We Run This Together

For a moment I took a break from everything.  I ran the afternoon 10K race of the Vilnius Marathon.  I was standing with a contingent of NATO soldiers from some European country.  I couldn't make out the language.  They were all wearing light blue t-shirts that read "We Run This Together." There have been a lot of threats emanating from Moscow recently.  It felt good to have that spirit of solidarity even if NATO countries tend to go their own separate ways in regard to Russia.  

Summer has lingered on.  It was over 30 degrees Celsius running along the cobblestone streets of Vilnius with the heat rising up from the pavement.  The only break was when we ran through Žverynas as the trees along Vytautas Street provided some shade.  The residential street is named after one of the Great Dukes of Lithuania who defended the Grand Duchy against the Teutonic knights at the Battle of Žalgiris in the early 15th century.  My throat was parched at the 3 km. mark.  Thankfully, there was a waterstand and I took a big gulp of water and splashed the rest over my head.  

We crossed the old bridge over the Neris River onto Gedimino Prospect and past a memorial of the barricades that protected the parliament building against the Soviet tanks that rolled into the country on a bitter cold winter's night in January 1991.  Sąjūdis leaders had closed themselves inside the Seimas refusing to give ground to Gorbachev's troops, who had hoped to squash this peaceful demonstration as Soviets had squashed previous rebellions in Budapest and Prague decades before.  However, the "Singing Revolution" had captured the world's imagination.  Gorbachev, who had recently won a Nobel Peace Prize, lost his nerve and eventually retreated. He had no idea where Perestroika and Glasnost would lead.

A new bar at the corner of Ankštoji St. was having a grand opening.  It's one of those dead corners where previous bar owners have struggled to make a go of it.  Nevertheless, it looked festive with its balloons and young guys dressed in leisurely slacks with open collars and gals in short cocktail dresses enjoying Prosecco as we came streaming by.  

We turned down toward the Neris river again at Vasario 16-osios (February 16th) Street past Lukiškių Square.  Like the prospect, it had been renamed after Lithuanians pulled down the statue of Lenin in the summer of 1991.  The long winter was over and Lithuanians could once again celebrate their independence, as they had in 1918 when they first broke away from the Russian empire after WWI.

After a longer than expected roundabout on Goštauto Street, we were routed back up Jakšto St. to Gedimino Prospect through an inflatable gate that advertised Rimi, which sponsored the event.  I assumed it was for the children's runs they had earlier.  It was then up Pylimo Street with a sharp turn on Islandijos Street.  Iceland was the first country to recognize Lithuanian independence before the Soviet Union had fully crumbled.  I will never forget when Bjork gave a concert in Vingio Park and had everyone chanting "Raise your Flag" as she twirled a huge Lithuanian flag on stage.

We ran through the old Jewish quarter to the old City Hall Square, where mercifully there was another waterstand.  I had to stop for a while as I wanted a longer draft of water before completing the last 3 km. I had to catch my breath before gulping down the water.  I thought we would have to slowly climb up to Subačius St. as we had on previous occasions, but the organizers had decided to make it a little easier for us and cut the course down through Tymo marketplace and Užupis instead.  I caught my second wind and completed the race in a little over an hour.  

Daina was waiting for me on the other side of Mindaugas bridge.  I hadn't expected the run to take so much out of me.  A wan smile traced across my lips as I approached the car.  I was relieved not to have to make the long walk home.  I don't remember it ever being so hot for a September marathon.  Usually by this time we see the first signs of Fall, the temperature dropping down into the teens.  The first frost on the grass in the morning.  However, the weather patterns have changed just like everything else about Vilnius.  It will get cold soon enough, so might as well hold onto the summer as long as we can.

When I first ran through Vingio Park in the late 90s I pretty much had the wooded park at the bend of the Neris river all to myself.  There might be one or two other runners but that would be it.  There were no major running events until 2001 when organizers staged a 10K in the park and slowly built it up to a full marathon that now winds all through the city.  I wasn't really up to such a long distance and would run the 10K or half marathon.  I collected the T's and the medals.  I still wear my bright orange shirt from 2012 when I made my first attempt at a full marathon and fell about 10 km. short.  No medal that time.  I decided it was better to stick to the shorter distances.

Over 13,000 persons participated this year.  It is now recognized as an international event with world ratings, so it counts toward elite events like the Boston marathon.  It doesn't attract any big names yet but it is highly competitive and draws the best of the long distance runners from the Baltics, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.  What I like most is the camaraderie.  One of the NATO officers said it is such a pleasure running the event as everyone is so friendly.  People cheer you on at every street corner, holding out their hands for you to slap as you go by.  Little kids line up in rows waiting to make contact.  Everyone wants to be a part of it.  You get such a huge lift that you battle through those sunstruck moments when you feel you can't carry on.

I've tried bicycling and swimming but I always come back to running.  It just suits me better.  I don't know why, especially since my knees are no longer so good and I have varicose veins running through my calves and ankles.  I bought a better pair of running shoes this summer and wear compression socks now.  I don't really like the hard surfaces but I endure them. I suppose there will come a time when I will have to stop running but I find a way to keep putting it off.  I don't know if it makes sense, but it's the steadiness that I like.  You find that center you can stay in and screen everything out.  The sound of the feet hitting the pavement around you takes on a rhythmic quality.  I don't need any headphones.  

Some of my younger colleagues have taken up running and do much better than I do.  I congratulated a former colleague on facebook who posted that he ran his first full marathon.  Others have gone onto run marathons in Paris and Berlin.  I would like to build myself back up to a marathon but it would take a lot more work.  Running three or four times a week isn't going to cut it.  I barely made 10 km.  There's the Christmas run coming up in early December.  In fitting with the season it is 12K.  I will try to keep myself going through the autumn months and see how I feel in late November.

The hardest part is getting through winter.  I've never been one for sports clubs and the roads and sidewalks are too slippery with ice in December, January and February.  I had tried different shoes but never could find the right traction and gave up.  Don't need to break a hip.  We once had a Kettler cross training machine in the basement but the kids broke it.  I wasn't able to get it fixed and that was the end of my winter training.  

I try to start back as early as I can.  Usually late February or early March.  It was really hard during the pandemic.  I just couldn't seem to get myself going again and pretty much quit running until I started back up this past Spring.  Even still, I was inconsistent.  If I stick to a regiment I might be able to get myself in shape for a marathon next September.  We shall see.