On May 19, I ran the Riga Marathon. This is another race that I was scheduled to run in 2020. It was one of the many races that got cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Riga is the capital of
Latvia. Prior to World War I, Latvia was
part of Russia. It gained its
independence after World War I, but was invaded by Russia in 1940, Germany in
1941, and Russia again by the end of World War II.
After World War II,
Latvia was part of the Soviet Union. It
regained its independence in 1991 after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
I generally schedule
flights with a certain degree of pessimism.
That’s especially true of international trips. When I booked my flights, I gave myself two
and a half hours for my connection in Amsterdam.
After I booked my
flights, Delta changed their flight schedule.
The change in flight times shortened my connection time to an hour and
55 minutes. That still seemed safe. Later, there was another schedule
change. That shortened my connection
time to an hour and 15 minutes. That’s
enough time for a domestic connection, but it’s rather tenuous when you have to
get across a large airport like AMS and also go through the international
arrival process.
I wasn’t comfortable with
the shorter connection, but there weren’t any good alternatives. I had to hope that my flight in Minneapolis
would arrive on time and I could get through the airport quickly.
Tuesday, May 14
I left Minneapolis on Tuesday
in the late afternoon. Everyone was on
board, and it looked like we would pull away from the gate about five minutes
early. Then one of the flight attendants
told the pilot there was a medical emergency.
One of the passengers was having an allergic reaction.
We had to wait for
paramedics to come on board. The good
news is that the passenger was OK. The
bad news is our departure was delayed almost 30 minutes.
Wednesday, May 15
We made up some time in
the air, but we still arrived in Amsterdam about 15 minutes late. That gave me only about an hour to get all
the way across the airport and through passport control. Making matters worse, we were coming in at
the farthest gate from where I needed to go.
I couldn’t run with my
bags, but I can walk pretty fast. I was
making good progress until I reached passport control. Then I encountered a line that would’ve taken
at least an hour. They had a fast lane
for people with tight connections, but I couldn’t get in that line until 25
minutes before my scheduled flight time.
After 15 minutes in the arrival hall, I finally made it through. After that, I still had to walk a fair
distance to get to my gate.
When I got to my gate, boarding
was in progress. I was one of the last
people on the plane, but I made my connection.
The most stressful part of the trip was over.
I arrived in Riga in the
early afternoon and took a taxi to my hotel.
I quickly learned that traffic going into the city is slow, and the
drivers are aggressive.
My hotel was in the Old Town,
just a few blocks from the Daugava River.
After checking in, I went for a run.
To get to the river, I had to cross a couple of busy streets. That’s when I learned something else about
Latvian drivers. They’re extremely
diligent about stopping when a pedestrian approaches a crosswalk.
I ran across the Akmens
Bridge, ran along the west bank of the river, and then came back and ran along
the east bank. From the bridge, I got a
good view of the river. From the west
bank, I got a good view of the Old Town.
On the left, you can see Riga Castle.
I booked walking tours
for the next three days, so I was content to wait until Thursday to begin my
sightseeing. There was one place,
however, that I decided to visit first, since it was right around the block
from my hotel.
The House of the
Blackheads was the guild house of a merchants’ guild called the Brotherhood of
Blackheads. The guild members were
single young men, and they were known for throwing parties. For their Christmas party in 1510, they put
up a tall pine tree and decorated it with flowers. Putting up a Christmas tree became an annual
tradition which quickly spread to the rest of Europe. There’s a marker where that first Christmas
tree stood.
The House of the
Blackheads was destroyed during World War II, but it was later reconstructed
from the original plans. Today, it’s a
museum.
When I travel to new
places, I like to try the local pizza. I
also seek out local beers. There’s a
brewery in the Old Town that serves food, and their menu includes pizza. Naturally I went there for my first dinner in
Latvia. After dinner, I wandered around
a bit to get acquainted with the streets around my hotel.
When I’m adjusting to a
new time zone, I usually stay awake until it gets dark. Riga is too far north for that. At this time of year, it stays light long
into the evening. I held out as long as
I could, but I conked out around 9:00.
By then, I had been awake for more than 30 hours.
