Race Report: 2025 Belgrade Marathon

On April 6, I ran the Belgrade Marathon.  You might say that this was the continuation of a long-term fascination with the Danube River.

The Danube is the second longest river in Europe.  The Volga is longer, but that river is entirely within Russia.  The Danube, by contrast, flows through 10 different countries.  It flows through the capital cities of four of them.

When I was growing up, I walked past my parents’ bedroom and heard some music my dad was playing on the stereo.  I asked him what it was, and he showing me an album of Viennese waltzes.  The selection currently playing was “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” by Johann Strauss.  That waltz was my gateway to the world of classical music, and it’s still one of my favorite pieces of music.

In 2012, while on a business trip in Switzerland, I had the opportunity to drive into Germany on the weekend and run the Einstein Marathon in Ulm.  The Danube River flows through Ulm, and the marathon route crossed the river eight times.  That was the first time I saw the Danube River with my own eyes.

Three years later, I traveled to Austria to run the Vienna City Marathon.  Vienna was the home of Johann Strauss.  As you might have guessed, the Danube also flows through Vienna.  You start that marathon by crossing a bridge over the Danube.  As you begin running, they play “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” over several large speakers.

The Danube also flows through Budapest, which is the capital of Hungary.  In 2019, I ran the Budapest Marathon.  The course included several miles along the banks of the Danube, and it crossed the river four times.

Two years ago, I ran the Bratislava Marathon in Slovakia.  The closest major airport to Bratislava is the Vienna Airport.  I flew to Vienna and took a ferry on the Danube to get to Bratislava.  Just like the Budapest Marathon, this course crossed the river four times and included sections along both banks of the river.

A few weeks before traveling to Bratislava, I was on a ship traveling to Antarctica for the Antarctica Marathon.  I was sharing a cabin with a runner from Serbia.  During one of our conversations, I mentioned that my next race was going to be the Bratislava Marathon.  When I told him it would be my fourth race in a city on the Danube, he told me I needed to run the Belgrade Marathon.  Two years later, I took his advice.

Belgrade is the capital of Serbia.  The city is located at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers.

Wednesday, April 2

I left Minneapolis on an overnight flight to Amsterdam.  As usual, I chose to stay awake on my flight.  I knew I would arrive tired, but that made it easier for me to adjust to the seven-hour time difference.

Thursday, April 3

I arrived in Amsterdam around 7:00 AM.  Serbia isn’t part of the Schengen zone, so I didn’t have to go through immigration/customs in Amsterdam.  Instead, I stayed on the non-Schengen side of the airport.

I arrived in Belgrade around noon.  My hotel arranged for my transportation from the airport.  When I met my driver, I was impressed by how good his English was.  He didn’t have any accent at all.  As it turns out, he’s originally from Canada, so English was his first language.

I stayed at the Belgrade Hilton, which is in the city center.  I had enough Hilton points to get four free nights.  From the Hilton, I could walk to every place I needed to go, so it was ideal as a home base.

I got to my hotel much earlier than the advertised check-in time, but they had a room ready, so I was able to bring my bags up right away.  As soon as I was settled into my room, I walked to the race expo.

The expo was at Belgrade Fair, which is a large event center with multiple buildings.  To get there, I had to walk about two miles.  After so many hours on airplanes, it felt good to stretch my legs.  It was also nice to get some fresh air.

Besides my race bib and T-shirt, my race packet included food & beverage samples, plus two small tubes of sunblock.

I have horrible luck with air conditioning in hotels.  Before going to the expo, I adjusted the thermostat, but it didn’t seem like the A/C was turning on.  I set the fan speed to high, but it didn’t even seem like the fan was on.  I decided to go to the expo and check again when I got back.

After I got back from the expo, the room was still warm.  I asked to have maintenance come up and look at in.  While I waited, I started doing a strength training workout.  More than half of my exercises can be done in my room.  There are only a few that I can only do in the fitness room.

When maintenance arrived, I found out that the thermostat wasn’t really on, even though it looked like it was on.  To turn the system on, you need to press the power button twice.  You also need to press it twice to turn it off again.  I’ve never seen one like that before.  After that, it worked, but it took time to get the room cooled down.  In the meantime, I continued with my workout.

After my workout, I only had about an hour before sunset, so I didn’t do much sightseeing.  I had to stick to things close to my hotel.  This is Stari Dvor (the old palace).

I wanted to also see Novi Dvor (the new palace), but I couldn’t get a view from directly in front of the building.  The area around of the building was mostly fenced off.   In a small park in front of the building, there were dozens of tents.  In recent weeks, there have been large anti-government protests in front of Novi Dvor.  I assumed these tents were set up by protesters.  It turns out it’s more complicated than that.  The tents were set up by counter-protesters who support the government.  This was the best view I could of the palace.

A short distance away, I saw the House of the National Assembly of Serbia.

I had dinner at one of the restaurants at the Hilton.  This was my first opportunity to try some Serbian dishes.  I also tried a local after-dinner drink called Rakija.  Serbian food tends to be heavy on meat and cheese, so this was a filling meal.

By the time I went to bed, my room had cooled down somewhat, but it was still much warmer than what I’m used to at home.  I slept well for about four hours, but only because I didn’t sleep the night before.  After that, I was awake more than I was asleep.  By the time I was starting to sleep well again, it was time to get up.

Friday, April 4

I didn’t need to be up early, but I set an alarm for 7:00 to force myself to adjust to the local time zone.  The first morning is always the toughest.

