Pawel runs Cracow Marathon “It was great to run on the streets where I grew up”
Pawel with his friend Mariusz at the finish near the Town Hall Tower in Cracow
Our Castlebar based member Pawel Lach returned to his native Poland recently to run in the 16th Annual Cracow City Marathon. Cracow (Krakow) is his home town and the start and finish is located at the Main Market Square. This year’s event had “Through History” as its theme, with runners passing various historical monuments on the 42.195k course, with long sections by the banks of the river Vistula.
It’s part of three day celebration of running beginning with a Night Run 10k on the Friday night, with the marathon taking place this year on Sunday April 30.
It’s one of the biggest events in Poland and has attracted runners from 55 countries over the years.
Pawel has sent us this report of the experience:
“The 16th PZU Cracovia Marathon Festival had over 6,300 participants of which over 5,000 completed the full marathon. It was very small compared to the marathons I’ve run in Ireland. The weather for the first half was chilly and drizzly – the way it usually is here – but for the second half it was very humid and warm. I found it very hard to run in those conditions. Also there were fewer supporters along the city route than we would have in Ireland. It’s always nice to have a good few people cheering you on. I was very happy with my finish time which was 4.08.55. Overall my experience was great. It was great to run on the streets where I grew up”.
Thanks for your contribution Pawel and congratulations on your achievement.
He seems to have run a very even paced race – an average 5:54 per kilometre, and 2:00.40 at halfway. Pawel started running with Castlebar Fit4Life about 4/5 years ago and completed Dublin Marathon in 2015 in 4:14.09, as well as Portumna 50k in 2016.
The race was won by Cosmas Mutuku Kyeva with a time of 2:12:52. This is the third victory of the Kenyan in the marathon in Krakow. The fastest woman was his compatriot Stellah Jepngetich Barsosio, with a time of 2:33:01.
The Mini Cracovia Marathon is part of the weekend festival and commemorates the winner of the 4th edition of the marathon, who was the first (and only) Polish runner to ever win the race. Two weeks later he died in tragic car accident.