3 Countries Marathon

Not long ago, it was the first time in my running career that I ran across a country border, passing guards and everything. Of course I had no passport on me, so it felt weird just to jog pass the border control from Switzerland to Italy, wondering about it being one thing to get out of Switzerland and another to get back in. But my leap of faith got rewarded with no issues (thank you Mr Schengen) and one running experience more under my belt.  Now in hindsight it feels a bit like a foreshadowing of my next marathon.

I did not plan it. My temporary work assignment in Zurich is coming to an end and I realised I had not yet found any time to do a marathon while here. A quick check on Swiss Running reminded me of a race that had fallen off my radar: The 3 Countries Marathon. It could also be called the Bodensee Marathon (Lake Constance Marathon), because this is where it is. Starting at Lindau (Germany, 1^st  country) it follows the Lake Constance shore down to Bregenz (Austria, 2^nd country), all the way down to Switzerland (3^rd country).

It was all a bit rushed: Checking the webpage on Wednesday, having had worked late for too many days in a row, a dinner party on Saturday night and a train connection to Bregenz that needed me to catch the first bus from my door step at 5:26 in the morning, suddenly the second half of my week changed from free to very packed. It did not help  that on Friday I woke up with a bit of a sniffle, which grew into something more like a cold, so when I got up on Sunday (after that dinner party) with an achy head (not caused by alcohol) I genuinely was not sure if traveling three hours each way to run for an estimated four in between is the best of all ideas.

I decided on a step by step approach, checking at each stage how I would feel, with the option to abort this mission at any time.

Step 1: Taking a shower. Check.

Step 2: Packing the running gear in time, my pondering whether to run or not, had not been part of the initial time plan. Check.

Step 3: Catching the bus. Check

Step 4: Arriving at Bregenz. Check

Step 5: Finding the ship that sets over to Lindau. Check

Step 6: Finding the conference hall in Lindau. Check

Step 7: Registration and number collection. Check

Step 8: Getting changed into my running kit. Check

Step 9: Off to the start line. Check

Step 10: Start running. Check

Step 11: At kilometre 36, sticking to the 4 hours pacer, who overtook me shockingly fast (Had I slowed down THAT much? I had stopped checking my watch for the last hour or so.)

Step 12: Winning the argument with the pacer, who wanted me to “go for it” on the final kilometre. I said, I am already going for it trying to stick to him and that I am having a cold and not in the mood for being pushed by anyone.

Step 13: Crossing the finish line with a pacer who did not want to appear to have anything to do with me.

Job done.

I could not quite believe it was that simple. I am thinking about writing a book “How to run a marathon in 13 steps (without pissing off the pacer)”. And I felt fine. Don’t get me wrong, it was a challenge and at some point, I could not decide whether the sweat came from running longer than I have for a long time, the beautiful warm weather or my cold. (I probably shouldn’t write about running with colds, because I have friends who might read this and tell me off and get really worried, and for the record, none should do that and it’s bad and stay in bed when you don’t feel 100%, ok?)

But would I do it again? Probably yes, at least starting with Step 1.