I booked a free walking tour, but it didn’t start until 10:30.  That gave me plenty of time to enjoy the breakfast buffet at the Hilton.  It also gave me time to get organized and plan my day.

My walking tour began at Republic Square, which is about a mile from my hotel.  I left a little early, so I could visit St, Mark’s Orthodox Church on the way there.

Republic Square is the main meeting place in central Belgrade.  Local residents will tell people to meet at “the horse.”  That’s a reference to the statue in front of the National Museum.

I’ve done free walking tours like this in several other cities.  It costs nothing to sign up.  The tour guides work for tips.  At the end of the tour, you tip whatever amount you feel is appropriate.

Our guide began by telling us about the various buildings around Republic Square.  Next, we walked to Skadarska Street.  This street is lined with cafes, and it’s another place where people commonly get together.

As we worked our way through the old town, our guide showed us Serbia’s first brewery and the former homes of several prominent Serbs.

Throughout its history, Belgrade has changed hands a few times, and different religions have been dominant at different times.  When the Ottoman Empire controlled the region, they converted all the churches to mosques.  Later, when Christianity became dominant again, most of the mosques were converted back to churches.  This is the only remaining mosque in Belgrade.

Next, we visited Belgrade Fortress, which is located on high ground, overlooking the rivers.

From just outside the fortress, we had a good view of the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers.

This statue, which is on the side of the fortress facing the rivers, is called, “The Victor.”  It was erected after World War I.  It’s a symbol of both victory and peace.

Our next stop was St. Michael’s Church.

Across the street from the church, we saw Kafana ?, which is the oldest restaurant in Belgrade.  This was the last stop on our tour.

The tour lasted about three hours.  By now, I was hungry, and I was in need of a bathroom break.  I walked back to Republic Square to have a late lunch at a restaurant I had noticed there earlier.  On my way, I saw a protest march.  Their signs were all in Serbian, so I couldn’t be sure what their cause was, but it may have been another anti-government protest.

After lunch, I made one more stop before walking back to the Hilton.  I wanted to see the   former residence of Princess Ljubica.  I felt a bit sheepish when I located it on a map.  As it turns out, it was just around the corner from where the tour ended.  I could’ve saved some walking by stopping there before lunch.

I learned a few things from the tour guide, but I also learned things about Belgrade just by walking around on my own.  I sometimes noticed what looked like entrances to subway stations.  Belgrade has trams and buses, but it doesn’t have a subway system.  What looked like subway entrances were actually the entrances to tunnels leading under some of the busier streets.  In some places, it’s the only way to get across the street.

By the time I got back to the Hilton, it was late afternoon.  I had been on my feet for several hours, and I needed to take a rest break.

During the walking tour, our guide showed us a place overlooking the river that’s a great spot for watching the sun set.  As the sun got low in the sky, I walked there.  When I left the hotel, it was partly cloudy.  When I got to my view spot, it was getting cloudier, and I could see that it was raining farther west.

When it started raining where I was, I decided to leave.  I didn’t want to stand around in the rain while waiting for the sun to set.

I started walking back into town, and I eventually ducked into an Italian restaurant that was near my hotel.

During the walking tour, our guide also mentioned that rakija can be made from several different kinds of fruit, and it can also be made from walnuts.  After dinner, I tried some walnut rakija.  Walnut rakija has a stronger flavor than any of the fruit rakijas.

I slept better that night.  I still had a restless period in the middle of the night, but it didn’t take me as long to get back to sleep.

Saturday, April 5

I spent most of the morning at the hotel.  I didn’t do any running Thursday or Friday, so I did a short run on one of the hotel’s treadmills.  Ideally, I would’ve run outside, but it’s tough to run in the city center.  The sidewalks are crowded, and I would be constantly stopping to wait for traffic lights to change.  This was one of those occasions where I could get a better workout on the treadmill.

After my run, I took the time to read all my race information and organize my clothes for the race.  Then I headed back to the fitness room to do a strength training workout.

When I was ready to venture out, I walked to the Temple of St. Sava.  This church was in the opposite direction from all the other sightseeing I had done, so it made sense to save it for Saturday.

It was getting warm, so I stopped briefly at the hotel to drop off my jacket.  Then I went to the Nikola Tesla Museum.  When I got there, I saw a long line, and I found out it would be at least three hours before I could get in.  I probably should’ve gone there on a weekday morning rather than waiting until Saturday afternoon.

I still had most of the afternoon, so I went back to the old town instead.  On my way, I saw people setting up the finish area for the marathon.

I went to a beer garden where you pour your own beer and pay by volume.  That enabled me to sample different Serbian beers without drinking too much overall.  I had dinner at the same Italian restaurant where I had dinner on Friday.

I went to bed earlier that night, and I slept for most of the night.

Sunday, April 6

Sunday was race day.  The race started at 8:00.  I got up at 6:00, so I would have plenty of time to get ready.  My breakfast consisted of a cup of tea and food from my race packet.

The start area was near St. Mark’s Church.  It only takes 15 minutes to walk there from my hotel, but we were advised to get there by 7:30, so I left the hotel at 7:15.

It was much cooler than it was the previous two mornings.  When I left the hotel, it was 39 degrees.  I didn’t expect the temperature to change by more than a few degrees during the race, so I dressed warm.

As I left the hotel, I felt small drops in the air.  I went back to get a plastic rain poncho that I could keep folded up in my fanny pack.  I wasn’t expecting to wear it, but I wanted to have it with me just in case.

It was windy.  I arrived at the start area about 30 minutes before the start, but I didn’t want to stand around for that long in a cold wind.  I looked around for a building that was open.  At the end of the block, I saw a Starbucks.

