pickupthepacepaul

On 15th December 2024, I took part in the Pisa Marathon. Pisa Marathon was my 15th Marathon of the year and my 161st all-time Marathon (plus). I am pleased to have paced another marathon in Italy, making this the 119th time I have been an official pacer and 56th time pacing a marathon. This time, I was pacing 4:10.

I’ve never run a marathon in December other than the smaller Phoenix Running Events. With my last mass participation event usually being early November. Whilst it was a little cold and rained a bit, we got lucky with the weather. Except for the fact that our flight almost didn’t take off to go home because of fog.

I decided to make this a family trip, and with school, we only stayed 1 night. It was a jam-packed weekend, but to be honest, if we stayed longer, I don’t think there would have been more my family wanted to do. Our flight landed in Pisa at 12:30, and within 40 minutes, we had cleared customs, made our way to the marathon expo, and stopped for lunch. I needed to be at the expo for 15:00 for our technical briefing, so we stopped for some pasta, pizza, and a glass of wine just a couple of minutes away.

The bib collection was very quick and easy to get your race bib and t-shirt. I really liked the t-shirt this year, which is celebrating 25 years.

After the expo and race briefing, we made our way to our hotel, which was only a 15-minute walk. Sometimes, I do well with hotel selection, and this was one of those times. It was a lovely hotel, which was literally 1 minute walk from where I had to meet in the morning, and a 2 minute walk from the leaning tower of Pisa. I must admit, this was not as intentional as it may seem. When I booked the hotel, I assumed the race started near the tower, and I thought what I booked looked relatively close, but I didn’t realise how good a spot it was.

We spent the rest of the evening enjoying more pizza and pasta and walking around the area. It was cold, but it stayed dry for us. We took some pictures of the leaning tower of Pisa, but I found that i kept correcting the tilt with my phone and making it straight by accident, haha.

Pisa Marathon 2024

I had to be at the start at 07:30 on race morning to meet the other pacers. Owing to my location, I stayed in bed as late as possible and actually left my hotel at 07:30, arriving on time. I wore a long sleeve base layer that I never do for races, but I’m glad I did as it was cold. It was a long wait for us as we had a photo planned at 08:20, then we made our way to the start area. The early start is always to ensure everyone is there and organised, but in truth, I could have arrived at 08:15 and been sorted fine.

This is not the biggest race, but with around 5000 people, it definitely felt busy at the beginning. It had the feeling of a large international race. I didn’t take anything with me, so I didn’t use the bag drop.  It was really busy when I went past for the photo, but whilst it was crowded, everything seemed well organised.

I found my pace group and made my way to the start, where I found a number of runners ready for the half and full marathons, which start together.

As we started, I saw my wife and family immediately because they came out of the hotel to see me. It was nice to see them at the start, as they wouldn’t usually come to the start of a race, but when I literally ran past them, they took the opportunity.

The Pisa Marathon route is flat and fast, so great PB potential. It was a good balance of feeling busy for the size of the marathon whilst never feeling congested. The aid stations were able to manage with the numbers, and I easily got water at every aid station. There was also fresh fruit at every station, plus an electrolyte drink and also hot tea. I stuck to the water and oranges. There were certainly some beautiful sections during the race, and it was peaceful. Much of the route was quiet with little crowd support, which is usual in a lot of races. More spectators on the course would be good, but with 90 pacers on a course this size, there were many groups of runners that provided good support throughout. The pacers played an important role in cheerleading.

It was a nice route in many ways, with good PB potential, but ultimately, the draw for the event is the start and finish area. You felt the support as you entered the last few KM in the race entering Pisa.

The course was accurate, measured in KM like most European events. My pace team started and finished together, keeping a steady pace coming in around 30 seconds under target time.

I loved the race, mostly for the city and the experience. There aren’t many finish lines with such an iconic feature in the background of your finish photo.

I finished in 04:09:26, and felt great. Pisa isn’t a race my family would come to again as once is enough for them to see everything, but it is definitely a race I would recommend doing, and I would come back again. I would probably also bring my family back when the kids are a little older to appreciate the culture a little more.

We made the absolute most of the day we had in Pisa, with our flight leaving at 22:00. Usually, we would have liked to have left earlier, but I’m glad we didn’t because it meant we could take our time to enjoy Pisa and not rush after the race.

As I had time, I had a couple of beers, whilst my family enjoyed all the pizza, pasta, and desserts they could manage. For a short weekend away, we all had a fantastic time.

Overall, it was a successful trip. Now I need to start thinking about 2025. What is on your race calendar?