As I continue to run marathons, I try to look for new places where I can travel for a new running experience. In looking at a spring race, I wanted to go back to Europe, and to make the long trip and time change ‘count’ a bit more, I decided to see if I still had it in me to run marathons in back-to-back weekends.
Which is how I came to find the Split Marathon in Croatia.
✔️New place
✔️Back-to-back weekends (with Malta happening the following week)
I’d heard great things about Croatia from friends who have travelled there; however, I never really had plans to visit the country until seeing this race. Unfortunately, the flight schedule in/out of London wasn’t great, so I had just 2 1/2 days in Split (but about a full day total in Zagreb airport – which was not terribly exciting). It also was February, and thus one whole day it was rainy, windy, and cold – not ideal conditions for exploring Split!
I did need to go to the expo for packet pick up on the Saturday, which was why I chose to navigate the bus system from the airport. It was thankfully inexpensive, straightforward and reliable – the #37 bus line was my go-to on this visit!
The expo was held in a suburb of Split – one that we ended up running through for the marathon! – and it was a loud, busy experience. I got there early, and with several races happening that weekend, there were runners of all ages and abilities lining up for their bib and shirt. I had an issue with my bib – the poor volunteer wasn’t terribly comfirtable explaining in English what happened (they just couldn’t find my original number) – but a manager for the collection site came in and made sure I received a new bib and my information was attached to it. I was now proudly sporting bib 694.
We also collected shirts – and their theme was “#MyRun🩷Story” (it was Valentine’s weekend afterall!), so this was EVERYWHERE. Including on the shirt. I spent a bit of time trying to decide if the shirt was hideous or absolutely adorable, and I came to the conclusion that I love it.
Because of all the hearts and Valentine’s Day, I decided to plan my running attire around that, hence the bright pink shirt and pink + heart design socks. I felt very in touch with the race theme.
Rain mostly let up in the early afternoon, so I headed to the Riva waterfront to walk around a little and find some pizza or pasta for dinner. This was a beautiful section of the city, and I wish my hotel was located here with the water views. Thanks to the hotel front desk, I found a great pizza place (they specialise in cocktails, but I just had some local beer), had a late-ish lunch, and took home a pizza for dinner, too. With the weather forecast looking dicey and nothing on the hotel restaurant menu that would work for pre-marathon dinner, I was ok with eating some really good pizza twice in one day.
What can I say about the next morning? It was realy cold, and thankfully, I had about a 1.5 mi walk to the start to help me warm up. It wasn’t terribly clear that the bag drop was at the finish line – which was about 1/2 mi from the start line. So I had to make decisions about what warm items I took to the start – and what I left behind for when I finished.
It was at the start, during all the pre-race info, where the announcer shared one interesting fact about Split: there are more Olympic medalists per capita here than anywhere else in the world. And they are proud of it, with the Western Riva walk dedicated to showcasing those medalists.
We began in chilly temps, with a run through the waterfront space of Split, and headed onto some boring highways, travelling through some industrial areas, up and over and down some small rolling hills, running with the half marathoners for about the first 8 km, when marathoners took a right turn to head out even further away from the main areas of Split.
One of the parts I enjoyed the most was a bit of ‘off-road’ running, as we ran through a park and some ruins on the hillside opposite of where my hotel was (I could see it across the water and over in the distance), enjoying a bit of change for my legs as this was around the half-way point. It was not just a change for the legs; it also gave me something else to think about, as I desperately tried to not face plant by tripping over a rock or misjudging the terrain!
Eventually, we came back to the spot where we left the half marathoners, picking up the course again for the final eight or so miles. Two things really stuck out in my mind as fun and memorable sections of the course:
- running through the football stadium (Croatia very much loves its football teams! It was obvious from the second I stepped off the plane.
- running a (rather long) out and back through a beautiful park on the water before heading back to the waterfront of Split – and the finish line
The last few kilometers were fast and furious, even with tired legs. A woman ran beside me when I walked through a water stop and encouraged me to run since we were close. She didn’t speak much English and I didn’t speak any Croatian – so we ran silently together after that, picking up speed when we started a nice downhill slope that we knew led to the Riva. She almost ran straight when the course took a right turn, which allowed me to jump in front of her and I just kept pushing as hard as I could to get to the finish ahead of her. I made it, and while the timing site was slow and not easy to naviagate, I knew I finished in one of my fastest times since before covid, as the race clock had me just a bit over 4:18 (which my chip time ended up being 4:17:01).
What started as an ‘I don’t know if I want to/can do this’ race ended up being a great experience. I ran the whole way (haven’t done that since 2017 in Berlin!) except for walking through water stops so I didn’t drown myself.
Thank you Split for a fun weekend!
As always, I celebrated with a local beer and some fries – carbs and salt for the win!
PS: The race had plenty of aid stations with water, poweraid, and food (various options) so I never felt like I was going to struggle from a fueling perspective. And bonus – photos, while they took weeks to be shared, where free to download! Everyone spoke some English and I found most people were very helpful if I asked for something. While I would have loved to be with a friend or my husband, I felt safe and had a great time with the little I was able to do in a short time.
Robyn Runs the World 