Starbucks was packed with runners.  Some were buying coffee.  Some were waiting to use the bathroom.  Some, like me, just went inside to seek shelter from the wind.

We were supposed to be in the start corrals 15 minutes before the start.  I gave myself two minutes to get from Starbucks to the start corral.  It was cold at first, but as more runners packed in around me, I wasn’t as exposed to the wind.

Ideally, I wanted to break 3:50, but I wasn’t sure of I could do that on this course.  Most of the course is flat, but we started and finished in the city center, which is on higher ground than the rest of the city.  That meant I would have to go uphill in the last couple of miles.  I decided to start at that pace and see how it went.  I saw a 4:00 pace group, so I lined up just in front of them.

While I was waiting for the race to start, it started to snow.  The snow didn't last long, but it was a reminder that this was going to be a cold race.  I wore a Tyvek jacket to the start.  I was tempted to keep it on for the first mile or two, but it's harder to take it off while I'm running.  I waited until a minute or two before the start, and then I took it off and tied it around my waist.

I heard some lively music.  I would’ve assumed it was recorded music, but then I saw that it was just one guy above us playing a saxophone.  He was good.  He was jumping up and down as he played, and trying to get us pumped up.  I saw other runners jumping up and down.  I conserved my energy for the race.

The course was marked in kilometers, but I was pacing myself in miles.  To break 3:50, I needed to average 8:45 per mile.

The first few blocks were on level ground.  I have a tendency to start faster when I’m cold, so I had to consciously hold back.

After just a couple blocks, we turned and started running downhill toward the Sava River.  I was willing to let myself speed up going downhill.

After a couple more blocks, I saw someone down in the middle of the street.  At least two people were tending to him.  I don’t think it was a runner.  He was wearing a yellow reflective vest, which is the same thing the volunteers were wearing.  I’m not sure what happened.

I ran the first mile in 8:11.  That’s much faster than my target pace, but I wasn’t concerned.  I expected to be faster in a downhill mile.

The next mile started out downhill, but then we turned and ran parallel to the river.  After we turned, the course leveled off.  Then, near the end of that mile, we started running uphill.  I wasn’t expecting that.  It wasn’t until I turned the next corner that I saw we were coming up to a bridge.  The approach to the bridge was uphill, but the bridge itself was fairly flat.

Just before getting onto the bridge, I saw my tine for the second mile.  It was only six seconds slower than the first mile, even though part of it was uphill.

We started and finished in the city center, which is east of the Sava River, but the majority of the course was in the newer part of the city, which is west of the river.  I had read that the west side is mostly flat, so I was looking forward to several flat miles.  I knew, however, that we would eventually have to go uphill to get to the finish, which was on high ground.

As I crossed the bridge, I told myself to relax and ease up a little on my pace.  Coming off the bridge, it was downhill before eventually leveling off.  As a result, that mile was also fast.

Now that I was finally on level ground, I told myself again to slow down.  To do that, I needed to allow myself to drift back in the pack.  If I kept up with the runners around me, I would keep going too fast.

Starting with mile four, I found the right pace.  My next few miles were all within five seconds of my target pace.

The first time I came to an aid station, I didn’t feel like drinking.  I was cold, and the last thing I wanted to do was drink cold water.  I knew I’d need to drink during the race, so I grabbed a bottle from one of the tables.  I only drank a few sips.  Then I tossed the bottle onto the grass.

Races in the U.S. typically use paper cups.  You generally get an appropriate amount of water or sports drink, but they go through thousands of cups.

European races more commonly have bottles of water.  Instead of wasting cups, they waste plastic bottles.  Also, more than half of the water generally gets wasted.

More than once during the race, a runner I didn't know started talking to me in a language I didn't understand.  The T-shirt I was wearing was from the Budapest Marathon.  I assume these runners were from Hungary, and they assumed I was too.

At about 7K, I ran near a runner who was listening to a recording that may have been made by a coach.  I overhead a fragment of it.  “At 7K, you shouldn’t be going fast.  I want you to be in control of your pace.”  That’s about what I was telling myself at this point.  I had found the right pace, but I needed to control my effort.  I needed to work just hard enough to stay on that pace, but not so hard that I would tire myself out.

At about 8K, I started to notice perspiration under my shirt.  Earlier we had been running into the wind.  Now, after a couple of turns, the wind was at our backs.  When the wind was at my back, I felt warmer.

At about 9K, I started to feel the sun.  We were told to expect overcast skies, but now it was only partly cloudy.  When the sun was shining on me, and the wind was at my back, I started to feel hot.

I was almost to 10K when I reached another aid station.  The only fluid they had was water.  I didn’t know if other aid stations would have any kind of sports drink.  I needed to start taking in calories.  They had bananas at that aid station, so I ate half a banana.

Somewhere in the eighth mile, we started going uphill.  We were on a ramp that would take us up to the Ada Bridge, which is another bridge over the Sava River.

Now that I was running toward the river, I could see how much higher it was where we would finish.  I wasn’t looking forward to the climbing we would do near the end of the race.

Climbing up to the bridge, I got hot.  I remembered the announcer in the start area telling us it would be windy, and we would feel the wind most on the bridges.  I was hoping the wind would cool me off as I crossed the bridge.  I didn’t feel the wind at all, so I decided it was time to take off my gloves.  As I took them off, I could feel how sweaty they were.

