The Latvian City of Riga.
An unlikely venue for a running festival…. or not as the case turned out as 2 or our intrepid trotting tourists Ian Dyer and Danny Faulkner found out.
“It was brilliantly organised with loads of different races on” Ian informs me
After flying out on Thursday, the pair spent a couple of days exploring this historic city and collecting their numbers from the expo.
Set on the estuary of the River Daugava as it meets the Baltic Sea, this former European city of culture has a rich heritage. Famous for its 19th century wooden buildings, art nouveau architecture and medieval old town, it’s easy to see why this city played host to 1.4 million visitors last year.
4243 of which have travelled there from 78 different nations to take part in the weekend’s racing.This bronze standard IAAF event is relatively new, but is growing year on year.
With a variety of distances on offer this event is truly inclusive. From a kiddies race to the more grown up 6k, 10k, half marathon and a full 26.2, there are a real family festival atmosphere. Ian opted for the marathon whilst Danny went for the half. The unearthly start time of 8.30 didn’t sound too unappealing until they realised the 2 hour time difference
“I am not thrilled to be running at this time in the morning, but hey ho!” Danny quips on Facebook just before the race.
Unperturbed, they unusually started off at the same time in the heart of Old Riga. Following largely the same course, both the marathon and half straddle both sides of the Daugava River, crossing all three of its bridges at some point in the race inbetween touring the Pardaugava, the Hanseatic Old Town, Kipsala Island and Art Nouveau District, with the marathon taking a few extra out and back sections too. This virtually flat course also enjoys the luxury of traffic free roads. Add in bands, choirs, folk dancers and “flag avenue” and you can see why this event is on the path to becoming one of the greatest events in Europe.
Danny made it back to the embankment finishline in a fantastic 1.30.20.
“The temperature was baking in places” he said
It didn’t seem to affect his performance however as he finished in an amazing 43rd out of some 7000 competitors.
Ian was still out there on the course, with the temperature going up and up.
“The atmosphere was brilliant” he said later in the day.
He enjoyed the race and practically danced down the finishing straight, waving his arms in the air and raising a cheer from the crowds with a big smile on his face to cross the line in 4.18.41. Watch his great finish here…..
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“I’m pleased with my time considering my injury” he beams
And so he should be.
Time for a beer …. Priekā
