Of course: it’s too late for training tips so close to the Vienna City Marathon on Sunday. But what helps runners stay happy, optimistic and focused during the city marathon? We tapped into the “crowd knowledge” of experienced “marathonies”.
“Here is the start, there is the finish. You have to run in between.” Emil Zatopek, the “Czech locomotive”, got to the point in the 1950s: Can running be described more succinctly? Probably not.
Because even if training knowledge and running technique expertise fills books, seminars and social networks, the quips of Zatopek, who died in 2000, are true. After the start, all theory condenses into his mantra: “… in between you have to run.”
It is then too late for training wisdom. What can help now are tips and tricks from other “marathoners”: “crowd knowledge” of the running bubble. A lot is known. Some things are banal. Some things grotesque. But in the struggle with oneself it is clear: “Whatever works counts.”
For what reason? Zatopek again: “If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to get to know a new life, run a marathon.” There’s no question of “easy”: everyone knows the sleepless pre-race night and the nervous stomach. Also the fear of missing the start because the toilet queue is endless. Don’t panic: That’s how many people feel. People just don’t talk about it.
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