Going uphill and crossing the bridge, I managed to stay on the correct pace.  As soon as we came off the bridge, we started a short loop that would take us right back onto the bridge to cross it again.  In the middle of that loop, there was an aid station.  I was pleased to see they had cups of Powerade, in addition to bottles of water.

As I started crossing the bridge in the opposite direction, I immediately felt a headwind.  I was hot earlier, because the wind was at my back.  Now, I had a headwind, and my hands quickly got cold.

I picked up my effort, so I wouldn’t be slowed down by the wind.  I overcompensated.  After staying close to an 8:45 pace for several miles, I sped up to 8:25.  After that, I gradually throttled it back to the correct pace.

On the west side of the river, we ran two loops.  The loops were different, but there were areas of overlap.  As we got onto a common section, I saw the 38K sign for the second loop.  Just beyond it, there was an aid station.

I drank a few swallows from a bottle of water.  As I continued through the aid station, I saw bottles of Coke at another table.  A volunteer on my right was holding up a white cup and yelling, “Coca-Cola.”  A volunteer on my left was holding a similar cup and shouting, “Jägermeister.”  I’m pretty sure both cups had Coke, but that got a laugh from me.

I didn’t drink any Coke this time around, but I knew I would see this aid station again.  I made a note to remember it, as I planned to drink some Coke the next time I came through here.

Later, I saw a 39K sign.  It was nice to know we would still be on this side of the river with only 3K to go.  That meant we wouldn’t have to start running uphill until the last 3K.

Shortly after that, we turned to begin the second loop.  This loop was the longer of the two.

As we started that loop, we were running into the wind.  From what I remembered of the course layout, we would be running into the wind for at least a few miles.  I was hopeful that this was the last section that was into the wind.  It wasn’t.

Somewhere around 12 miles, I heard honking.  A motorcycle was going by on our left.  The motorcycle was followed by a police car, then another car, then two more motorcycles, then a group of four elite runners.  These were the leaders of the half marathon, which started much later than the marathon.  They were on their first (and only) loop.

Several minutes later, another motorcycle went by.  One of the runners following the motorcycle was the lead woman in the half marathon.

Just before the halfway mark, we reached the point where the two loops diverged.  Runners doing the half marathon turned left where we had turned earlier.  Those of us on our second loop of the marathon kept running straight (and into the wind).

I reached the halfway mark in 1:53:38.  I was well ahead of schedule for a 3:50 finish, but only because my first three miles were fast.  Since then, I had stayed pretty close to my target pace.  My plan at this point was to stay on my current pace until the last two miles.  I expected to slow down on the uphill finish, but I was hoping to have enough of a cushion that I could afford to slow down in the tough miles.

I wasn’t sure how much longer I had to run into the wind, but I was determined not to let it slow me down.  I picked up my effort so much that I started running mile times in the 8:30s.

When I finally saw runners ahead of me reaching a turn, I was relieved.  After making the turn myself, I still felt the wind, but now it was a crosswind.  For one mile, I sped up to 8:29.  Then I slowed back into the 8:30s.  Earlier in the race, I would have been concerned that this pace would wear me down.  Now that I was in the second half, I was more willing to push myself.

With 10 miles to go, I told myself I had eight flat miles, followed by two tough miles.  I focused on continuing to run 8:45 or faster in each of the flat miles.  If I could do that, I could afford to slow down in the last two miles.

All of my sightseeing had been on the east side of the Sava.  The majority of the race was on the west side.  I was seeing these neighborhoods for the first time.  It was mostly residential.  There was very little overlap between the two loops.  On the second loop, I wasn’t seeing any landmarks I recognized.

The second loop had more turns than the first loop.  There were so many turns that I lost my sense of direction.  The only clue to my direction was the wind, but it seemed to be shifting.  It always seemed like we were running into it.  I kept up my effort, but my pace settled back into the 8:40s for a couple miles.

With six miles to go, I told myself I had four more flat miles.  I picked up my effort enough that I ran the next two miles in 8:24 and 8:29.  I was building a bigger cushion for the uphill miles.  For one mile, I eased back to 8:45.  Then I sped up again, running mile 23 in 8:28.

During the next mile, we came back to a street that we had run before.  As we turned right, I saw a larger group of runners coming from the opposite direction.  They were turning left onto the same street.

This was the point where the marathon and half marathon merged together.  The half marathon runners outnumbered us by about ten to one.  I quickly realized that their average pace was slower than ours.  To maintain my pace, I had to weave through them and not be distracted by their slower pace.  That was easier said than done.

I when I got back to the aid station with Coke, I grabbed a cup from the guy shouting, “Jägermeister.”  It was Coke of course.

When I finished mile 24, I was pleased to see that I didn’t slow down.  I ran it in 8:28, even while weaving through the thick crowd of slower runners.

Next, we crossed the same bridge that we had crossed early in the race.  The approach to the bridge was uphill, but the bridge itself was flat.  For most of the race, I was cold.  Running uphill with the wind at my back, I quickly got hot.

I expected to slow down in that mile, but I ran another 8:28.  I just had 1.2 miles to go, but I knew it would be mostly uphill.

At this point, I could break 3:50 just by running the last 1.2 miles in 15 minutes.  I didn’t have to maintain a fast pace.  I just had to run.  As long as I didn’t walk, there’s no way I wouldn’t break 3:50.

You might think we would be going down a ramp as we came off the bridge.  Nope, we started climbing.  I may have slowed down, but I kept running at whatever pace I could.

We turned a corner and briefly ran downhill.  I enjoyed it while I could, because I knew it would be short-lived.  Soon, the road leveled off.  Then it turned slightly uphill.

