I was a few weeks into training for the 2021 D&L Heritage Trail Half Marathon last fall when my high school friend Esther sent me a message, asking if I’d be interested in running the Athens Marathon with her and her sister, Hannah. It sounded like an incredible opportunity, but the race was in mid-November and there was no way I’d be ready to run a full marathon by then. (Let’s face it: I’m not even ready to run a full marathon when I am completely trained! Haha.)
So I declined. But then Esther told me that she and Hannah were also going to be running the Pisa Marathon in mid-December, and my ears perked up. I did a bit of research and saw that the race also had a 21K (half marathon) option, dubbed La Pisanina. Now that was very much up my alley!
Not only was the distance much more doable, but the location was special to me. You see, my high school class went to Italy for our senior class trip in 2005. We took the grand tour of Italy – everywhere from Rome and Pompei to the Tuscan towns of Orvieto and Siena to Florence and Venice. We even spent a sliver of an afternoon in Pisa; while we got to see the Leaning Tower, we didn’t have time to climb it. At the time, I wrote in my journal that I was going to have to return to Pisa someday to go to the top of the tower.
And now, 17 years later, it looked like I was going to have the opportunity to do just that. I put all my ducks in a row, paid my race registration fee, booked a flight, and did a happy dance! My 18th half marathon was going to be one to remember, no doubt about it.
The race was on December 19 – so, exactly nine months ago yesterday. I met Esther and Hannah in Germany a few days before, so I got to experience a bit of Germany and Luxembourg (including Christmas markets, pastries, and much more) before we drove south through Switzerland to Italy.
Just a few non-Italy pics, because I want to show them off to you:
We arrived in Pisa the day before the race, and I was pretty excited to be back, albeit still a bit tired from jetlag and all that. The piazza where the tower, the duomo, and the baptistery are located was exactly like I remembered it. We were staying at Hotel Villa Kinzica, which was just a stone’s throw from the Leaning Tower, and I could not get enough of the view from my hotel room window:
Esther, Hannah, and I did a bit of exploring and picked up our race packets. Here in the U.S., it’s common to request a specific shirt size when registering for the race; with this race, though, they asked you your shirt size when you picked up your packet and then gave it to you. After a bit of back-and-forth (thanks to broken Italian and broken English), we all got our shirts in the right sizes/styles and headed on our way.
We ended up wandering around Pisa a bit looking for a place to eat; we didn’t have to go far, of course, because there are plenty of options. We landed at Ristoro Pecorino, where I got some sort of pasta filled with cheese. There was bruschetta, of course. And I closed out my meal with some tiramisu. (Clearly I was not planning on running my fastest race; I was planning on enjoying myself!)
The sun had set by this point, and I absorbed the piazza at night:
Then up to bed I went! The race was supposed to start at 9 a.m., which was pretty late, so I nearly decided not to set an alarm since I would “wake up naturally” well before that. But then my brain kicked in and reminded myself that my sleeping schedule had been quite wonky due to jetlag, so I’d better set an alarm, just in case.
Of course, I woke up just fine – and before the alarm – on race morning, but better safe than sorry! I ate a chocolate chip Clif bar, drank some water, and pulled myself together. I opted for long sleeves and capris, and, although I was planning to make use of the water stops if needed, I decided to carry a handheld water bottle for extra hydration – and in case the source of water at the water stops was…umm…questionable. (Spoiler alert: The water at the water stops was totally fine and delicious! But in my race planning, I figured it was best to be safe!)
Esther and Hannah – in their own room – had already gotten up and grabbed coffee prior to their running the full marathon, so we were all ready to go.
The morning was crisp and cool, probably in the upper 20s or low 30s (Fahrenheit). As we made our way to the corral, I just soaked it all in – the scenery, the other runners, the fact that I was here doing this. If you’d told my 17-year-old self that I’d be returning to Pisa 17 years later to run a half marathon, my younger self would have laughed at you!
We entered the corral, and I had no clue where to line up; the pacers – who had helium balloons tied to them instead of carrying sticks with the pace on them – hadn’t made their way into the crowd yet.