Thursday, May 16
I had breakfast at the
hotel and did a workout in their fitness room.
Then I walked over to St. Peter’s Church to meet the tour guide for my
first of three free walking tours. I’ve
done tours like this in several other cities.
It doesn’t cost anything to sign up.
After the tour, you tip the tour guide whatever amount you feel is
appropriate.
This was a tour of the
Old Town. Our guide gave us an overview
of Riga’s history, so this tour gave me a good orientation for the rest of my
sightseeing in Riga. Some of the sights
I saw on this tour were the Riga Cathedral, the Three Brothers, the Swedish
Gate, the Powder Tower, and the Cat House.
[pictures from walking tour (5)]
Walking through Riga, I couldn’t help but notice the strong show of support for Ukraine. Nearly every building with a Latvian flag was also flying the Ukrainian flag. I also saw several flower arrangements with the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
There’s no shortage of bars and restaurant in the old town. I had a leisurely lunch at a restaurant near my hotel that had a large outdoor seating area.
I had three and a half
days before the race, so I was able to split up my time between running and
sightseeing. In the afternoon, I went
for another run along the river. This time
I stayed on one side of the river, but I ran along a section of the river that
was farther south.
When I was ready to
venture out again, I went down a street I had not previously explored. Before long, I reached the edge of the Old
Town and entered Bastejkalna park, which has a canal flowing through it.
As I came back into the Old Town, I started looking at restaurant menus until I figured out where I wanted to have dinner. I ate dinner later than usual, now that I realized how late the sun sets.
Friday, May 17
I ate a larger than usual
breakfast, knowing I probably wouldn’t have time for lunch. After breakfast, I went to the marathon expo. The expo was held at the Rimi Olympic Center,
which was two miles away from my hotel.
I could’ve taken a bus or tram part of the way, but none of them went
directly there, so I still would’ve needed to walk about halfway there. Instead, I decided just to walk the whole
way. I was getting in lots of walking.
I couldn’t spend too much
time at the expo, because I needed to get back in time for my next walking
tour, which started at noon. I dropped
off my race packet at the hotel, and then I went back to St. Peter’s Church,
which was also the meeting place for this tour.
This tour was called
Alternative Riga. We left the Old Town
to visit areas that aren’t typically visited by tourists. Our first stop was a large market, where
local residents were buying food for the weekend.
This building is the
Academy of Science. It’s an example of a
Soviet-era large office building.
This church is the tallest wooden building in the Baltics.
It was burned down in 1812, when all of the wooden buildings were set on
fire to deter Napoleon’s army from invading Riga.
This is the remains of
what used to be Riga’s largest synagogue.
It was destroyed during the Nazi occupation.
Our tour finished at the
Freedom Monument.
After my tour, I went for
another afternoon run. This time I
devised a route that followed a canal through three city parks.
After skipping lunch, I
was ready for a big dinner. On my way
back to the hotel, I picked up gelato for dessert.
Saturday, May 18
The hotel’s breakfast
service starts later on weekends, so I slept in a bit. After breakfast, I did a workout and then I
went to St. Peter’s Church to get the views from the steeple. This is the tallest building in Riga.
At noon, I went on my third walking tour. The meeting place for this tour was the Opera House, which is just outside the Old Town. This tour took us through central Riga, with emphasis on Art Nouveau architecture. The Art Nouveau style was only popular for about 20 years, but it happened to coincide with the period when Riga was expanding and lots of buildings were being built in what’s now the city center. There are roughly 800 Art Nouveau buildings in Riga. Here’s a small sample of the ones I saw on my tour.
Saturday was the only day I didn’t go for a run. I had already spent a lot of time on my feet, so I spent the rest of the afternoon resting at the hotel until it was time to go out for dinner.
Sunday, May 19
Sunday was race day. The race started at 8:00 AM, so I didn’t have
to get up unusually early. The start
corrals were in a plaza near the Akmens Bridge.
I only had to walk about two blocks to get to the entrance to the start
corrals.
They had four corrals,
with the first one being reserved for elite runners and other fast runners who
submitted qualifying times. I lined up
at the back of the second corral.
