Lisbon Night Run

Yesterday I went to the Lisbon Night Run (10 Km). Overall it was an interesting race, and I guess it reached its main goal of lighting up the city (they gave all runners this speleology lights ). For one, I was in really bad shape (tough weak) and thus just wanted to run it quite relaxed and without any concerns whatsoever with timings. And so I did, crossing the finishing line with the timer marking some (terrible) 49' 41''.

Still, there were some "details" which I did not like. First of all, the two support spots along the track (~3Km and ~7.5Km). Although this is obviously a matter of personal preference, I do fare much better with a single one around the 5-6th Km. Then, the promise of departing zones by previous time records was not met.Finally and most importantly, the kilometer marking were (surely!) wrong. No idea how they messed that up, but it is really enfuriating for a runner.

In order to spice a little bit this dull and short post, two short remarks are in orders. The first concerns the water bottles provided during these races. In short races like this one, I'd say the average runner only drinks about 10cl at each stop. The waste of water (and plastic, due to the casings) you see in every single one of these races is enormous. Clearly some shorted water bottles should exist, if for no other reason than for this purpose alone. In fact, there are so many of these events nowadays that this might be a niche market waiting for an innovative company to come and claim it.

Secondly, it is funny how we can numb the body (with localised pain-killers) in order to get a race done, but not the mind. Perhaps yet another (odd) consequence of the triumph of mind over body.


Filipe Baptista de Morais