I knew eventually we would turn left and run away from the river.  I had done enough walking in this part of town to know that going away from the river always meant going sharply uphill.

When I reached that turn, I knew it would be steep.  Thankfully, we only ran in that direction for one block before turning again.  A lot of people walked up that hill.  I kept running at the best pace I could manage.  That was my only rule at this point.  No walking.

I was relieved when we turned again.  It was still uphill, but only slightly.  The hardest part was over.

I remembered reading in prerace instructions that with 400 meters to go, marathon runners would go to one side of the street, and half marathon runners would go to the other side.  I couldn’t remember which side of the street I was supposed to run on.  I thought I was supposed to keep left, but I wasn’t 100% sure.  I stayed in the middle of the street and ran directly toward a volunteer who was directing traffic.

When she saw my marathon bib, she directed me to the left.  After that, I could focus on looking for the finish line.  When I saw a balloon arch over the street, I picked up my effort.

My time for mile 26 was 9:07.  That’s only 22 seconds slower than my target pace, even though it was an uphill mile.

That balloon arch wasn’t the finish line.  By the time I got there, I could see that there were two balloon arches before the actual finish line.  The street leveled off, and I was able to run hard to the finish.  I finished in 3:46:10.  That surprised me.  I didn’t think I could run that fast on this course, but I keep surprising myself.  For the last four months, I’ve felt sluggish in most my training runs, but on race day I always run strong.  Amazingly, I actually ran negative splits, even though the first half was net downhill, and the second half was net uphill.

After finishing, I kept walking forward until I got my finisher medal.  Then I paused to put on my gloves.  One glove was wet.  I remembered spilling water on it at one of the aid stations.  That was early in the race, when I was hot.

As I continued walking through the finish area, I was handed a plastic bag with post-race food.  I didn’t open it until I got to the hotel.  I also never took the time to put on the jacket that I had tied around my waist.  I didn’t think it would take long to get back to the hotel, and I just wanted to keep moving.

I didn’t bring my phone with me, because I didn’t think I would need to it find my way back to the hotel.  I was wrong.

The entrance to the Hilton is on Kralja Milana.  This is the street I always took when I was walking to and from the old town.  I thought the race would finish on the next street over, and after exiting the finish area, I could just turn right and follow Kralja Milana to the hotel.

As it turns out, we finished on Kralja Milana.  I was so focused on looking for the finish line that I didn’t notice any of the buildings around me.  Making matters worse, when I exited the finish area, I wasn’t even going in the right direction.  I didn’t know it, but I was on a street that runs perpendicular to Kralja Milana.

After walking for a few blocks, I realized I wasn’t recognizing any of the buildings around me.  I thought I was at least going in the right direction, so I kept walking.

After walking for several blocks, I reached a street corner that had a map.  From where I was on the map, I could see that I was well northeast of where I expected to be.  I was still confused about how I got there.  I didn’t know which direction I was heading.

I stopped a local resident and asked her if she spoke English.  She did.  I showed her on the map where I was trying to go, and asked her which direction I should be going.  She pointed in the direction I should go, but told me I wouldn’t be able to get through the park.  Looking at the map, I could see that the National Assembly was that way.  I asked her if going that direction would take me to that building.  She said it would, and I told her I knew the way from there.

I eventually got back to the Hilton, but it took much longer than I expected.  By the time I got there, I was pretty cold.  After getting out of my sweaty clothes, I took a long hot shower to get warmed up.

When I opened my snack bag, I was disappointed to see that there wasn’t much solid food.  There were large bottles of water and Powerade, but the only solid food was an apple.

For dinner, I went to a place called Bucko Pizza.  This is a pizzeria that has a style of pizza that’s unique to Belgrade.  I seek out local styles of pizza when I travel, so this was a must.

Their pizzas all have the same base, which has a few toppings built in.  What makes it unique is that you can top each slice with one of eight sauces.  You can order a whole pizza, but they also sell pizza by the slice.  I got three slices, so I was able to try three different sauces.  On one slice, I got their cheese topping.  On another, I got their sesame and cheese sauce.  On the third, I got their “vitamin salad,” which is a veggie blend.  The slice with the cheese topping was delicious, and tasted fairly conventional.  The other two slices looked weird and tasted weird, but I’m glad I tried them.

I usually sleep poorly the night before a race but sleep like a rock the night after.  This trip was the opposite.  I slept well before the race, but I struggled to get much sleep the night after.

Monday, April 7

I had an early flight back to Amsterdam, so I had to leave the hotel at 3:30 AM.  The hotel arranged for my transportation to the airport.

I still needed to pack, so my alarm was set for 2:00.  I was already awake at 1:30.  I probably only got four hours of sleep, which is not what you want when you’re starting a long travel day that will include a seven-hour time change.

My flight to Amsterdam took two and a half hours.  I’m posting this from the Amsterdam airport, where I have a four-hour layover.  I still have a nine-hour flight back to Minneapolis.  When I get there, it’ll still be mid-afternoon, but I’ll have been awake for 21 hours.  The next challenge will be adjusting back to my own time zone.

Race statistics:

Distance:  42.2 kilometers

Time:  3:46:10

Average Pace:  5:22 per kilometer (8:38 per mile)

First Half:  1:53:38

Second Half:  1:52:32

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  542

Boston Qualifiers:  177

Countries:  54

Cities on the Danube:  5

Race Report: 2025 Pettit Indoor Marathon

On March 9, I ran the Pettit Indoor Marathon.  This race is held inside the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee.  This is where Olympic speed skaters train.  In the center of the building, there are two hockey rinks.  Around the hockey rinks, there’s a speed skating track.  Around that track, there’s a three-lane running track.

