"Healthy mind in a healthy body"... This might be the saying which convinced people to run in the Kildare Halfmarathon 2010. This event happend on May 9th, started in race course of Curragh and finished in the centre of Kildare Town. If you did ever think about running a marathon you might read on a find out what do people think about such events. We are bringin you 2 interviews (1 in English and 1 in Czech language).

 Czech Language here... 

 Ondřej Grégr, 31 , AAA Mobile windscreens

Q1: How did you find out about the Kildare half-marathon and what made you sign up for it?

I found out about the half-marathon from two of my friends, Eva and Maria, about two months ago. Initially, it was meant to be bunch of us running it, but for various reasons it was only the three of us in the end. And I should note here, that i was very fortunate to undergo the preparation process with these two girls, as their determination and the way they conducted themselves into it inspired me well throughout my training.

Q2: How did the training go and how well prepared has one got to be to succeed?

The training itself is the core of it all and without it would be somewhat meaningless to run it. Ideally, you start running about two month before the actual run with some little distances adding up to it every other day so when you come close to the starting day, you'd have enough stamina and mussels built to support your body for the run. That, however, was not my case mainly due to my initial lack of commitment and laziness, so I ended up doing it the hard way. Running like a lunatic around Kildare, over and over again. Very helpful was combining it with swimming.

Q3: How well in your opinion was the Run organized?

I found the Run being very well organized, starting with a nicely run website that showed the running track, gave a lot of advices how to prepare and overall kept you well informed about all things essential to the Run. Organization on a day of a Run was also very good, with many car parking spaces provided, bus shuttle from Start to Finnish, festivities in Kildare Town square with also having many marshals and water stations alongside the track.

Q4: How did you personally feel throughout the Run and straight after it?

Well, they say your body can let you run a very different runs on a day, with one day having it all easy, your legs running pain free or you can feel right from the start that this simply won't be your day this time around and you can have an "uphill struggle" for most of the race. Thankfully, the latter wasn't my case and I was able to run onto my limits. I should say, that running it the first time, I held a great respect towards the distance and started the race rather slow. The key is to know how to pace yourself. So when I felt great on the 10k mark I decided to go for it and pushed further knowing that once the first signs of an exhaustion kick in, I will have to slow down and see how well can I finish then. It happened around the 11 miles mark, so the last three kilometers got very tough but in the end I feel still finished strongly.

Q5: What was your time?

My time was 1hr 44min 25sec.

Q6: How did you feel the next days?

Although I did a lot of stretching after the Run, I still felt very stiff the following two days. Then the pain and stiffness eased. By the fifth day I was all fine.

Q7: Would you run i again next year?

Yes, I certainly would. If it finds me in a good health, I see no reason why not to. Certainly, I would recommend it to anyone who wishes to challenge themselves and is willing to put up with the hard training. In the end, with the right passion nothing can stop you.

Checkout some pictures here... (copyrighted to Jozo Klimcik)