paths that we were running on, but they were few and far between.
The long flat stretches between towns were nice, the towns seemed like the all were placed a couple of meters above everything else so whenever we were closing in on the next town we would be exposed to a short and steep (felt steep, at least) incline, and leaving we got a similar decline. And the numerous bridges across the canals (and a couple of tunnels) meant there were no shortage of short and intense ups and downs.
Returning to Leiden on the last few kilometers there was a lot of support along the way in form of onlookers. It probably also helped that we passed by multiple bars with outdoor serving that made the mood of the run even better. Getting closer to the end the course was completely fenced in and limiting the space to pass and be passed, and passing over the last few bridges we merged with the end of the 5- and 10km runs, squeezed together on 3 meters’ width and finally crossed the finish line.
Crossing the finish line. Unfortunately there were no official photographers along the course.
I crossed the line in 3:55:48, 14 seconds slower than my PR. The PR was during the Boston virtual run, looking at traditional runs I beat my previous PR with 1:59. I finished as no. 292/577 overall and 247/463 among men which put me in top 50,6% and 53,3%, respectively. Fastest runner did it in 2:33:06, slowest in 6:06:52. Overall I was happy with the result, so I guess the run could be considered a success.
Despite it was a 5-minute walk from the hotel to the finish line, it was a 15-minute walk the opposite way. Weird. I have a room on the second floor of the hotel that doesn’t have an elevator and only steep stairs. That was no fun. A much needed shower and good rest afterwards I finished off with dinner at one of the nearby steak restaurants.
