{"id":6434,"date":"2019-10-15T16:11:22","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T16:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/?p=6434"},"modified":"2019-10-17T10:10:49","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T10:10:49","slug":"tirana-half-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/?p=6434","title":{"rendered":"Tirana Half Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Tirana, the capital city of Albania. Enclosed by mountains and hills, it enjoys it own little micro climate. It is one of the sunniest cities in Europe enjoying over 2500 hours of the golden stuff every year as Ian Dyer found out last weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"971\" height=\"570\" src=\"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/55302718-300B-4F6E-97FC-8C2A87A1DDBD.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6439\" srcset=\"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/55302718-300B-4F6E-97FC-8C2A87A1DDBD.jpeg 971w, https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/55302718-300B-4F6E-97FC-8C2A87A1DDBD-768x451.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 971px) 100vw, 971px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s so hot here!\u201d he messages me, as I pull on a cardi and stare out the window as the persistent rainfall here in Blighty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The running weekend is the largest sporting event held in the city. Welcoming some 2500 runners from 40 different nations, the race has grown year on year. With a half marathon, a 10k and a series of fun runs over the course of the 2 days the event is very inclusive and has a fun, festival feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1536\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/1EB44371-E38C-4CC0-B4A7-F4BEEB469483.jpeg?fit=474%2C267&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/1EB44371-E38C-4CC0-B4A7-F4BEEB469483.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/1EB44371-E38C-4CC0-B4A7-F4BEEB469483-768x576.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In N\u00ebn\u00eb Tereza Square Ian lined up on the startline in the already hot sunshine (26c)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1334\" height=\"1291\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/C4EAC3D1-B91D-45F1-AA59-CEE7277BE276.jpeg?fit=474%2C267&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6435\" srcset=\"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/C4EAC3D1-B91D-45F1-AA59-CEE7277BE276.jpeg 1334w, https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/C4EAC3D1-B91D-45F1-AA59-CEE7277BE276-768x743.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1334px) 100vw, 1334px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it! The bloke stood next to me was from Wootton!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1035\" height=\"716\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/3C13E8D1-6A04-46DB-A40C-5038F07AD9B1.jpeg?fit=474%2C309&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6444\" srcset=\"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/3C13E8D1-6A04-46DB-A40C-5038F07AD9B1.jpeg 1035w, https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/3C13E8D1-6A04-46DB-A40C-5038F07AD9B1-768x531.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1035px) 100vw, 1035px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"996\" height=\"666\" src=\"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/3221967D-4A7A-4677-B363-1F1E2A6419BE.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6445\" srcset=\"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/3221967D-4A7A-4677-B363-1F1E2A6419BE.jpeg 996w, https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/3221967D-4A7A-4677-B363-1F1E2A6419BE-768x514.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 996px) 100vw, 996px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>9am came and Ian was off on his journey into the city. Travelling north first before turning onto Rruga Ded\u00eb Gjo Luli passing the Natural History Museum before then an out and back section before heading south, skirting Rinia Park before heading down to trace the shores of the artificial lake before taking him through the Grand Park of Tirana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2048\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/7C7C0413-BEBB-4394-8300-EB057311B7A2.jpeg?fit=474%2C267&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/7C7C0413-BEBB-4394-8300-EB057311B7A2.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/7C7C0413-BEBB-4394-8300-EB057311B7A2-768x768.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"383\" height=\"322\" src=\"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2D16B637-ED65-4098-9EA8-D630475FC477.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6441\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2048\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/4B5A2337-2825-4D48-BB90-A137211254F7.jpeg?fit=474%2C267&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6442\" srcset=\"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/4B5A2337-2825-4D48-BB90-A137211254F7.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/4B5A2337-2825-4D48-BB90-A137211254F7-768x768.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>He then wiggled his way back through the city to return to N\u00ebn\u00eb Tereza and the welcome sight of the sun baked finish line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1401\" height=\"1425\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/E00D5291-2D25-4B48-8AE9-727F4271EDDB.jpeg?fit=474%2C267&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6436\" srcset=\"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/E00D5291-2D25-4B48-8AE9-727F4271EDDB.jpeg 1401w, https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/E00D5291-2D25-4B48-8AE9-727F4271EDDB-768x781.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1401px) 100vw, 1401px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1182\" height=\"1663\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/524E0AB7-9D0B-4104-89C5-EDC7A292B5C7.jpeg?fit=474%2C271&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/524E0AB7-9D0B-4104-89C5-EDC7A292B5C7.jpeg 1182w, https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/524E0AB7-9D0B-4104-89C5-EDC7A292B5C7-768x1081.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1182px) 100vw, 1182px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI enjoyed that! Although it was just so hot. It went upto 29c by the time I\u2019d finished. The was no breeze and with the wide streets there was little shade either. But it was a lovely course and brilliantly organised\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"977\" height=\"1078\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/B1159F7A-AC47-4735-AA8F-90704C272FA3.jpeg?fit=474%2C327&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6446\" srcset=\"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/B1159F7A-AC47-4735-AA8F-90704C272FA3.jpeg 977w, https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/B1159F7A-AC47-4735-AA8F-90704C272FA3-768x847.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 977px) 100vw, 977px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tirana, the capital city of Albania. Enclosed by mountains and hills, it enjoys it own little micro climate. It is one of the sunniest cities in Europe enjoying over 2500&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6434"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6434"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6485,"href":"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6434\/revisions\/6485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}