Fits do Race Reviews: The Venice Marathon

Venice Marathon Recap: Marathon #52

Last Sunday, October 25, I completed my 52nd marathon: the Venice Marathon!

Race weekend

Dustin and I flew in from London on Friday evening, arriving in the rain at our hotel, the Palazzo Experimental, in Dorsoduro (one of Venice’s quieter neighborhoods).

(The picture below is from our second night, not our rainy arrival! Venice was beautiful, especially outside the busy touristy areas. I loved it!)

On Saturday we slept in a bit. Sleep two nights before a race is so important, so I was pleased to be fully rested per my Whoop. We did a short 3-mile shakeout run, which was a little challenging given the crowds and canals in central Venice! But beautiful.

(not pictured: said crowds, ha! These pictures were anomalies vs. the rest of the 3 miles!)

We ate a hearty breakfast at the hotel and then took the tram to the expo, moving quickly through packet pickup. My stomach actually wasn’t feeling great at the expo (maybe from the hearty breakfast?), and I was a bit worried about how the race would go… but fortunately whatever bug/issue it was passed.

We wandered around a bit, even stopping for a small glass of wine at a cicchetti bar in a cute neighborhood. I normally wouldn’t drink wine before a race, but I also want to balance experiencing a city on holiday with all the marathons we do, so I try not to take my hobby jogging too seriously… (though I was careful to stay hydrated, particularly after my stomach issues).

Then it was back to the hotel to chill before dinner (pizza) at Oke Zattere, right by our hotel. Easy, and then in bed watching episodes of “Nobody Wants This” before sleep.

Race morning

It was a restless night, and I didn’t feel amazing… The alarm went off at 5, and we were out the door at 6 am to catch a water taxi to the shuttle.

The water taxi was PACKED. I felt like a sardine! We barely got on, and I’m so glad we did, as I imagine the next one was even more full.

We were at the shuttle spot by 6:30, with marathon shuttles starting at 6:50. It was a mad dash to get onto a shuttle. I hate that feeling of every man for himself. Somehow we got seats, though so many runners had to stand, packed uncomfortably onto the shuttle for the roughly 45-minute ride. Not great. Dustin and I both read books on the Kindle apps on our phones. No chitchat; waste of energy!

We arrived at the start area in Stra, a small town, around 7:45 and went straight to the toilet lines. Gear drop closed at 8:55 and the race started at 9:40, so we had time to kill, but that’s better than feeling rushed.

After dropping off our gear, we parted ways, as Dustin was in corral 1 and I was in corral 3. It was a chilly start, maybe 45°F/7°C, which is great for running, but I was so glad I had a throwaway jumper on.

I was shocked that the race actually started five minutes early, at 9:35. I hope no one was still in line for the toilet!

The first 20 miles

I felt very cold, which is great at the start of a marathon in my opinion. I was in control of the pace, and the first 20 miles were actually glorious. We ran through cute Italian villages with fab crowd support. Really lovely course! I was steady Eddie pace-wise, averaging about 8:32/mile. Here are my splits:

The bridge and the canals

Then, as we made our way across a very long bridge into Venice, things started to get pretty tough. I had some cramping on the front of my ankle, and I could feel my pace slowing. It was work now instead of a cruise.

The bridge felt like forever… though I really appreciated that there were only kilometre markers, not miles. They click by so much faster, and I have to do some mental math to figure out where I am, which keeps my mind occupied.

I actually NEVER looked at my Garmin until I crossed the finish line, so I honestly didn’t know exactly what my time would be. Of course, I had a general idea since there were pacers for 3:45 and 3:50, but I didn’t know which corral they had started in, so I wasn’t sure. For marathons, it doesn’t help me to see how much I’ve slowed in the final 10K; it’s better for my mental game to just push as hard as I can and try not to walk. Other than Amsterdam, where I ran a 6-minute negative split, I generally slow in the final 10K, so it’s better not to let it get me down. But I didn’t look at it at all during the first 20 miles either, so it was cool to see that my splits were relatively even!

After the long bridge, I knew the hardest part was yet to come. I mean, the last 10K of a marathon is always the hardest part, right? It’s a 20-mile warmup to a 10K. But this course had 14 canal crossings in the last miles.

You can see in this picture what some of the crossings looked like; they were very crowded, unless you opted for the stairs instead of the ramp. At miles 21-26 of a marathon, stairs are a bold choice!

Each crossing had a ramp, which was a mini hill on tired legs. And some of the crossings were crowded and essentially single file! I focused on just keeping moving, no walking. I was proud that I never walked or truly blew up, just slowed to over 9 min/mile for the last 10K:

The finish

Finally, finally, I could see the finish line. I tried to keep smiling and remember the joy of this whole thing. I really do love marathons, even when they’re tough!

I crossed the finish line and received my medal from a volunteer speaking Italian. I had no idea what she was saying… which was the case for a lot of the marathon! The cheer was “Forza!”, which means something like “go on, keep going!”

I made my way through the finish area, easily picked up my gear bag and some finisher snacks, and then found Dustin. We chilled for a few minutes. He was happy with his 3:16, which was better than he expected, particularly since his training hadn’t been very diligent. Plus he’d been in NYC for work until the morning we flew to Venice: he landed at Heathrow at 6 am Friday, came back to Hampstead to unpack and repack, and then went right back to Heathrow! So with the jet lag and a busy week, 3:16 was a great time for him.

It was tricky to get out of the finish area, but we found our way to the water taxi, waited in a long line, and then waddled back to our hotel for a hot shower. It was already 3 pm by the time we got back. These late race starts mean the whole day is consumed! But we still had the energy to head out for celebratory glasses of wine and then a delicious dinner at Patichic, a restaurant my communication coach recommended. Followed by some gelato, of course.

Pros and cons

Pros: great weather, flat and fast first 20 miles, sufficient aid stations, friendly crowds, and high DPM (dogs per mile; I lost count at 171!).

Cons: challenging transport to the start, not many toilets on the course (fortunately my stomach recovered from the day before, but there weren’t many options if needed), and tough, crowded last miles with 14 canal crossings.

The Venice Marathon was unique and a cool way to experience Venice, but I don’t know that I’d put it in my top 10, or even top 20, out of 52.

My top 10

Curious about my top 10? Here they are, best overall (races like the Antarctica Marathon are incredible, but in their own category of adventure race!):

1. Tromsø Midnight Sun Marathon
2. Amsterdam Marathon
3. Dublin Marathon
4. Tokyo Marathon
5. London Marathon
6. Dingle Marathon (Ireland)
7. Big Sur Marathon
8. St. George Marathon (Utah)
9. Twin Cities Marathon
10. Grandma’s Marathon