Two weeks ago, I had my
fastest marathon so far this year at the Belfast City Marathon. This race has a flatter course than that
one. The only hills are bridges, and
none of them rise more than 10 meters. I
run well on flat courses, so my goal was to improve on my time from Belfast
My biggest challenge was
the weather. Sunday was the warmest day
of my trip. It was 60 degrees at the
start of the race, and I expected it to get up to 70 by the time I finished. It was also sunny.
I didn’t line up with a
pace group, so I was on my own to start at the right pace. We started by crossing the Akmens Bridge. The first half of the bridge was slightly
uphill, which made it hard to gauge my pace.
It didn’t seem like I was going that fast, yet the pace felt tiring. As I reached the downhill side of the bridge,
I was able to speed up, yet I didn’t have to work as hard. After crossing the bridge, we were on the
south side of the river for the next seven kilometers.
When I finished the first
mile, I saw that I started a little faster than I planned. My original plan was to aim for a pace of
8:30 per mile in the first half and then try to speed up in the second
half. Instead, I ran my first mile in
8:15. That was faster than I planned to
start, but it wasn’t completely unreasonable.
I thought I might be capable of an 8:20 pace if I tried for even pacing.
In the first mile, I had
been working to get around the slower runners.
In the second mile, I settled into a consistent rhythm and just kept up
with the runners around me. The result
was that I ran the second mile at about the same pace.
Before long, I reached
the first of 18 “sprinkler” stations.
These were places where volunteers were stationed with hoses that had
sprinkler heads on them. They sprayed
down any runner who was close to them.
This seemed like something I might need later in the race, but I avoided
them early in the race. I didn’t want to
risk getting my shoes wet.
I was surprised to learn
that they had twice as many sprinkler stations as water stops. This isn’t just something they put in place
at the last minute because it was hot. I
had seen these on a course map that was published earlier.
Just past the 4K sign, we
turned a corner, and I saw the first water stop. When I got to the first table, all the cups
were gone. There were too many runners
rushing toward the second table for me to get there. I saw some cups on the third table, so I made
sure I got one. There were actually lots of other tables, but
I didn’t know that yet.
Aid stations were about
four kilometers apart. That was
adequate, but on a warm day I couldn’t afford to skip any of them. As it turns out, there were also tables with
an energy drink. When I got to them, I
had already finished drinking a cup of water.
When I reached the end of
the third mile, I saw that I had slowed to 8:37 in that mile. That was quite a bit slower than my first two
miles. I didn’t know if I relaxed too
much, or if it was due entirely to slowing down at the aid station.
Early in the next mile, a
pace group caught up to me. It was the
3:45 group. They had lined up in the
corral behind me, so they shouldn’t be catching up to me unless they were going
much faster than I was. My average pace
so far was faster than their target pace, so I was really surprised to see
them.
I was worried that it
would be all too easy to settle into their pace and run with the group. I was hoping for something faster, so I made
a point of picking up my pace and getting ahead of them. I never saw them again.
The next time I saw a
sprinkler station, I moved toward the middle of the street, so I wouldn’t get
sprayed. Other runners were moving
toward the sprinklers, so it was hard to avoid a collision. I got so distracted that I failed to notice
my time for the fourth mile.
Just past 7K, I reached
another fluid station. I grabbed a cup
of water from a table on my right and then quickly moved to my left to avoid
other runners. A short time later I saw
the tables with the energy drink. I was
already too far to the left to get to those tables. I made a mental note to be more patient next
time.
The aid stations all had
the same layout. First there was a table
with the bottles for the elite athletes.
Then they had several water tables.
Then they had a few tables with the energy drink. Then there were more water tables. I could afford to be patient. There were plenty of tables.
A few minutes later, I
saw a bridge ahead of me. I recognized
it as the Vanšu Bridge. This was the
most noticeable hill on the course, although it wasn’t that big of a deal. We would cross it a total of three times.
From the middle of the
bridge, we had a great view of Riga Castle.
I didn’t have my phone with me, or I would’ve been tempted to stop and
take a picture.