So Esther, Hannah, and I hung out for a bit. Each runner’s bib had his/her national flag on it, so I glanced around at the other runners’ bibs. It was interesting seeing where everyone was from! We talked – and by that I mean lightly and somewhat ineffectively communicated – with a couple from France, and they took our picture:
Before I knew it, someone was saying something in Italian over the loudspeaker, and everyone started heading toward the starting line. I bid arrivederci to my friends and readied myself for the race of a lifetime. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” blasted through the speakers as I crossed the starting line, sending me on my way through the streets of Pisa. I’m sure I was a little misty, because, man, I love Italy!
Going into this race, I knew I was just going to enjoy myself and look around, etc. And that’s exactly what I did! I still ran with some intention, of course, but I let myself become fully immersed in my surroundings. Architecture? Check. Trees? Check. Random homes? Check. Street signs? Check. Gas prices? Check. The terrain? Check. I could go on, but you get the idea.
(Let me just pause here and say that there are SO MANY official race photos of me. And, amazingly, I could download them all for like 20€ or something like that. Totally worth it!)
At about 2K, we ran alongside and then crossed the River Arno, which runs through the city. The sun gleamed off the water, and I just soaked it all in. I was pretty sweaty by this point, though, and I wondered if I had overdressed. (Spoiler alert: I ended up being fine.)
Another nagging thought present somewhere in the back of my brain was that I wasn’t sure if I had lined up correctly in the starting corral. Thing is, I was seeing a whole lot of marathon bibs and very few, if any, half marathon bibs. Similarly, I had seen the marathon pacers enter the corral…but where were the half marathon pacers? *shrugs* Had the race organizers wanted all the marathoners to line up first, with all the half marathoners behind them? Or was everyone supposed to be mixed together, which is what I’m used to? I wasn’t sure. I’m still not, actually. I just really, really didn’t want to miss the marathon/half marathon split!
We ran through the city of Pisa, passing all sorts of incredible buildings and other structures, before the course led us to a more residential area. Although I was warm-ish, I felt like my pace was respectable – considering that I was looking around at things and taking pictures, on top of still being a bit jetlagged. Runners were a little more spaced out now, although there were still plenty of others around me.
After a few more kilometers, we headed out of the city limits to more of a rural area. Frost still lined the grass alongside the road, and I could see mountains in the distance. I considered trying to get a mountain photo at several points, but I knew photos wouldn’t do the scenery justice.
That nagging thought in the back of my brain (about whether I had started the race with the right group) moved forward as I began to look earnestly for the marathon/half marathon split. The day before, someone had said that it was at “about 10K” (6.2 miles), so I went with that. But then I reached 10K – and passed 10K – and there was no sign of a split. Silly me for not actually studying the course map to see where the split was. I wasn’t nervous, but I felt just a bit on edge, wondering, “There’s no way I could miss it – right?” I’d already purchased my ticket to climb the Leaning Tower that afternoon at 2:30, and I’d certainly miss it if I accidentally did the full…
But then I heard someone next to me saying something in Italian to someone else, who answered, “Dodici.” I’m far from fluent in Italian, but I knew that “dodici” meant 12, and I reasoned that the split was at 12K. And sure enough…
Ah, relief. I wasn’t going to miss my date with the Leaning Tower after all!
For those who haven’t done the math, a half marathon (13.1 miles) is 21K, so I still had about 9K to go. I was feeling fine but looking forward to that finish line, especially when we were out in the flat, rural area. It was a beautiful area, so don’t get me wrong, but I was ready for some variety. Since the split, which took the marathoners on their merry way out toward the sea and diverted the half marathoners back toward the city, runners were more spaced out, meaning I found myself without as many people nearby to motivate me. That, coupled with the fact that my legs were getting tired at this point, meant that my pace slowed considerably. My attitude started to do a bit of a nosedive, so I tried to remind myself how amazing it was that I was running a half marathon in Italy. I gazed up at the mountains in the distance and breathed in the Italian air, ahhhh. So nice.
At one point, I was plodding along on a straight, flat road when a short, middle-age Italian lady trotted up beside me. She said something to me in Italian and kind of gestured at the road ahead and laughed. My brain froze for a second, until finally I was just like, “HAHAHAHAHA…si?” I had no clue what she’d said or what I’d just said yes to, but…laughing seemed like the right thing to do, I guess? But then she said SOMETHING ELSE IN ITALIAN, so I was just like “HAHAHAHA” again. It was just a matter of time until she figured out that I was a phony, so I slowed my pace so she could pass me and find someone else to communicate with who actually spoke Italian.
