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 Malta Marathon

On February 23, I ran the Malta Marathon.  I was signed up for this race in 2022, but the race was cancelled that year.

Malta is an island nation located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily.

Malta has a long history.  The Maltese Islands have been inhabited for more than 7,000 years.  Because of its strategic location, Malta has been controlled by foreign powers for most of its history.  Malta gained its independence in 1964.  Before that, it was a British territory.  English is still one of the official languages.  Because of Malta’s close proximity to Italy, many people also speak Italian, and Italian food is common.

Friday, February 21

I arrived in Paris on an overnight flight from Minneapolis.  I made connections in this airport a month ago, but I was arriving and departing in the same terminal, so it was straightforward.

This time, I needed to get from Terminal 2E to Terminal 2D, and it was way more complicated than it should have been.  First, I had to go through security.  Then I had to take a shuttle bus to Terminal 2F.  From there, I took a different bus that stopped at every terminal before finally making it around to Terminal 2D.  I didn’t reach Terminal 2D until an hour after getting off the plane.

I still had to go though passport control, and then there was another security checkpoint with an insanely long line.  Fortunately, I had scheduled a long enough layover in Paris that I wasn’t in any danger of missing my connection.

From Paris, I flew to Malta’s international airport, which is near the capital city of Valletta.  My hotel arranged for my transport.  I was met at the airport by a driver who took me to my hotel.  It took about 20 minutes to get to the hotel.

I stayed at the Barceló Fortina Malta, which is in Sliema.  When I arrived, it was still too early to get into a room, so I charged my phone in the lobby while I was waiting.  The Barceló Fortina Malta was the headquarters hotel for the race, so I was able to pick up my race packet without leaving the hotel.

My room had a balcony overlooking the harbor.  Looking across the harbor, I could see Valletta and the inner harbor.

After getting settled into my room, I went out to do some sightseeing in Sliema.  I started by walked to Tigne Point.  From there, I had more complete views of Valletta.  There’s a fort at Tigne Point, but it’s currently being restored, so I couldn’t see much of it.

After detouring around some construction, I walked up the shoreline on the east side of Sliema.  It’s a rocky shoreline, but there are areas where the limestone is smooth enough that it’s used as a beach for swimming or snorkeling.

There are many old fortifications around the island.  Some have been restored.  Others have been repurposed.  This old fort has been converted to a restaurant.

This is St. Julian’s Tower, which overlooks St. Julian’s Bay.

As I continued around the north end of Sliema, I had views of the city of St. Julian’s, which has a more modern look.

I had dinner at an Italian restaurant with a view of St. Julian’s Bay.  After dinner, I took a different route through the city to get back to my hotel.  By the time I got back to my hotel, it was getting dark, and I could see the buildings of Valletta lit up.

I managed to stay awake until it got dark, but then I was ready to crash.  I slept well for the first few hours.  After that, I woke up and had trouble getting back to sleep.  Partly, that was because of the seven-hour time difference, but I was also a bit too warm.  I couldn’t get the room as cold as I like it for sleeping.

Saturday, February 22

My room rate included a buffet breakfast.  I didn’t know if I’d have time for lunch, so I ate a big breakfast.

The hotel was connected by a tunnel to another building which had a gym, a spa, and a pool.  Before beginning my sightseeing for the day, I did a workout in the gym.

After my workout, I took a ferry to Valletta, where I had booked a three-hour walking tour.  After getting off the ferry, I walked up to a vantage point where I got a good view of Sliema, looking back across the harbor.  My hotel is the large building in the center.

My tour started just inside the city gate.  I had some extra time, so I walked to the Triton Fountain, which is just outside the gate.

Most of the buildings in Valletta were built in the 1500s by the Knights of St. John, but our tour started with the newest part of the city.  The area just inside the city gate was so badly damaged during World War II that the area had fallen into disrepair.  This area was rebuilt in 2011.  The new project included a new city gate, the parliament building, an open-air concert venue where the opera house used to be, and a plaza dedicated to Jean de Vallette.

After that, we gradually moved farther into the city, focusing on older buildings and the history of Valletta.  I didn’t take pictures of many of the buildings.  This tour was more about the city’s history.

About halfway through our tour, we took a short break at the Upper Barrakka Gardens.  This break coincided with a ceremony at noon when they fire the cannons.

From here, I could see two of the fortified cities on the other side of the Grand Harbour.