This isn’t the first time I’ve run an indoor marathon.  I’ve done six others, including one called Heatbreaker that was in this same building.

When I ran the Heatbreaker Marathon in 2014, I drove to Milwaukee.  My lower back and legs are less tolerant of long drives than they were when I was younger.  Also, you never know what road conditions will be like at this time of year.  For those reasons, I flew to Milwaukee and rented a car.

I flew to Milwaukee Saturday morning, arriving just in time for lunch.  I don’t recall why I scheduled an early flight.  I didn’t need to check in for the race until Sunday morning.

After picking up my rental car, I went straight to a Chinese restaurant, where I had lunch.  After lunch, it was still too early to check in at my hotel.  There was a brewery near my hotel that was open, so I stopped in to have a beer flight and watch a soccer match.

After checking into my room, I spent most of the afternoon relaxing at the hotel.  I charged up my phone, did a workout in the fitness room, and organized my clothes for the race.

I had dinner at Rocky Rococo, which has pan-style pizza.  It’s a Wisconsin chain, and I never go to Wisconsin without stopping there.  They’re best known for pizza by the slice, but you can also order a whole pizza.  My hotel room had a kitchenette, so I got a pizza that was enough for two meals.  I ate half for my pre-race dinner, and saved the other half for after the race.

When I scheduled this race, I didn’t notice that race day was the same day that we set the clocks ahead.  With that in mind, I went to bed an hour earlier to compensate.

There was a clock on the night stand, but I didn’t know if it would adjust automatically for Daylight Savings Time.  Some do.  Some don’t.  My room had a microwave, so I set the clock on the microwave to reflect the time change.  I often get up during the night.  If I looked at the clock on the microwave, I would know it was the correct time for Sunday morning.

I slept OK for most of the night, but I woke up at 4:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep.  After laying awake in bed for the next 45 minutes, I finally got up and started getting ready.

The marathon started at 8:00, but we could check in any time after 7:00.  My hotel had a free breakfast, but it didn’t start until 7:00.  I wanted to leave before then, so I had my leftover Chinese food for breakfast.

When I got out to my car, the windows were covered with frost.  Fortunately, there was a scraper in the car.  After scraping the frost off the windows, I started the car and saw that the inside of the windshield was all fogged up.  Before I could see to drive, I had to warm up the car long enough to get the windows defogged.

The temperature inside the Pettit National Ice Center was a constant 55 degrees.  Knowing that took all the guesswork out of how to dress.  I could run in shorts and a T-shirt, knowing I wouldn’t get too hot or too cold.  I also didn’t have to worry about rain or wind.

Per-race check-in was in a room upstairs that overlooks the ice arena.  Thankfully, that room was warmer.  I waited there until it was almost time to line up for the race.

The field was limited to 130 runners.  With that many runners going at different speeds, I expected to constantly pass slower runners, while faster runners were constantly passing me.

My past experience with indoor races is that inevitably, you don’t take the shortest path.  You may only run a few extra yards in each lap, but it adds up.  I fully expected to run as much as an extra half mile by the time I was done.  With that in mind, I couldn’t expect to be as fast as I would be in a typical road race.

I often set qualifying for Boston as a goal.  The organizers of the Boston Marathon have a rule that you can’t qualify for Boston at in indoor race, even if the course is certified.  In Minnesota, we call that the “Randy Peterson” rule.   Randy Peterson is the only runner to get into Boston with a qualifying time from an indoor marathon.  They accepted his qualifying time, but immediately added a new rule saying you couldn’t qualify at an indoor race.

Since there was no point in trying to qualify for Boston, I set my sights on breaking four hours.  That was a realistic goal for an indoor race, but it would still take my best effort.

The race is chip timed.  We wore timing chips on our ankles, and our laps were automatically recorded each time we crossed the timing mat at the finish line.  They had a display just past the finish line that showed our lap counts, and the time of our most recent lap.

The track is 443 meters per lap.  To complete a marathon, we needed to run 95 full laps, plus an extra 110 meters.  We did the extra 110 meters at the beginning.  Our starting line for that lap was about one fourth of the way around the track from where we finished each lap.  The first time we crossed the timing mat, it was only a partial lap, but that still counted as a lap.  Including that short lap, we needed to do a total of 96 laps.

If you divide four hours by 96 laps, it works out to 2:30 per lap.  The first lap was short, so it would obviously take less time.  If I could average 2:30 for all subsequent laps, I would break four hours.  That was my plan.

I wore two watches.  Because we were indoors, it didn’t make sense to try to time the race using a GPS watch.  I timed myself using a plain Timex watch.  I wore my Garmin watch on my other wrist, so it could keep track of my step count.

I started kind of fast.  My partial lap took less than 30 seconds.  My next few laps were in the 2:20s.  Before long, I had made up the time from my partial lap.  For the rest of the race, I was keeping my average lap time under 2:30, but I was effectively one lap ahead.

I was surprised how cold I felt.  My hands were cold, and I wished that I was wearing gloves.  My hands felt better after a few laps, but I can’t say that I was ever completely comfortable.

There were a few runners here who were much faster than everyone else.  There was a protocol for letting the faster runners run in lane one.  If a faster runner was approaching a slower runner from behind, they would yell, “Track.”  The runners ahead of them would then move out of lane one to let the faster runner pass without having to go around them.