Finally I was greeted by a tiny sign announcing the return to the Pisa city limits.
I use the term “limits” rather loosely, because we were definitely not back in the town yet. The route took us through a traffic circle, where some nice police officers were doing traffic control. “Grazie!” I said to them, per my habit of thanking volunteers and race officials along the way; they just kind of looked at me like, “Crazy American.” Haha. Hey, I’ll be outwardly expressive of my gratitude if I want to!
Traffic circle aside, things were still looking rather rural. But still, I was making progress – not just toward the town and the finish line but toward my personal goal of running 500 miles in 2021. As of October, it had looked out of my grasp, but the extra bit of training I did for Pisa put it within reach. By my calculations, I would hit my 2021 mileage goal at about 18K (a little past the 11-mile mark) of the Pisa Half Marathon.
So, of course, when I reached 18K under a canopy of Italian trees, I celebrated ever so slightly! I admit, 500 miles isn’t a huge deal for a lot of people, but it had been a while since I’d logged that many miles in a year, so I was grateful for my progress!
With 3K left, the route took us closer to town. Buildings became more plentiful. There were official road closures/blocks for the runners. The streets were more populated. My legs felt heavier. All signs that the race would soon be drawing to a close.
As I was heading up an incline (a little bridge of some sort) with about 2K to go, I saw a photographer up ahead and did a victory pose. He caught that pose, but he also caught the moment after, when there was a hint of desperation in my eyes – recorded for all of eternity that I was riding the struggle bus at that point!
Thankfully, I didn’t have to ride it much longer. Soon, I turned onto a narrow street and saw the Leaning Tower up ahead. I was really almost there!
I kept a solid pace until the end of that road, when I turned left, entering the piazza, the finish line up ahead and the duomo, baptistery, and tower on my right. It was a beautiful sight!
As I basked in it all and ran toward the finish line, it occurred to me that there was literally nobody else on the finish line stretch at that point, so allllllllll of the race photographers would have their lenses trained on me, meaning LOTS of finish line photos. Thankfully, I didn’t have to fake a smile – running in Italy gave me reason enough to smile normally – as I sprinted toward the finish line.
And just like that, I crossed the finish line, Leaning Tower of Pisa as my backdrop. Absolutely amazing. I actually teared up a bit as I walked through the finish line chute and received my medal. My unofficial time was 2:16:08, which is far from my fastest, but that doesn’t matter to me. I had an amazing experience, and that’s the most important thing to me in this instance.
I got some post-race pics, of course. For one of them, I had to ask someone else to take my picture with the Leaning Tower in the background. I communicated this (with partial effectiveness) and got the desired photo:
As you may know, one of my traditions is to get a jumping pic after each race. Well, since the language barrier had been a slight issue when asking for a regular picture, I decided that explaining the mechanics of photographing a jumping picture would be quite difficult. So I set up a timer and did it myself. Not bad, not bad.
After soaking in the post-race atmosphere for a while, I returned to the hotel so I could call home (thanks, Wi-Fi!) and also get myself cleaned up in time to watch Esther and Hannah finish the marathon. I had an absolute blast cheering random people on; there’s such a fun community feel to this race, with people just having a good time and enjoying themselves. Highly recommend!
I wasn’t there for too long when I saw my friends, gliding right along toward the finish line. I ramped up my cheering, and they ramped up their pace to the finish. Woooooo!
The rest of the day, Esther and I hung out and explored – and I enjoyed my long-awaited trek up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was well worth the wait.
Epilogue (of sorts):
The remainder of the trip saw us explore more of Italy (additional parts of Pisa, along with Florence, Desenzano, and Verona), Switzerland (Luzern), and France (Colmar), before returning to Germany for Christmas and hitting Luxembourg one more time. By the time I returned to the U.S., I had gained a solid handful of souvenirs; nearly 1,000 photos and videos; and countless memories to last a lifetime. Here’s a smattering of photos from the trip:
Operation Life 