After our break, we gradually made our way to St. John’s Co-Cathedral.

The city’s main square is normally an open space, but it’s currently occupied with seating set up so different groups can rehearse for the upcoming Carnival celebrations.

The last stop on our tour was the Lower Barrakka Gardens.

From there, we could see the entrance to the harbor, as well as a monument honoring unknown persons who died during the siege of Malta during World War II.  The statue at one end of this monument symbolizes a burial at sea for anyone who died aboard the various merchant ships that were sunk during the war.

After the tour, I went back to St. John’s Co-Cathedral, so I could tour the inside of the cathedral.  It’s called a co-cathedral, because there are several different chapels inside.  The Knights of St. John came from several different parts of Europe, so they spoke several different languages.  There are chapels for each of these languages.  There's also a crypt for the grand masters.  I took quite a few photos inside the cathedral.

The cathedral also contains two famous painting by Caravaggio.

I made it back to the ferry terminal just in time to catch the next ferry back to Sliema.  I had been on my feet for more than four hours, so I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the hotel.  That gave me time to charge my phone, go through my photos, and organize my clothes for the race.

I had an early dinner, in anticipation of going to bed early.  As soon as the sun went down, I opened the door to my balcony to cool the room down before going to bed.  I had to close it before going to bed, so the street noise wouldn’t keep me up.

I slept well for about four hours.  By then the room had warmed up again, and I couldn’t get back to sleep.

Sunday, February 23

Sunday was race day.  The race started in Mdina, so I had to get up early to catch a bus to the start.  The bus left from a bus stop near the ferry terminal.  It was just a few blocks from my hotel.

I got up at 4:00 to start getting ready.  I was going to miss the hotel’s breakfast, so I made some tea and ate a slice of cake that I saved from my dinner the night before.

For the third straight race, I was conflicted about whether to wear shorts or tights.  When I got up, it was 46 degrees.  I expected the temperature to be in the upper 40s when the race started, but rise to 60 degrees by the time I finished.  If I wore shorts, I would be cold in the start area and for the first half of the race.  If I wore tights, I would be too hot toward the end of the race.  My legs don’t respond well to cold conditions, so I opted for tights again.

The course was point-to-point, so I had to take a bus to the start.  Buses left from near the ferry terminal, which was a short walk from my hotel.  We needed to be on a bus by 5:45.  I made a point of getting there a little early, so I was already on a bus at 5:30.

The race started in Mdina, which was the capital of Malta before Valletta was established.  As the crow flies, Mdina less than 13 kilometers from Sliema, so the bus ride only took 20 minutes.  The race didn’t start until 7:00, so we were dropped off more than an hour before the start.

When we were dropped off, it was still dark.  I didn’t see any signage indicating which way we should go to get to the start area.  None of the other runners seemed to know where to go, so runners were walking in different directions.  As it turns out, we were only about 100 meters from the starting line, but it wasn’t set up yet.

I saw several runners walking through this gate.  I didn’t know if the start was in that direction, but I decided to follow them.  If nothing else, it gave me a chance to see some of the old city.

Before long, I saw runners coming back after realizing this wasn’t the way to the start.  I’m still glad I followed them, because I got to do some early morning sightseeing.  This was my only chance to see more of Mdina.

I got back to our drop-off point in time to see the glow of the sunrise on the horizon.

I eventually saw where they had port-o-potties and where we could check our gear bags.  I still didn’t see where the starting line was going to be.

While I was waiting in the start area, I starting talking to another runner.  Her name was Candice, and she said she was hoping to run a pace of about 8:45 per mile.  That’s about the pace you need to break 3:50, which was my goal.

They had pace groups with target times in 15-minute increments.  The pace group closest to my goal time was 3:45, but I didn’t think I could run that fast.  I managed to do it in my last race, but that was a faster course.  This course has a couple of downhill sections, but most of the course is rolling hills.  I thought I’d be doing well just to break 3:50.

Candice and I decided to start together.  If all went well, we might run the whole race together.  We lined up a short distance behind the 3:45 group, but we weren’t planning to run with them.

The course was slightly uphill for the first kilometer.  We weren’t keeping up with the 3:45 group, but we kept them in sight.  Just doing that felt tiring.

After the first kilometer, the course turned downhill.  It was quite noticeably downhill for the next five kilometers.  This was the fastest section of the course.

