An apple region – “Tarczyn  Półmaraton”

In order to sum up the first year of the run and open the autumn season, I went to VIII Tarczyn
Polmarathon. Why there? There were several reasons. First, it's easy to get to the venue, because a half marathon was held in a small town in the suburbs of Warsaw. Secondly, he had a classic route in one circle. Thirdly, it was the eighth marathon in which I participated, and that was an eighth edition of that half marathon, isn’t it symbolic? And I was also wondering how such events are organized in small cities of Poland.

From Kiev to Warsaw I went on a train. When I arrived at “Warsaw West” station and put the main
luggage to the luggage compartment, taking only the things for a race, I went by bus to the town of Tarczyn. The way to it took me 20 minutes and 7 zloty. Since the registration was supposed to begin at 4:00 pm, I decided to take a walk around the town.

Registration for a half marathon costs 85 zlotys. I got a startup package that consisted of a Pepsi jar, a start number and a chip in a gym at the local gymnasium. T-shirt was sold separately. But the situation with the residence was not so good. The closest hotel was located 10 km from the start. After picking up the starting package, I decided to do an evening warm-up and walk to the hotel. The road took two hours, but the surrounding landscapes were worth it. The hotel was magnificent, it’s architecture was very interesting. It seemed that the building was an ancient estate that was built near two lakes.

The start of the race was at 10 am, so I quickly settled, made a little walk around the hotel's surrounding area and went to bed.

I got up early in the morning, ate my breakfast with sandwiches and a cup of juice. This time I did not want to walk, so I called a taxi and went to the starting point.
The adults could run distances of 21 and 10 km, also there were races for children. Their start was divided: began with a half marathon, then all other races. The route was quite simple: one circle of asphalt road, from time to time there were descents and climbs.
After changing clothes and putting things in the luggage compartment, I decided to warm up before the start to accelerate the flow of time.
The first few kilometers of the half marathon passed through the central street of the town, bending the central square of the city. Where runners met a pyramid laid out with apples. Then the route paves its way in the adjacent streets of the city and leads throughout apple orchards. The first 5 km I crossed for 24 minutes, joining a group of runners who held a good pace.
At the first point (it was located at the mark of 5 km) I drank a little water and isotonic. I was not at all ready for speed one mile in 7 minutes, which was the reason for my slowdown after the first point. I realized that I would not last long if I ran in that pace. The next 7 miles I overcame at 1 hour 4 minutes. At 8 km of the route, I again took the water and isotonic. Before the finish, there were two more points: at the 12th and 16th km. The route had a lot of turns, where firefighter stood and showed where to run. This is rather unusual, since volunteers usually do this. The traffic on the runway was limited only partially, which was corrected by local police and firefighters.
Despite the fact thet it was an 8 th Tarczyn Półmaraton, I can not say that the race was quite popular and massive. Only 300 runners participated at a distance of 21 km. Most of them came from Warsaw and other Polish cities, but there were also participants from other countries, such as Macedonia, Spain, Germany and Ukraine. At the finish, our medals, drinks and many apples were waiting for us. The names and place from where the runners came were also announced.
Received my medal in the form of an apple, after a little rest I went to gather my stuff. In the gym I ate a salad and a meat pasta. After the race they seemed quite appropriate and tasty. And then went to the bus station to go to Warsaw.
The race left in my memory a portion of pleasant memories of the town about Tarczyn.
Source: androshchuk.com/blog