Moldova is a land locked and a non EU state. It will be my 54th marathon race when i cross the finish line.
Getting to Moldova was not entirely straight forward. The immigration check was long and i was held up for an unusually long time as the immigration officer wanted me to explain reason i am in the country. Almost zero english was spoken. I only understood one word “…. invitation.” I tried to explain that i am here for the marathon, but that makes little sense to him. Finally i figured there was an e-mail from the race organiser confirming my participation and i showed him the email. It must have helped as after collecting enough information from me ; hotel address , departure flight i cleared immigration. He wanted to make sure i leave the country too.
Chisinau was really a last minute thing. Gertjan has a marathon country list he wants to check off. And i have no goal whatsoever. It was a weekend trip. Fast.
Gertjan got some Lei out of the ATM and we started looking for a taxi. Many of them did not want to bring us to the center or quoted a price double for what it is. Feeling like a tourist already surely. We finally found an honest man with a metered taxi to get us into town.
The race
We got to the center which was a 15km taxi ride from the airport. The start and finish line was located in the center of park. It was very quiet and neat.
The route was a 4-looper. My first thought was ; boring. Well it was not too bad this time. The predictability worked in my favor. Rest uphill, ready to run downhill.
The aid stations were decent. But it lacked electrolytes. Only water & one red bull station. I had only 2/3 gels. I could use a bit more🥹 I am a bit more disciplined taking them and starts at 15km, next 10km etc.
meysrunningjourney.com 