I was initially skeptical of this system, but it actually worked well.  There were only a few runners who were concerned with always taking the inside lane.  Also, at least half of the runners stayed in lanes two or three for the entire race.

I started out running in lane one.  The first time a faster runner needed to pass me, it took me by surprise.  I was still in my second full lap, when I heard someone yell, “track” twice in rapid succession.  I quickly moved over.

After that, I made a habit of running in lane two on the straight sections.  I only ran in the inside lane on the turns.

Before entering a turn, I always looked over my shoulder to see if a faster runner was approaching from behind.  If there was, I would wait until they passed before moving into lane one for the turn.  If nobody was approaching, I could move into lane one right away.

There were three fast runners who passed frequently.  The fastest runner was lapping me roughly every other lap.  He was finishing three laps in the same time it took me to run two laps.  Sometimes, he would catch up to me in a turn, and I would need to move over to let him pass.

This was a cupless race.  There were tables where we could leave water bottles that were labeled with our bib numbers.  The volunteers organized them by bib number.  When you wanted to take a drink, you yelled out your bib number as you ran by.  One of the volunteers would find your bottle and hand it to you the next time you ran by.  You needed to carry the bottle with you for one lap while you drank.  Then you handed it to one of the volunteers the next time you ran by.  If your bottle needed refilling, you could just tell the volunteer if you wanted water or Gatorade.  They took care of it.

I can’t say enough about how good this system worked and how good the volunteers were.  I never had to slow down or stop.

They also had a table for runners who wanted to be self-service.  You could put your food, bottles, or other supplies there and handle it yourself.

I got into a habit of drinking Gatorade every sixth lap.  After drinking, I was always surprised how quickly it was time to drink again.  That’s because taking a drink became a three-lap process.  For example, when I saw that I finished my 18th lap, I knew it was time to ask for my bottle.  The tables were near the end of each lap, so by the time I came around to request my bottle, I was almost done with my 19th lap.  I would get my bottle the next time I came by.  Now I was almost done with my 20th lap.  I would carry the bottle with me for most of my 21st lap before handing it back to one of the volunteers.  Before I knew it, I was done with 21 laps.  In just three laps, I would begin this process again.

I had so much to think about that it kept me focused 100% of the time.  I was always paying attention to my effort and my lap times, keeping them as close as I could to 2:30 per lap.  I was constantly paying attention to running the shortest path I could, while getting out of the way of the faster runners.  On top of that, I had to pay attention to my lap count, so I would know when to request my bottle.  If you think an indoor race is boring, guess again.  It’s intense.

Believe it or not, I actually got confused about whether I should be grabbing a bottle from the volunteers.  More than once, I couldn’t remember if I had just requested a bottle or if I had just returned my bottle.

They had a sound system, and each runner could pick one song for the playlist.  I chose “Jessica” by the Allman Brothers Band, but I never heard it.  They probably didn’t get to it until after I finished.

Every now and then, I would hear a light buzz from my Garmin watch.  It did that every time I reached a multiple of my step goal.  That happened four times during the race.

For the first hour of the race, I was so focused that I barely noticed the music.  Then I started to pay more attention to it.  I heard something by Eminem, but the sound quality was kind of muddy, so I couldn’t make out the lyrics.  I only know it was Eminem, because he has such a distinct style.

The first few songs I recognized were “Whole Lotta Love” and “The Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin and “You Need to Calm Down” by Taylor Swift.  Over the course of the race, I heard lots of familiar songs, but I also heard several that I didn’t know.

Besides the display near the finish line, there were two leader boards at different places around the track.  They each cycled through all the runners in order of our current position in the standings.  I was about a third of the way through the race before I noticed where I was in the standings.  I was in 18th place.

The PA announcer didn’t generally say what song was next, but there was one exception.  At one point, he asked if we were ready for some thunder.  I was expecting to hear “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons.  Instead, the next song was “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC.

On one of my laps, I felt my timing chip riding down on my ankle.  I stopped briefly to reposition it, and to tighten the strap.  That lap was a little slow, but I picked up my effort on the next lap to make up the time.

Before long, I wanted to make a bathroom stop.  There were two port-o-potties right next to the track, but I didn’t want to stop again.  I didn’t want to lose more time, and I didn’t want to get out of my rhythm, so I held it for the entire race.

I wasn’t quite halfway through the race when I noticed that I had moved into 17th place.  At the same time, I also noticed that the runner in 16th place was 60 years old.  I didn’t know if they had age group awards, but I wondered if I was competing for one.  That gave me the motivation I needed to keeping pushing the pace as I entered the second half of the race.

Although my target pace was 2:30 per lap, most of my laps were a couple seconds fast.  That adds up.  Eventually, I was finishing my laps a minute and a half ahead of schedule.  That’s on top of completely making up the time from my partial lap.

I don’t know exactly what my halfway split was, but my best guess is that I was on pace for a time around 3:55.

For the longest time, I was focused on the leader boards.  You could only see about 20 runners at a time, and it was somewhat random which part of the list I saw when I went by.  I was curious to know if any of the other runners ahead of me were in my age group.  It took several laps, but I eventually determined that I was in second place among men over 60.  The guy right ahead of me was in first place.  Overall, we were still 16th and 17th.

The leader board also showed how many laps we had each completed.  The guy ahead of me always had the same lap count as me, but I didn’t know where he was or what he looked like.  He was on the same lap, but his lead could be as much as a quarter mile.

By now, there were skaters on the speed skating track.  Occasionally the PA announcer would tell us the name of an Olympic gold medalist who was coming around the track.  Then we were told that someone else famous had entered the building.