The course was marked in kilometers, but Candice and I were both used to pacing ourselves in miles.  We each had watches that gave us our pace in minutes per mile.  I never noticed my time for the first mile, but Candice said it was 8:15.  That was faster than I expected, but it explained why it felt tiring.

The next few miles were even faster.  Miles two and three were both faster than eight minutes.  Mile four was 8:11.  These miles were much faster than our goal pace, but they didn’t feel tiring.  They were only fast because gravity was doing most of the work.

The next 14 miles were rolling hills, with very little net elevation change.  Our pace varied, but our goal over this section was to average 8:45 per mile.  If we could do that, we’d have room to slow down in the late miles, when we might be struggling.

To the best of my recollection, mile five was fairly flat.  We slowed to 8:28, but that was still faster than our target pace.  The next mile was slightly uphill.

During mile six, I saw that we were running back toward Mdina.  I had my phone with me, so I stopped briefly to take a picture.  Candice slowed down until I caught up with her.  That mile took 8:59, but we were expecting that.

In the next mile, Candice stopped at an aid station to make a bathroom stop.  I walked until she caught up with me.

While I was walking, I saw the 3:45 pace group go by.  Evidently, we had passed them during one of the downhill miles.  I didn’t notice at the time.

When Candice caught up to me, we were beginning a somewhat tiring hill.  We could still see the 3:45 group ahead of us, but we gradually fell farther behind them.

In that mile, we slowed to 9:24.  That wasn’t too surprising.  I had walked a fair distance before Candice caught up to me.

Over the next few miles, our pace varied.  On average, we were keeping close to our target pace of 8:45.

For several miles, we were doing loops and out-and-backs, but we never got that far from Mdina.  In mile 11, we went up a long gradual hill.  That hill took a lot out of me.  For the first time, I fell behind Candice.  Then we turned and started coming back downhill.  I picked up my pace enough on the downhill that I was able to catch up with Candice, but I wondered if that would happen again on other hills.

At halfway, we were on pace to break 3:50, but not by a wide margin.  I knew there was another long downhill section later in the race, but I didn’t know exactly when it started.  Candice was keeping a good pace, but I didn’t know if I could keep up with her long enough to reach that downhill section.

There was a spot where we left the road to run a loop on sidewalks before returning to the road.  Right at the beginning of this section, I fell behind again.  I was never too far back, but I couldn’t catch up to Candice until we were back on the road.  I managed to catch up with her, but I was less and less confident that I could keep up the pace for the rest of the race.

Candice had to catch a flight later in the day, so she was motivated to finish as quickly as she could.  I told her if I fell behind later in the race, she would need to go ahead without me.  Every time I said something like that, she told me I would be fine.  I don’t think she realized that I was struggling with the pace much more than she was.

For the most part, the course was open to traffic.  On some sections, we had a lane to ourselves.  In other places, we had to share the road with two-way traffic.  Early in the race, there weren’t many cars.  As the race progressed, there was much more traffic.  At times, it made us nervous.

Because the course looped around so much, there were a few places where we could see Mdina in the distance.  At about 16 miles, I realized we were running the same section of road where I had stopped to take a picture earlier.  Seeing Mdina atop the hill was a majestic sight, but I didn’t want to keep seeing it.  I wanted to start working our way toward Sliema.

In the next mile, we went through the same aid station where Candice had made a bathroom stop earlier.  I remembered going up a hill shortly after that, so I expected to go up the same hill again.

We reached a roundabout, but this time we left in a different direction.  We both recalled turning onto a sidewalk before, but this time, we turned onto a street.  I was overjoyed when I realized we wouldn’t have to go up that hill again.

It was here that we began to have more downhill running.  This time, it wasn’t all downhill.  There was a downhill trend, but we still had the occasional uphill section.

In some miles, we were a little fast.  In others, we were just keeping up the pace we needed.  It was less tiring, however.

At about 19 miles, Candice started to speed up running downhill.  I couldn’t quite keep up with her.  Then, we started an out-and-back section that was rolling.  Going out, there were two downhill sections and one uphill section.  Coming back, there was one downhill section and two uphill sections.  Each time we went uphill, I fell farther behind.

At the turnaround, I was already half a block behind Candice.  We were now mixed in with half marathoners, most of whom were walking.  There were enough walkers between us, that I sometimes lost sight of Candice.