On the downhill side of
the bridge, I picked up speed. As I got
off the bridge, I got my split for mile five.
I don’t know what my pace was in mile four, but I ran mile five in 8:14.
After crossing the
bridge, our route took us halfway around the Old Town, but not through it. I was relieved that we didn’t actually have
to run through the Old Town. I love the
Old Town, but the streets are all cobblestone.
It’s awkward to walk on those streets.
Running them would be scary.
We ran along the east and
north sides of the Old Town. Then we
turned left to begin a large loop through the more modern area that’s now
considered to be the city center. First,
we ran through a couple of parks. Then,
as we entered the city center, I started to pay attention to the buildings we
were passing.
At first, I spotted
several buildings that had the characteristics of Art Nouveau
architecture. Then, in the next block, I
saw a boxy building that was all gray, with no embellishment of any kind. This was a building from the Soviet era, when
buildings were designed for utility, not aesthetics. They went out of their way to make every
building look plain.
For the time being, the
sun was still at a low enough angle that the buildings provided shade. That would change in a few more miles.
For the next several
miles, my pace ranged from 8:11 to 8:24.
I was setting an ambitious pace, but it felt like it just might be
sustainable. I wanted to challenge
myself.
I knew I was coming to
another aid station when I saw a sign that read, “Elite.” Soon, I saw a sign that read, “Water.” That was followed by several water tables. In the distance, I saw a sign that read,
“Energy.” I waited for those tables.
The first cup I grabbed
was less than half full. After drinking
it, I grabbed another cup. There were
only nine fluid stations on the course, so I needed to make sure I drank enough
at each one.
By the time I had run 10
miles, the sun was high enough in the sky that the buildings no longer provided
shade. For the rest of the race, it was
going to feel hotter.
As we were working our
way back toward the Old Town, I saw a building that looked familiar. It was mostly glass, with a style that looked
modern. As I got closer, I saw an old
wooden house that was painted blue. Then
I knew for sure. We were about to cross
a street that had been part of my walking tour on Saturday.
The street we were
crossing didn’t have any Art Nouveau buildings, but our tour guide took us
there because nearly every building on the street was from a different
architectural period. At one end of the
street, there was a Neo-Gothic church.
Then the more modern steel and glass building. Then the wooden house.
Farther down the block,
there was a Neo-Classical building and an Art Deco building from the
1930s. Beyond them, there was a Soviet
era utilitarian office building.
Finally, in the distance, was the much taller and fancier Radison Blu. It was originally a different hotel that was
built during the Soviet period. That
hotel was where foreign visitors were housed, so it was designed to make a good
impression.
As we got closer to the
Old Town, I saw the Freedom Tower in the distance. Then I knew exactly where I was. Soon, we would retrace our route around the
Old Town and finish the northern loop.
As we reached the
northeast corner of the Old Town, runners doing the half marathon turned right
to begin the final section before the finish.
Those of us running the marathon turned left and headed back toward the Vanšu
Bridge.
As I started up the
bridge, I had to put more effort into keeping up with the runners in front of
me. I didn’t want to slow down on the
bridge. Coming down the other side, it got
much easier.
We were now south of the
river again, but our route wasn’t the exactly the same as before. About half of the southern loop would be the
same, but we wouldn’t repeat the first few kilometers of the race. Instead, we took a ramp just past the bridge
and started a short loop through a neighborhood we had not seen before.
It was during this loop
that we reached the halfway mark. I was
on pace to finish in 3:39, but it was getting hotter. Normally, at the halfway mark, I would set a
goal of running negative splits. There’s
no way I was going to try to run faster in the second half when it was only
going to get hotter. I was hoping I
could hang on to break 3:40. That was my
only goal at this point.
In mile 14, I slowed to
8:26. I suddenly realized that there
weren’t as many runners around me now.
There were no more half marathon runners. Now it was only the marathon runners. I could see a group of runners ahead of me,
but there was nobody right next to me.
Without being able to “follow the pack,” I was on my own to set a
consistent pace. In that last mile, I
didn’t do a good enough job.
In the next mile, I
worked hard at pick up my pace. I
gradually caught up to the runners ahead of me.