The other famous person wasn’t a skater, but she was an Olympian.  It was Rachael Gunn, a.k.a. “Raygun,” the break dancer from Australia.  I’m not sure why she was here, but I decided it was time to get my phone out and take a few pictures.

I wasn’t originally planning to take pictures during the race.  I wasn’t even planning to have my phone with me.  I was planning to take a few photos before the race and then put my phone in my car.  I made a last-minute decision to keep my phone in my fanny pack, because it was cold outside, and I didn’t want to make a last-minute trip to my car.

A lot of people don’t like to run multiple laps, because you always see the same scenery.  That’s true, but this race had some unique sights.

It’s not every day that you get to watch speed skaters as you’re running.

At first, Raygun was doing some break dancing for us, but I didn’t have my phone out yet.  By the time I tried to take a photo, she wasn’t doing the same moves.  I couldn’t get a good picture anyway.  I had my camera app in burst mode, but every photo was blurry – all 99 of them.

I was getting tired, but I was determined to catch up to the runner ahead of me.  Taking photos caused me to have a couple of slower laps, so I tried to really pick up my pace after putting my phone away.  Just as I was beginning to bear down, they played “Under Pressure” by Queen & David Bowie.  That was just the music I needed.

The next time I saw the leader board, I saw that I had moved up to 14th place.  I had passed the guy in my age group who I was chasing.  He was in 15th place now.

I continued to pick up my effort.  I was consistently running laps in 2:26 or 2:27.  I kept looking at the leader boards to see if I was moving up, but my timing was always off.  I always saw people who were farther back in the standings.  For the rest of the race, I never saw the top 20 again.

They announced whenever someone was getting close to finishing, starting when they had five laps to go.  At one point, I heard them say that the leader was starting his final lap.  I was just entering the first turn.  I knew the leader couldn’t be too far behind me, so I stayed in lane two all the way around that turn.  As it turns out, he didn’t pass me until I was out of the turn.  Two of the other fast runners passed me just before the leader did.

The leader finished in 2:31:10.  The next two runners were several laps behind him, but after they finished, I wasn’t getting passed as often.  It got much easier to run in lane one going through the turns.

In a race like this, you’re never conscious of how many miles you’ve run.  It’s all about laps and time.  When I passed the three-hour mark, I was relieved to know that I had less than an hour to go.

On one of my laps, I crossed the timing mat at about the same time as the other guy in my age group who I had been chasing earlier.  When I looked at the board, I saw both of our lap times.  His lap time was 2:59.  Earlier, we were both running our laps in 2:30 or faster.  I still was, but he had slowed down dramatically.  That’s when I knew I had won my age group.  I also knew by now that I would break four hours.  Now, I was focused on finishing strong.

With 16 laps to go, I felt like I was getting close.  That may sound like a lot of laps, but they go quickly.  I felt like I was in the home stretch.

I was fighting to pick up the pace, but my lap times weren’t getting any faster.  Most were in the 2:26 to 2:28 range, but I had a couple as slow as 2:31.  I had to work harder to run the same pace, but I was determined to try to speed up.

My most recent drink of Gatorade was during my 80th lap.  I decided to wait until after my 88th lap before requesting my bottle for the last time.  It was the usual three-lap process.  By the time I started drinking, I was beginning my 90th lap.  When I handed my bottle back to the volunteers, I was about to finish my 91st lap.  I had five laps to go.

After crossing the timing mat, I heard the PA announcer say “David Holmen has five laps to go.”  For the next four laps, I tried to pick up my pace.  I kept from slowing down, but I wasn’t really speeding up, despite the extra effort.

As I started my last lap, I heard, “David Holmen is on his final lap.”  I was already accelerating.  In front of me, I saw a group of runners who were temporarily taking up all three lanes.  For the first time in the race, I shouted, “Track!”  Then I sped by them in lane one.

I ran that last lap as hard as I could.  By the time I was out of the first turn, my breathing was so labored that I was wheezing loudly with each breath.  I didn’t have to yell, “track” again.  Everybody heard me coming.

When I passed the volunteers at the water tables, they were all cheering loudly.  That was by far my fastest lap.  I ran it in 2:09.

I finished the race in 3:55:16.  My best guess is that I ran roughly even splits, despite stopping to take pictures in the second half of the race.

I finished 12th overall.  For what it’s worth, I was first among men over 60, but they didn’t have any age group awards.  That’s not unusual for a small race like this.  I fought for it just in case.  The important thing is that it kept me focused.

The same volunteer who gave me my finisher medal also removed my timing chip.  I’m glad she was on top of that, because I could’ve forgotten to turn it in.  By now, I had forgotten that I was wearing it.

After gathering up all my stuff, I finally made a bathroom stop.  Then I went upstairs to have some snacks and talk to other runners.

Although I never heard them play “Jessica,” I did hear them play “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons.  That song started shortly after I got upstairs.

I was expecting to be cold when I walked out to my car, but I was surprisingly comfortable.  It was a sunny day, and I felt more comfortable in the sun than I did inside the building.

When I got back to my hotel, I took a long hot shower.  Then I had the other half of my pizza from Rocky Rococo.

Besides counting my steps, my Garmin watch was also recording my heart rate.  When I downloaded the data, I saw that my heart rate peaked at 143 beats per minute.  That’s consistent with other races where I’ve gone all-out.  I didn’t have my watch in “run mode,” so I don’t know what my average heart rate was.  I only know my range for the day.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  3:55:16

Average Pace:  8:58 per mile

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  540

Indoor Marathons:  7