Tuesday, May 25, 1999

TR Czech Republic


Trip Report
Czech Republic
5/21 – 5/2/24/99

 

Prague Marathon
Prague, Czech Republic
Sun, May 23/99
Marathon # 133 – Country # 11

 I had been living in England for one month and had been training and running short races with the Bishops Stortford Running Club but I had not run a marathon since my ‘burnout’ in Mexico in Nov/98. It was time to find out if I could go the distance?

 I picked the Prague Marathon since it was a big, popular race in Europe and had a website that made it easy to find and register. Nicole and I decided to go to Prague for a long weekend to run the marathon and play tourist. We arrived on Fri so we would have time to explore the city before the race. We took a tour to enjoy all the tourist sites starting with Old Town. The center of the Old Town, appropriately named Old Town Square, has served as Prague’s main marketplace for over 1000 years. The square is home to most of the major sights, including the city’s famous Astronomical Clock that is part of the Old Town Hall. Old Town's ancient town hall (Staroměstská radnice) was established in 1338 after the agreement of King John of Luxemburg to set up a town council. Several old houses had to be knocked together over the centuries as the Old Town Hall expanded. A Gothic chapel and a neo-Gothic north wing were destroyed by the Nazis in spring 1945. The chapel has been reconstructed. The most popular part of the tower is the Town Hall Clock (Orloj). Originally installed in 1410, the clock was rebuilt by the Master Hanuš in 1490. It consists of three parts – the procession of Apostles, the astronomical clock and the calendar. The main attraction is the hourly procession of the 12 Apostles. The height of the tower is 69.5 m and it offers a great view of the city.

Then we walked across the Charles Bridge.  The Charles Bridge (Karlův most), named after the Emperor Charles IV in 19th century is Prague's most familiar monument. Designed by Petr Parler, it was completed in 1400 and it connects the Lesser Town with the Old Town. Although it is now pedestrianized, it withstood wheeled traffic for 600 years. There are thirty statues on the bridge, many of them have been replaced with copies. Originals are kept in the Lapidarian of the National Museum and at Vyšehrad. The magnificent Gothic Old Town Bridge Tower was designed by Petr Parler and built at the end of the 14th century. It is considered the finest Gothic tower in central Europe, mainly for its decoration. There are marvelous views of the Vltava River Valley, the Žofín, Střelecký Island, the Old Town and the Lesser Town.

 Next was the Prague Castle. It is the largest ancient castle in the world (570 m long, on average 128 m wide, area 7.28 hectares). Constructed in the 9th century by Prince Bořivoj, the castle transformed itself from a wooden fortress surrounded by earthen bulwarks to the imposing form it has today. Rulers made their own additions so there is a mixture of styles. Prague castle has had four major reconstructions, but it keeps its classical facelift it took on in the 18 century during the reign of Maria Theresa.
The castle has three courtyards and it has always been the seat of Czech rulers as well as the official residence.

And of course there always has to be a church. St Vitrus Cathedral might appear ancient, but much of Prague's principal cathedral was completed just in time for its belated consecration in 1929. Its many treasures include the 14th-century mosaic of the Last Judgement above the Golden Gate, the baroque silver tomb of St John of Nepomuck, the ornate Chapel of St Wenceslas, and art nouveau stained glass by Alfons Mucha.

We concluded the tour back in Old Town Square (Starometske namesti) for dinner and drinks. Hotels in Prague were expensive but meals and beer were cheap!

Sun was ‘M’ –day! I wasn’t sure what to expect from my old ‘rested’ body? My longest training run had been 18 miles and I had no confidence that I was in marathon shape. The course started and finished in Old Town Square and crossed the Vltava River many times. Shortly after the start we passed many of the city’s tourist sites. We ran along the Vltava River beneath the seemingly never-ending hilltop castle, and crossed over the historic Charles Bridge, dotted every few meters with its parade of haunting Baroque statues. In the race’s first two miles alone, we crossed the Vltava River no fewer than three times, over three bridges, each one presenting an expansive view of the city that stands physically and historically in the center of Europe.
I wisely started slow and was happy when I reached 10Km in 55:58 and a split of 5:25.

Around the eight-mile mark we ran through the city center, getting lost in the knotty turns of the Old Town’s narrow cobblestone streets lined with tightly packed Gothic houses that date to medieval times. Along Na Prikope Street we passed Wenceslas Square, the walkway and boulevard that is the site of almost every important moment of Czech modern history, including the country’s declaration of independence in 1918, the Nazi invasion in 1939 and the popular demonstrations of the Velvet Revolution in 1989. I passed 15 Km in 1:22:34 and a split of 5:21/Km and the half in 1:54:43 and a split of 5:23. That was really slow and I felt good so I decided to lower the pace for the 2nd Half.

I passed the National Theatre near 32Km and reached 35 Km in 3:07:19 and a split of 5:03 and pushed the pace lower again to cross the finish line in the Old Town Square in 3:43:31. My finish time wasn’t great but I was happy. I did not experience any problems and I ran a negative split in the 2nd Half by seven minutes. Maddog was back! I had completed marathon #133 and country # 11. It was my first marathon and country since moving to England. I knew it would not be my last!

After a hot shower Nicole and I wandered around Old Town Square enjoying the sights and a few beers before we treated ourselves to a fantastic dinner with a bottle of wine for less than $50!

When we returned home to England I sent an email to my family and friends to tell them about the marathon and our wonderful trip to Prague. And a great idea stuck me? If I was going to travel and run marathons around Europe I should write race/trip reports after each race so that I could keep my family and friends informed. Yes – that was a good idea! I would start after the next marathon!

That was one of the best decisions I ever made. Without those trip reports that recorded my thoughts, observations and race statistics there is no way I could possibly contemplate writing a book about Maddog’s marathon adventures! (Believe me - it was not easy going back and writing this report 16 years later. But it was needed for the book!)