Then I started to pass them. I overcompensated. I ran mile 15 in 8:05. That was my fastest mile of the race.
At 25K, I realized we
were now repeating the same streets as before.
For the next 15K, everything would be familiar.
I turned a corner and saw
the same aid station I had previously seen just past 4K. Now that I was in the second half of the
race, I planned on drinking two cups at every aid station. When I got to the “energy” tables, I grabbed
two cups at once and slowed to a walk for a few seconds to drink them
both. Then I hurried to get back to my
previous pace.
Just past 27K, I saw a
familiar sprinkler station. I decided to
avoid this one again, because we still had to cross the Vanšu Bridge one more
time.
I avoided the sprinklers,
because I still didn’t want to get my shoes wet. When my shoes get wet, I sometimes have
problems with my insoles. I’m most prone
to insole problems when I’m running down a hill. I wanted to put the bridge behind me
first. After that, the rest of the
course would be fairly flat.
There was an aid station
just before the bridge. I didn’t want to
slow down long enough to drink two cups right before starting up the
bridge. Instead, I grabbed one cup that
was reasonable full. That,
unfortunately, still forced me to slow to a walk while I drank it.
It wasn’t easy to get
back up to speed while running up the bridge.
I expected that mile to be slow.
The end of the 18th mile was right in the middle of the bridge. I ran that one in 8:17, which was right in
line with most of my miles. That was a
pleasant surprise.
I ran by the Old Town
again and headed out to do the northern loop for the second time. When I reached a sprinkler station, I moved
as close as I could. I got sprayed right
in the chest, getting my shirt wet. Then
I started to feel a cool breeze. In
general, there wasn’t much wind, but when you’re wet, even a slight breeze can
cool you off.
I was running down the
same street where I was previously noticing the architecture. Now, I was too focused on my pace and
effort. Most of the other runners were
slowing down. To keep up my pace, I
needed to follow the few runners who weren’t slowing down.
There were two runners in
particular that I was always chasing, but I couldn’t catch up with them. I did my best to keep from falling any
farther behind.
I reached another
sprinkler station. I ran past two
volunteers with hoses. The first one
sprayed me across the chest. The second
one got my face. I had to quickly wipe
my eyes and forehead to make sure salt from my sweat wouldn’t get rinsed into
my eyes.
The next time we turned a
corner, I knew we were at the farthest point on the loop. Soon, we would start working our way back
toward the Old Town.
One of the guys I was
chasing stopped briefly at an aid station to pour a cup of water over his
head. That allowed me to catch up to
him. As I left the aid station, I was
right behind him. He was wearing a light
blue shirt that read, “Riga Ironman Team.”
I had slowed to 8:32 in
mile 21, but now I challenged myself to keep up with the Ironman guy in the
next mile. In mile 22, I sped up to
8:15.
By now, I was finding
that even though I was drinking two cups at each aid station, I felt thirsty
again long before the next one. I also
found that the sprinkler stations helped briefly, but it didn’t take long
before I felt hot again.
The next sprinkler
station was at a turn, and it was on the wrong side of the street. I wanted to run the tangents, but I had to go
wide to get close to the sprinklers.
Both volunteers there were aiming the spray high. I wanted to get sprayed across my chest, but
it only hit my face. I closed my eyes as
I got sprayed, so I didn’t notice that I was about to step in a puddle. That happened more than once.
I couldn’t keep up with Ironman
guy. I started to fall behind him. I slowed to 8:26 in mile 23.
Although my pacing was
erratic, it seemed like my average pace in the second half was about the same
as it was in the first half. I was
struggling with the heat, but I still liked my chances of breaking 3:40. With just a few miles to go, I could afford
to slow down a little, but not too much.
Before I knew it, I was a
full block behind Ironman guy. I
completely lost contact with him.
At roughly 38K, we went
by a starting line. I had seen this in
the first half of the race, but I didn’t understand what it was until now. It was the starting line for a one mile race
that was held on Saturday. I knew that
race finished at the Freedom Monument, so that meant I was one mile from the
monument. That gave me a better feel for
what was left.