Coming back, just as I crested a hill, I reached an aid station.  I drank half of my water and poured the rest on my legs.  I was worried about overheating later, so I wanted to get my tights wet.

By the end of the out-and-back, I was about a block behind Candice.  When I got my split for mile 20, I saw that I had kept up the same pace, in spite of the hills.  She was speeding up.

After the out-and-back, we began a long downhill section.  The next mile was comparable to the fast downhill miles at the beginning of the race.  I tried hard to use the downhill to catch up.  At first, I didn’t seem to be gaining any ground.  Candice was speeding up too.  Eventually, I could see that I was getting closer.  Then we went up a ramp to get to a bridge.

Going up the ramp, I was forced to slow down.  I had to make sure my effort wasn’t going to break me.  I started to fall farther behind again.

I ran that mile in 8:11.  I was pleased with my pace, but I realized I would never catch up to Candice again.  I was on my own now.

The next few miles were rolling.  I was surprised how hilly this section was.  In mile 22, I slowed to 8:56.  I gave back some of the time that I gained in the previous mile, but I was still reasonably confident that I was on pace to break 3:50.

Mile 23 had a hill that was much steeper than the others.  Up until now, some of the hills were long, but none had been that steep.  This hill forced me to take a walking break on the steepest section.  If I forced myself to run it, I would never recover from the effort.

In that mile, I slowed to 9:23.  Now I was no longer sure if I was still on pace to break 3:50.

I knew the last few kilometers were around the harbor.  I expected those miles to be flat.  First, I needed to get there, and there were still more hills.

At about 38K, I saw a tall wall made of weathered limestone.  I realized this must be part of the city wall of Valletta.  Running alongside this wall, the road turned sharply downhill.  I tried to use the hill to pick up my pace as much as I could.  This hill took me all the way down to the Valletta Marina.  Now, the rest of the race was alongside the harbor.

It was still a long way around the harbor, but I fought to keep up the best pace I could.  When I saw my pace for mile 24, it was 8:43.  Initially, I was pleased to have kept up a pace that was faster than 8:45.  I was less pleased when I remembered that a good portion of that mile was downhill.  I didn’t know if I could keep up that pace on level ground.

At an aid station, I again drank some of my water, but poured the rest on my legs.  I was still concerned about getting hot.  It was probably 60 degrees by now, and the sun was high in the sky.

Now that we were next to the water, I started to notice a cool breeze.  The breeze hitting my wet tights cooled me off.  I no longer had to worry about overheating.

I had not taken the time to figure out if I was on pace to break 3:50.  In a way, I didn’t want to know.  Without knowing, I told myself that I was on pace, but every second counted.  I had to fight for it.

At 40K, I could see Fort Tigne in the distance.  I looked for the finish line.  Then I realized that Manoel Island was in the way.  I wouldn’t be able to see the finish until I ran most of the way around the harbor.

Shortly after that, I saw my time for mile 25.  I slowed to 8:58 in that mile.  That was discouraging.  Then, I looked at my total time.  It was 3:37 and change.  I had more than 12 minutes to run the last 1.2 miles.  If I could keep up my current pace, I would have more than a minute to spare.  That was a pleasant surprise.

In the last 1.2 miles, I fought hard to keep up my pace.  I was passing as many runners as I could.  It seemed like I had it in the bag, but only if my watch was giving me an accurate distance.  If my watch was reading high, which is common, it might be too close for comfort.

At 41K, I could look ahead and see where I boarded the bus earlier in the morning.  I couldn’t see the finish line yet, but soon I saw my hotel, and I knew the finish line was before the hotel.

As I got farther around the bend, my watch gave me a split for mile 26.  It was 8:50.  That would have been encouraging, but I knew I had more than two tenths of a mile to go.  My watch was reading high.

It wasn’t until I could see the finish line that I knew for sure I had enough time to get there.  I ran hard all the way and finished in 3:48:58.  I had a Boston qualifier with slightly more than a minute to spare.

I had lost sight of Candice at least a few miles earlier, but trying to catch up to her was the only thing that kept me from slowing down more than I did.  I kept chasing her, even when I knew I couldn’t catch her.  That extra effort made the difference.

I figured she finished at least two minutes ahead of me, but she was probably still in the finish area.  I quickly realizing, however, that the finish area was too insanely crowded to for me to have any hope of spotting her in the crowd.

