Mattias Bramstång

I did 3 marathons during 2013, a scenic run in Båstad, one on a fast track in Gothenburg and the last one in exotic Suriname. Quite nice experience, but the Suriname marathon in November was hard. Amazonas rain forest and 100% humidity was not easy to handle. I also did a quite different kind of run in May. Then I ran from Helsingborg to Malmö in a commercial event. Properly dressed, ancient inspired, sort of. (Take a look in the Photo Gallery).

After many month without long distance runs I realised I was afraid for running beyond 30 km. So I went to Växjö just to run a marathon in a comfortable speed and try to go steady. I was surprised of how well it went; I felt great all the way and could even push it quite hard the last lap (of 8). I finished with 3:22:33.

Two weeks later I just had to push it some more and find out what I was able to perform. I went to Skovmarathon in a beautiful beech wood outside of Hilleröd in Denmark. It rained intense some hours before start but the last hour before start it stopped and the sun appeared. It became perfect marathon weather. The track was better than I expected, just a few puddle and not so many slippery spots….

I started the first 10km at sub 43min. I felt out of shape. I thought I better slow down and jog the rest. But not yet, first I wanted to do a decent half marathon. After 15 kilometres I ran in to the back of the pack runners on the 10km-race. I had to dance around them all the way to they finished. At the same point I went out on the second (and last) lap. I just managed within 1h 30min. I felt inspiration in the beginning of the second lap and wanted to keep the pace as good as possible during the upcoming kilometres. At 35 kilometer I run into back of the pack runners of the half marathon race. This time the dance between slower runners was less easy. But I manage to finish this slippery and quite demanding track with more than 300 altitude meters at 7^th place in 3:03:39.

A scenic and joyful race just half an hour from home. I´m in quite bad shape for long distance nowdays so this was to be a check of my ability on the full distance. I started good and past half way mark at 90 minutes. In the uphills between 30 and 37 kilometer I felt fatigue. I had to walk a lot, wich normally doesn´t happens. But it did this day. I finished after 3 hours 18 minutes, pleased after all. I will be back. Se you at Båstad Marathon in the future.

Me and my friend Henrik Olsson went to this race in the beutiful area of Bovallstrand. It is a 8 lap hard course with approximatly 50 meter elevation every lap. This year the wind made it even more demanding especially on the slippery track just beside the ocean. As usual at this race we compete. Is it possible for Henrik to past me before he finish? Last year he didn’t. This year he did. He made an exellent race and ran solo all the time finishing after 2 hours 46 minutes. I was second to finish almost half an hour later. Nice day!

I decided long ago to try and run for three hours. Everything indicated that I had the speed and endurance to make it. The last few months of training had gone well, actually so satisfying that my secret goal was to run a little bit faster than three hours.

The competition is in the middle of the Brazilian winter, early one Sunday morning. Despite the season and the time of the day it was warm and bright even before starting. The hole distance is more or less right next to the sea, which is beautiful and interesting as it always happens things around.

I was running smooth and stable with a comfortable effort until the 24th kilometer (1:38:18) when I got cramp in one of my legs. It came suddenly, so fast that I had to jump three steps on the other leg while I was stopping. I had to stretch and then limp forward. The thoughts that went through my head was not fun, filled with disappointment and resignation. A moment later, at the 27th kilometer, I had found a pace (4:25 min/km) that I could hold, a balance between pain and function. I ran the rest of the race without comfort, instead, I carried a lot of concern. Finally, I finished with 2:59:35 and after I had stopped running I immediately began limping, anything else was not possible.

When a hero dies a legend is born. That is how we come to run the marathon distance. To celebrate the great run that Pheidippides did 2500 years ago. All over the Globe runners take part in honorable races over this distance. But there is only one race that takes part on the original course. That is Athen Classic Marathon.

This time it was my turn to run this race. I had a great time and pushed myself as hard as I could during the uphills and downhills. Running the last kilometers was exciting and valuable. To enter the Panathenaikon Stadium and running into the finish line was thrilling. The arena was crouded, the sky was blue, the sun was burning, I was exhausted, I could feel my heart beat and I was very happy.

”Νενικήκαμεν”  (”We have won”)

The day before start I decided to go there. I have had a week of plenty of rest so I wanted to push myself for some speed. I wanted to run steady and just below 3 hours.
I woke up in the middle of night and had a breakfast at 5am. After that I went to the car and drove for some hours. Gasping from time to time of course!
I went to the start line and soon we were of. I run with an experienced marathon runner for 15k, we helped each other to take the front wind. Then another runner came up and we were three runners pushing at 4min/km. At halfway there was a double right turn and then you just run the same way back. I like that! We left the halfway point at 1h26min1sec and we realised we just had one runner 4minuites ahead of us. We tried to keep the speed at our way back but it was only I how managed it. At 29k I was alone, I tried to inspire my company to keep up but it didn’t work as well. So now I had to push it for an hour alone. It went really good; I finished at 2nd place, 2minuites behind the winner, at 2h51min45sec.
The best part was that I never had a hard time or a negative thought and afterwards I was at good shape. I had a short stop at the finish line before I slowly run to my car and drove back home.

Finally I was there, in the start area among approximately 17000 runners. It took me two hours to get there from the motel by foot, bus and metro train. I was on a crowded spot! I had a few hundreds of runners ahead of me and all I could se in front of me was shoulders and heads.
We were released from the start area a little late and everybody walked slowly ahead. It took me a minute or two to reach the start line, and then it took me almost 2 miles to run before I could se the surface in front of me…
The early morning was glorious. A blue sky, an upcoming sun and a comfortable cool breeze. During this conditions I ran a little to fast the first 10k. I was on such a good mode but I decided to slow off a little. Then I continued on a little slower pace along the beautiful course through areas like Hollywood, Korea town, little Tokyo and El Pueblo. Sometime during this part a magnificent view appeared with the downtown skyline reflecting the sun.
The last miles were fun to run because the American crowd were very encouraging. I enjoyed it all and kept my pace steady but on a little more demanding effort. I finished at 63 place over all with 2.55.09. It was a good day for a run!

After a winter with barely nothing else than long-distance training I needed a race to take a sample on my speed condition. I finished my training period and gave myself a physical chock with some kilometres of speed. Then I simply rested for a week before the Heleneholm Marathon the 14th of April. Last time I ran a marathon was more than half a year earlier. This did affect me some and I was truly a little bit nervous. However I opened quite fast and past the first half on 1h 27min and dropped some during the second half. I finished with 2h 58min and I was very pleased with that.

Seven days later I felt the blood rushing through my veins again. Full of confidence and a week of rest made me feel strong. I was in no doubt of my capacity to make one more sub-3 marathon. But this time I was a pacer for a friend how just had to make his first sub-3 marathon. My mission was unmistakably, I had to keep a steady pace and push him if necessarily. I didn’t have to, he run like a machine just behind me and we finished together in 2h 57min. This was a good moment in our lives and later that day we ended up in the centre of Belgrade drinking some beers and eating a huge dinner.