After two more turns, I
could see the monument. Before I got
there, I finished mile 24. I slowed down
to 8:59 in that mile. That was by far my
slowest mile of the race. I could afford
to slow down a little, but not that much.
If I couldn’t bring my pace back down, I wouldn’t break 3:40.
At this point, I had to
wonder. Was I trying to run a pace that
wasn’t sustainable, or was I only slowing down because it was such a hot day? I’d like to think I could’ve held the pace on
a cooler day.
When I reached the 39K
sign, I realized that I had 3,200 meters to go.
That’s roughly two miles. I
looked at my watch. To break 3:40, I needed
to average 8:25 in the last two miles.
I did my best to pick up
my pace, but I wasn’t optimistic. I
could tell I was speeding up, but I didn’t think it would be enough.
We got back to the corner
where we previously turned left to run toward the bridge. This time we turned right. We had to go north and east of the Old Town
before eventually coming back alongside the river.
I saw the 40K sign. Then my watch gave me my time for mile
25. I sped up to 8:15 in that mile. I was shocked. If I could do one more mile like that, I
would break 3:40.
From here on, it got
tougher and tougher. I was barely
hanging on. These streets weren’t
familiar, which made this part of the course seem to go on forever.
Finally, we turned onto
11 November Embankment, which is the road alongside the river. All three of my training runs included the
segment between here and the finish line.
Before, I was always running on the sidewalk. Now I was running in the street. That was the only difference.
Ahead of me, I could see
the bridge. Three times, we crossed
it. Now we were going to run under it.
About the same time I
reached the bridge, I got my time for mile 26.
I slowed to 8:34. I knew it was
going to be close. I really wanted to
break 3:40, so I fought for every second, even though I was running out of gas.
There was a gradual bend
in the road, so it wasn’t until after crossing under the bridge that I finally
saw the finish line. I poured it on and finished
in 3:39:44. I ran a little bit slower in
the second half, but I kept my time under 3:40.
The finisher medals had
abstract designs. They were different
for each distance. For example, the half
marathon medals only had half as many curves, so only half of the circle was
filled in. You could tell at a glance
what distance someone ran by how much of their medal was filled in.
Immediately after
finishing, I was handed a water bottle and a granola bar. Then I picked up a banana from one of the
tables. There was more food farther
ahead, but first I needed to make a bathroom stop. I followed signs leading to an area with
port-potties and urinals that were behind a barrier.
After relieving myself, I
went back into the finish area to find the food tent. They had sandwiches, soup, cookies, beer, and
kvass. Kvass is a fermented beverage
made from rye bread. It’s basically a
sweet non-alcoholic beer. In Riga, you
can buy it in convenience stores.
Before leaving the finish
area, I noticed backdrops for people to take selfies. I’m not into selfies, but their setup
included a digital display that showed the runner’s name and their time. You just scan your race bib before posing for
the picture.
I wasn’t interested in a
photo, but I was interested in finding out my official time, so I got in
line. When it was my turn, I scanned by
bib, saw my time, and left.
Besides the marathon and
half-marathon, there was also a 10K and a 5K.
Those races had later start times.
As I was walking back to the hotel, people were lined up to start the 10K
race. I needed to cross the course to
get back to my hotel, so I was fortunate to get there before they started.
I didn’t eat much food in
the finish area, so I was still hungry.
I drank enough water to rehydrate and then took a nice long shower. When I was ready to go out again, I had a late
lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant that was just down the street. On my way there, I saw lots of other
runners. The 10K runners were on their
way back from the race. The 5K runners
were on their way to the start.
After my late lunch, I
wasn’t hungry for a full dinner. I had
an appetizer and some gelato. I wanted
to get to bed early, but I wasn’t able to get to sleep any earlier than I did
the other nights.
Monday, May 20
Monday was the only day
that I had to get up early. I needed to
leave early to get to the airport for my flight to Amsterdam. I only got about five hours of sleep. That’s not how you want to start the day when
you have an extra long travel day.
Coming home, I had a long
layover in Amsterdam, so I could take my time getting though the airport. It was a long travel day, but there wasn’t
any drama.
