Debrecen Half Marathon - my 1st race/2013

21 km asphalt run

-6°C, windy, sunny, then cloudy

too cold 

4 x 5 km: 26', 27', 29' and 30'

Total running time: 1h56'

Pace: 5.37

Speed: 10,37 km/h

Ranking open: 
232 of 500

Ranking category ladies 40-50: 6 / 36.
Here, due to the friendly reply from the Hungarian organizer, Laszlo Madarasz, a clear evidence of the total participants:

III. Rotary Runningfestival        Debrecen - 2013. 03. 24.	Total	Women		Men
	prs	prs	%	prs
Marathon	91	12	13%	79
Halfmarathon	499	90	18%	409
Quartermarathon	213	114	54%	99
Marathon relay race (5 prs)	32	2	6%	30
	160	10		150
Halfmarathon relay  race (2 prs)	16	3	19%	13
	32	6		26
Total	995	232	23%	763
Charitable running - 1911 meter	~ 3000	(registered number)
Serial number of the Hungarian District is 1911

Desired goals:

1. to test my race level for long distance, as next month I run a full marathon in Cluj, also as preparation stage for the run segment of Ironman at the end of June.

2. to finish in max. 2 hours

3. ideal: 1h55'.   

Goal acchieved actually :-), could be 2-3 minutes better, for sure. I felt tired starting 17th km and became slower, so last 5 km needed 30 min.

Costs:

  88 ron - participation fee (6.000 forintz)

189 ron - train ticket Bucharest-Oradea-Bucharest, seat place. Difficult journey, 12 hours going there, 15 hours retur (!! because electrical cables were stolen in Ploiesti area!!!)

So, my first running race was 2012, was in winter too, 21 km too, abroad too: Polar Night Half Marathon   

For 2013, my first race was yesterday, 24th of March, a running race too, terrible cold day too (colder than in Tromso last year!), abroad too: Debrecen, in Hungary. 

Race time 2012: 2h20' - thick icy asphalt, no wind, cold, total dark.

Race time 2013: 1h56'  - dry asphalt, very cold wind, sunny, then cloudy.

 This picture must be explained :-) As you see, some of us are wearing dawn jackets. I wasn't prepared for such a cold, I borrowed wind stopper pants from Istvan actually. Lucky me I had gloves, cap, a flence. Here we were 40 minutes before start and had to dare to change for the race, getting the warm boots away, the dawn jackets away and so on. All of us, but every single person expressed some quite bizarre sounds and moans .... it sounded like a simulation for a group orgy ... it cannot be described in written!
About the event itself: in a strange way, I have little impressions. It was nothing special, the fact I did not understand a word it probably counts ... 
The start was delayed, no idea why, but a guy spoke and spoke and spoke :-) a lot about something. 11:11 o'clock instead of 11:00.

Participants: 500, many women, different than I see in Romania, where the men are the clear majority. In my age category we were 36.
Ambient: pretty nice, relaxed, civilized, no too loud music. 
Subscribing on the spot was no problem, they were prepared for a big number of participants. I did not subscribed on-line as I do not understand the language. I marked "S" for T-Shirt and I've got a real S. Nice T-Shirt, simple, the Rotary Club Debrecen sign on it only.

Volunteers: great, friendly, many older women ready to help the runners. Very nice.
Route: starting, crossing and finishings on the city stadion. Nothing to comment actually. Every lap was 5,200 km long.
Hydration: OK, I think. I stopped at km 9,5 and 20 for some water and dextro. I saw some chocolate and something else. But I really did not pay attention, as I am used to run for 15-20 km in winter without drinking while running.
Finish: on the stadion, large space. After crossing the electronic gate you should have follow a lane to the right and get your medal. You also got a paper bag with a brochure including touristic offers, an apple, a bottle of still water, an Easter choco egg and a voucher for a hot dog (the hot dog I did not liked, but I was hungry).

Awards: very strange ..... they had such a nice podium there, but they did not use it!! They called only the first place for a cup, a diploma and something in a paper bag. The man winning for age category over 50 was from Oradea and he didn't get a cup, not nice! See the picture .... so sterile, bland .... I didn't like this, really.

Istvan was the 3rd in his age category with a great time of 1h19', but he was not awarded. I disliked the manner they understood to give the awards, really. I never saw something like this ..... If they pay more attention to the marathon runners, I wonder?! 
Despite the fact you cannot compare Hungary with Norway, the awards ceremony in Tromso last year was very long, important, emotional, even if the winner got just symbolic prizes. The atmosphere were so great, really ..... they paid attention to every single winner on each category and the place was full of participants enjoying the ceremony.