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, May 01, 1999

1999 The year of Life-changing Events


1999
The Year of Life-changing Events

 I began 1999 following advice and recommendations from the Baylor Sports Clinic in Dallas, TX to recover from ‘burnout’ in my running life.  I was concerned that I might never be able to run competitively again? That was an important event in my life.

 But little did I know that two more and very important life-changing events would also occur at the start of this year? Well that is a little white lie since I knew one was about to happen. I had made an important decision at the end of 1998. I would retire from my job as an executive in Marketing and Sales for a hi-tech company that manufactured telecom equipment. The retirement would be effective the 1st week of Jan 1999! I had beaten my goal to retire at age 55 by three months! Now what would I do?

 That question was answered shortly when Nicole’s company Nortel, offered her a one-year foreign assignment in England. She was eager to tackle this challenge and since I had nothing to do – other than rest – why not? I encouraged her to accept the transfer. While she worked her butt off, I could travel around Europe – and maybe even run a few marathons after I recovered from my ‘burnout’?

 She needed to start the new job in March so we agreed that she should go ahead and I would stay behind to sell our house in Dallas and most of our belongings. We would not be returning to Dallas. She would retire when the assignment was over and we would move to our retirement home in Florida. We had planned for retirement and had purchased a house in Sarasota, FL in the mid 1990s. Since it was furnished we didn’t need to move furniture. We could sell our Dallas home and put our personal belongings in storage and Nortel would pay all the expenses. What a great deal and good timing!

 I was able to continue with my “REST & recovery’ program while preparing the house for sale and packing. I had to complete my month of rest and begin a 10-week training program with a professional coach that trained pro and elite runners in Dallas. Nicole left for England in March and I stayed to sell the house, pack and complete my training program. I successfully completed those tasks and was ready to join Nicole in England in April. By then she had rented a new 3 BR house in St Michael’s Mead, a new subdivision in Bishop’s Stortford, about 30 miles north of London. Nortel paid all the expenses on the rental house, provided a company car and a monthly stipend to cover additional costs of a foreign assignment. Essentially we lived for free in England for one year and banked Nicole’s entire salary. What a great deal!

 I had contacted the Bishop’s Stortford Running Club before arriving and was welcomed to join the club. I had completed my 10-week training program and was once again running but had no plans yet for racing.  I quickly learned that Running Clubs are much different in England than in the USA. As the members would proudly claim, “we are a bunch of drunks with a running problem”. The clubs are much more social. The BSRC had a clubhouse with meeting facilities, a kitchen and a bar with beer taps. On a typical meeting night members would meet for a run or race and then convene to the clubhouse for a shower, followed by a pot-luck dinner and beer! I really enjoyed my year with the BSRC.

After a few weeks of running in England I started to think that perhaps it was time to run a marathon again? And thus began a very extensive and valuable lesson on how to run marathons in foreign countries. I think it is important to explain and share these lessons and experience with you so you can understand how difficult it was – and take advantage of my experience.

 First recall that it was 1999 and the Internet was in its infancy and not very robust. ‘Big’ races like London, Paris, etc did had informative websites and the capability to register but races in small, poor , 3rd world countries did not have the expertise or budget to develop websites. So the big races were easy to find, get info and register but there were few of those.

The smaller races were a much more difficult challenge. The most common places to find info on those races were running magazines such as Runner’s World, Running Times, AIMS, etc. Another source of info was race brochures handed out at race expos. Those publications provided race calendars and ads that provided the name, address and phone numbers for the race. Very few had email addresses to make the process quicker and easier. Let me explain the process. If I had time I could write the Race Director (RD) and request information. But that process needed weeks to complete and seldom worked because there would be no response? So the next step I tried was to call the RD. Didn’t work! If I called a RD in Greece for example he would answer the phone in Greek (or what sounded like Greek to me?) and I would reply in English  - and that was the end of the conversation! Next step and the one I found to be the most successful and thus became my primary method was to send a fax. I would write a concise fax in English requesting info and fax it. In most cases the RD could not understand or read English – but I usually received a response within a few days! How? The RD would give my fax to a race volunteer who understood English or – more likely – he would take it home and give it to his kids who spoke English. They would translate my fax to Dad, the RD, who would provide a response that they would then  translate into English. And Dad, the RD, would fax a response back to me. We would often exchange several faxes in this manner until I received all the necessary info. By then the RD and I were usually friends and he would often assist me with travel logistics and even invite me to stay with him and his family!

The 3rd method was ‘word of mouth’ from runners I would meet at races. I would ask runners from other foreign countries if there were any marathons in their country and how to get info. Usually they would give me their email address so we could correspond and they would help me find and register for races. And in some cases where there was no marathon in a country I would ask local runners and their running clubs to help me organize one.

Using these methods that I learned through frustration and experience I was able to run 31 marathons in 31 countries (and accomplish my 1st World Record) during our year in England. If I had perfected these methods earlier I believe that I could have completed 50+ marathons and 50+ countries in that year! My biggest handicap was finding marathons and setting up the travel logistics! Even with the robust internet that is available 16 years later I still have to revert to the other methods – particularly  ‘word-of-mouth’ to find marathons in small, poor 3rd world countries!

I started with the simplest method – the Internet – to find and register for my 1st marathon in Europe – the Prague Marathon. When we returned home to England after the marathon I emailed news of the race to my family and friends. And I realized that if I was going to run more marathons and travel more in Europe I needed to write race/trip reports after each race so that I could record the facts accurately. That decision and those reports were a significant and important event. My family enjoyed the reports and without those reports I would not have the material or memories needed to write a book about Maddog’s marathon adventures!