I continued moving forward and received a banana and my finisher medal.  I was surprised by the size of the medal.  It’s about four inches in diameter.  I don’t know if they’re always this big, or if it’s just because this was the 40th Malta Marathon.

I was about to step onto the sidewalk and look for Candice, when I remembered that I had checked a gear bag.  I looked for other runners who had already retrieved their bag, so I could ask where they got them.  I knew it was somewhere close to my hotel, but I wasn’t sure exactly where.  I kept moving forward.

I found out the gear retrieval was inside the parking garage that’s underneath my hotel.  I remembered seeing the ramp that leads down into the garage, so I kept walking in that direction.  When I got there, I saw Candice.  She had already retrieved her gear bag.

Candice asked me how my race went and told me that she had struggled with the last few miles.  Then she had to leave to take a ferry to Valletta, so she could get to the airport.

My hotel was so close to the finish, that it was only 11:00 when I got back to my room.  After taking a relaxing bath and changing into clean clothes, it still wasn’t noon yet.

After a race, I usually eat post-race snacks and skip lunch.  This time, I wanted a real lunch.  There are a number of restaurants on the street where the race finished, but I expected those to be crowded.  Near Tigne Point, there’s a mall called The Point.  I knew there were restaurants there, so I headed that direction instead.

After lunch, I went back to the hotel to take it easy for the rest of the afternoon.  Before long, I started to get sleepy.  My lack of sleep didn’t seem to hold me back during the race, but it caught up to me in the afternoon.

I felt rejuvenated by the fresh air as I walked to dinner.  Several of the restaurants along the waterfront have outdoor seating under heated canopies.  I had dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant that I had walked past a few times before.

After dinner, I had a nice visit with two friends from Denmark who were having dinner at another restaurant just down the block.

When I got back to my room, it was much cooler than the night before.  I shut the balcony door and hoped for the best.

I slept well for about four hours.  By then, the room had warmed up, and I had trouble getting back to sleep.  For the rest of the night, I slept intermittently.  I’d open the balcony door long enough to cool the room down.  Then I’d close it and go back to sleep.

Monday, February 24

I had one more day for sightseeing before flying home.  I slept a little later and then had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel.

Later in the morning I took a 90-minute boat tour.  That didn’t start until 10:30, which gave me time to do a workout at the hotel.

The tour began with a trip around Marsamxett Harbour, which is the body of water between Sliema and Valletta.  We went about halfway around Manoel Island, giving me a view of Fort Manoel

Next, we went past the marinas and along the northern shore of Valletta.  After that, we left Marsamxett Harbour, sailing between Fort Tigne and Fort St. Elmo.

After going out to se and sailing around Valletta, we entered the Grand Harbour.  From here, I had views of Valletta from the other side.

We sailed through every part of the Grand Harbour, giving me close-up views of the three fortified cities on the southern side.  The cities of Birgu (Vittorioso) and Senglea are on two long peninsulas.  Each has forts overlooking the Grand Harbour.  I had seen these two cities from Valletta on Saturday, but this tour gave me panoramic views from the water.

The third city is Cospicua, which is farther inland, between the other two cities.

The tour finished at noon.  Then I had lunch at a nearby brewery.  My lunch included a sampler flight of seven of their beers.  In the U.S., beer tasters are typically four or five ounces.  I was surprised to see that these “tasters” were 280 milliliters, which is about 9 ounces.  Had I known they were that large, I wouldn’t have tried that many.

After drinking almost four pints of beer, I needed to go back to my hotel and take a nap.  I slept through the afternoon, not waking up until 7:00 PM.  I don’t think that was just from the beer.  It was also the cumulative lack of sleep over the previous three days.

I had dinner a little later than I planned.  Then I went to bed as quickly as I could, as I needed to get up early on Tuesday to get to the airport.  I only slept for four hours, but that was on top of a five-hour nap.

Tuesday, February 25

I had to be up early to get to the airport for a 7:10 AM departure.  On my way home, I made connections in Amsterdam.  This connection was much easier.  It’s a large airport, but it’s all in one building, and I know my way around.

Race statistics:

Distance:  42.2 kilometers

Time:  3:48:58

Average Pace:  8:44 per mile (5:26 per kilometer)

First Half:  1:53:34

Second Half:  1:55:24

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  539

Boston Qualifiers:  176

Countries:  53