Grantham Running Club member
Simon Hartley extended a business trip to St Petersburg, Russia, to take part
in a national running festival. Firstly he clocked his first overseas
parkrun at Elagin Island in the city on Saturday. At 31 minutes not a fast
time, but he said he was slowed down by the views.
On
Sunday St Petersburg joined 14 other Russian cities in hosting their second
annual event, Zabeg.rf (Race Russia) to compete for the title of “Treadmill of
Russia”. Runners could choose from 2k, 5k, 10k or 21k races. Simon opted for
the 10k and joined some 4300 runners at the St Petersburg Zenit football
stadium for the 9am start on what was an unseasonably warm May morning, with
bright blue skies and the temperature already at 22C.
The
course was almost entirely flat, save for the twice-crossed 20m high Yakhtenny
Bridge over the Nevka River. The route offered stunning far reaching views
across the Gulf of Finland, and the gentle sea breeze at this point was the
only offering of any relief from the heat of the sun.
The
event was very well organised, with a fan zone to entertain the large
supporting crowd and the finishers. An estimated 45000 runners took part across
the 15 cities and each finisher received a large medal and technical t-shirt
specific to their city.
Simon
was pleased with his finishing time of 1:06:18 given the conditions and added
it was a thrill and a privilege to be able to take part in his first non-UK
race.
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