cultural experiences
13 miles at a time
I
Nick Motwani - MAK 17
had never run a half marathon, and running one never crossed my mind before coming to the Peace
Corps. It seemed like a lot of work for a medal that hundreds of other people were getting. In 2013, people started to talk about the annual Wizzair Skopje Marathon and I was encouraged to participate by
my fellow volunteers. I was lazy to start training and I ended up signing up for the 5K. I completed the run
without a problem, however once I crossed the finish line, I felt like I could run more. I immediately regretted
not attempting the half marathon and set a personal goal to complete the half marathon in 2014.
The plan was to start training early in the year for the marathon which was scheduled for early May. But
I made excuse after excuse, the weather was too bad or the local track was too crowded or I didn’t want
to violate my personal no running on Thursday policy. I just kept putting it off until I realized I was about 6
weeks away from running and I was still a couch potato. I got up, put on my running shoes, headed across
the street and did a few laps around the track.
I kept up the same regimen every day, a quick run before
work and a long run during the weekends. I started to experiment with those green things vendors were selling at
the pazar called vegetables. I drank less alcohol (even after telling myself rakija would help) and more water. The
more I ran the better I felt, however I could not get to the
full 13 miles during my training. I tried running in the evening when it was cooler, I tried filling my iPod with awesome
running music, I tried attaching a bag of Cheetos on a stick
to my forehead, but nothing worked. My legs would be aching after hitting 9 miles and I couldn’t complete the full run.
I came to realize that the first time I would be able to complete a half marathon would be at the half marathon.
May 11th finally came and it was a beautiful day. The sun
was out and downtown Skopje was crowded! The PCVs
met at the Macedonian Gate, took some pre-run pictures
and made our way to the start line. Now came one of the
most important decisions: what would I listen to while doing H