Portugal 9^th Half Marathon was my fourth competition, taking place at the 28^th September. The race started at ponte Vasco da Gama, and, since there was no possibility of getting there by car, I had to woke up pretty early (7:00 a.m.) in order to get into an event bus and not end like a sardine in a pack.

I got to the starting line at 8:45 a.m., which means 1h45min of before the starting gun. I drank water, walked, laughed about the frenetic movement around the toilets, read abandoned newspapers… everything served to kill time, really.

One nice feature was that, since there was a half marathon and a mini-marathon (8km), the organization divided the runners. It was nice to benefit from some space for the half-marathon runners, like me.

As for the race itself, I was really impressed how quick the 10km came, despite my slow rhythm (57:28). Things only started to get a bit painful in the 13^th kilometre, with a not so easy climb. A long one… some people quitted right there. The rest of the race was made in pure effort management, with plenty of water and powerade being drunk. By the 20^th kilometre, I made a final effort and ender the race in a really fast sprint: 1:57:02. A bit slower than I expected, but waiting almost two hours for the start of the race played a role here.

Here are some photos:

A view from the half-marathon starting line. Pretty early, so, few people yet

My Nike Dryfit t-shirt, which I used for this race. Perspiration issues are overcome with this garment. Nice piece of gear

And my classification screen shots

General classification - 1737^th out of 2758 runners

Men’s classification - 582^th out of 881 runners

And now, one week off and then… Corrida do Tejo 2008 trainning!

The day started early, Woke up at 7:15 a.m., took a reinforced breakfast and off we went to Oeiras. We left the car there and got to the starting point (Algés) by train - participants in the race could travel for free - a nice attention from the organization.

The race started at 10:00 a.m. sharp. Since I was in the last group of participants (those with no official mark or with more than 48min. per 10km), we only started effectively 4 minutes later.

The first two kilometers where dedicated to pass slow runners (or fast walkers as I call them), so I could only get into my normal pace at 3 km.

The race itself was pleasant to do, with only three moderate climbs, especially the last one at 8 km, with a slight inclination but lengthy. The last kilometer was a breeze, and I even managed to accelerate as I arrived to the finish line.

I decided not to take the Nike+ kit nor the iPod, in order to get a full impression of the race and its ambience, since it’s my first participation in this kind of event. Despite being now officially addicted to run with the Nike+ kit, I’ve managed to control my pace smoothly.

8.500 people participated in the race, only 7.165 classified (view race’s classifications here).

Winners:

• Men - Rui Silva (Portugal) 29:04
• Women - Vanessa Fernandes (Portugal) 33:29

Top marks for the organization of Corrida do Tejo 2007! Hope to do it next year!

Corrida do Tejo 2007 official t-shirt


My time: 54:14


Corrida do Tejo 2007 participation medal