Running 182 Laps Indoors: What a Marathon in a Sports Arena Feels Like?
Arena scheme
The startline.
Last week I ran my first official marathon race and it wasn't the usual 42.195 km through some major capital city with thousands of spectators and well oiled infrastructure. This was an indoor arena marathon where in order to complete the full distance I had to complete 182 laps through arena's corridors.
Zero spectators, full self-reliance and 182 laps ahead of me.
Since this was my first marathon - the goal was to complete it in under 4 hours and treat it as a "training run" for 30 Marathons Run.
My official time was 3:37:42 (7th out of 23) with 05:09 pace and I'm beyond pleased with that. I definitely pushed harder than I planned or anticipated. After all race day has its unique way of bringing the best out of you.
This was a unique and very different experience from my usual outdoor trail races I do. I was eager to experience the monotony that came with 182 laps - to see how my mind (and body) would take it. So how was it?
Main thing - it was all about laps instead of the distance. Since I had no accurate GPS signal inside the arena - I had no accurate distance to measure my progress. The only thing everyone used was laps. And that was... very different. Let’s just say it worked it's magic on the brain, especially during those last 30-20-10 laps.
In all the race went much better than I anticipated. I had a lot of fun, met some more weird people and inched just a step closer to getting my body and mind ready for future challenges.
There’s definitely something special about marathon distance. Now I have yet another magical number to beat - 3:37:42.
Some additional thoughts:
Main worry I hag going into this race were… shoelaces. Yes. Shoelaces. I ran the race in Hoka Carbon X3’s. Great shoes with one major flaw. You guessed it! Shoelaces. They just would get undone no matter what. Sometimes even several times during a regular 10k. Thankfully, it all stayed together for this entire race! What a shocker!
Just did the math. Apparently I made 728 90° left hand turns throughout the race. This is not something you will experience while running on trails and I felt it on my right feet, which took the damage. Nothing major though - just some tenderness.
Twice during the race I almost fell REALLY bad. In the second half of the race my foot every now and then would clip the sticky floor and I would go stumbling. It was an obvious sign my legs were getting a little tired, but twice, after clipping the floor just a little harder I almost went flying face first onto the floor. It was a sight to behold. Thankfully both times I caught myself.
The day before the race I went on “team building” with my colleagues from Montis Magia (where I currently work remote) which included a 10k hike and 4-hour long sauna session the same evening. I was very curious to see how my body would take the race since I knew that usually after sauna my body goes into deep relaxation/ recovery mode. Doing a “long run” the next day is not a smart idea, but, in this case, I felt absolutely fine. After all, I knew that I will 100% run the race and so I was mentally prepared. This kind of “mental prep” is very important for me and I found out that for myself once again.
Arenas corridors.
Finish!
