Z Valdir's races

Back to the index This year I chose to run the Helsinki City Marathon in Finland's capital. My wife and I arrived there almost two weeks before the race and did a lot of sightseeing. Sightseeing before the race We visited the Senate Square with its magnificent cathedral: We went to a lot of museums, like the National Museum of Finland: The Sibelius monument is a must-see: We spent a day in beautiful Tallinn, across the Baltic: We went as well to Turku, the ancient capital of Finland to see its magnificent castle: Race Day Then, just like that, it was race day: The Helsinki City Marathon was on: I did some stretching... ... and then we were off to the races: The race track is the worst I've ever seen: We had people coming and going almost in the same spot. Ridiculous! In some parts we could not pass the slower runners in front of us for fear of hitting the elite runners who were already coming back. Shame on...

Back to the index The Ottawa marathon is part of the "Ottawa Race Weekend", a series of events that happen on the weekend of May 24th-25th. Saturday, 24th My wife and I spent the Saturday, 24th, in Ottawa, we visited the marathon expo to get my bib, t-shirt and other race related stuff. After that we visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull. We went to see the "Canada Hall". Wow! If you ever find yourself in Ottawa, please do yourself a favour and go visit that exposition, it's fantastic! By the end of the afternoon we went to the Carleton University, where we had rented a room for the night. Even though I had registered for the race many months in advance, there were already no hotel rooms left. So, if you are considering running the Ottawa marathon, you should book your hotel way, way in advance. The room is simple but big. It's usually shared by two students during the regular University season (September to April), but dur...

Back to the index 2013 was a great year for me in terms of running. I ran my first marathon in Copenhagen in May , then did a local half marathon and went on to celebrate my 50th birthday with a race in Athens, Greece . The only thing I can complain about is the ankle injury that kept me from running my first marathon here in Montreal, but I guess you can't win them all... For 2014 I already have three marathons planned: one in May in Ottawa , then one in August in Helsinki , Finland and finally the marathon in Montreal , which I hope I'll be able to run this time. I'm hoping to get at least one sub-5 result in these three marathons. Back to the index

Back to the index Celebrating my 50 in style! This year I was going to celebrate my 50th birthday, so I wanted to do something special for the occasion. How about running the original marathon , the one that gave birth to all others? A pretty good idea, isn't it? So, off to Greece we go! A little bit of history "The marathon course is based on the myth from which the race gained its name: Pheidippides, a messenger in Ancient Greece, ran from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greeks' victory over the Persians." ( Wikipedia article on the Athens Marathon) Sightseeing before the race My wife and I arrived in Greece ten days before the race and spent our time there sightseeing. This was our third time in Greece, so we kind of know the place by now... ;-) We went to see the Parthenon, of course: We did a cruise by boat: I went to Delphi to ask the oracle there for a safe race... ;-): Days before the race I visited the Pan...