EDP Lisbon Half Marathon — 2024
My third SuperHalfs race
March 17 has passed, and the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon 2024 is over. I can share my personal impressions about the race. There was a lot of fun, but also things the Lisbon folks should work on.
The Race Kit
The race kit was okay, including a T-shirt, a bib, a cap (an excellent choice, as you’ll see why later), a magazine, some bags of tea, a cereal snack, an electrolyte pill, and a magazine. A very useful kit.
The quality of the T-shirt and the cap was very good.
To the Start!
My running buddy and I chose to stay in the downtown area, near the Marques De Pombal, at the Marques De Pombal Hotel, of course.
Access to the race is limited, and you can only get there by train. All participants must use the Fertagus train to reach the starting line at the Pragal station. To access the Fertagus train stations, athletes can use Lisbon’s public transportation system (subway, buses, and trains) for free by presenting their BIB. You have to take the metro and get off at the Jardim Zoológico station to get there. From there, you don’t have to go outside; just follow the train sign to reach the train station.
While on the train, I kept looking for the “25 April Bridge” to realize that we were on the bridge, just under the road where we were supposed to be running soon. The train trip was short, about 10–15 minutes.
We arrived at the last station at 8:55, and the race was supposed to start at 10:05. We thought we had plenty of time to get to our designated start wave. I was supposed to start from Box2, while my running buddy was supposed to start from Box3.
The first thing we noticed was that the only accessway was pretty packed with many people.
We did not panic and just followed the path until we got stuck in a sea of people. We were blocked in that spot for 30–40 minutes with little information about what was happening. There were no staff or organizing people around, just some policemen blocking the access.
We also thought we had time and space to warm up, but this was almost impossible with so many people trying to get into the designated starting box areas. This was my first half marathon where I did not do any warmup or stretching, nothing. It was impossible.
This was also the first half marathon where I had to stay in line and wait for tens of minutes with little information about what was going on. It was clear we were very far from the starting area.
At some point, the crowd started to move gradually, and we managed to pass the first checkpoint. We reached a zone where someone was yelling instructions about which way you should take to get to your designated starting area. There were no signs whatsoever, just a single volunteer yelling and trying his best.
For me, this was terrible organizing. Although I was at the race one hour and five minutes before the start, I didn’t manage to get to my box in time, and I had no place to warm up!
By the time I got to the starting areas, the lucky ones had already been in the race for 6 minutes.
The race
I started at last! But it was so crowded on the bridge that I was forced to run on a metal grill next to the asphalt car lane. You could see the water down below, and the running feeling was odd. Most runners avoided the grill, but it was the only option to get in front of other runners. And I kept running on that uncomfortable grill for almost 1-2 km, I believe.
I overcame thousands of runners since I started from the back of the herd, and two days after the race, I am still paying for that effort. Around km 8, getting in front of other runners became easy. Till then, you had to do a lot of maneuvering to get in front.
I give a big F for the start experience.
The weather in Lisbon in March is unpredictable; while in the morning it is a bit cold, clouds cover the sun, but as soon as you pass 10:30, the sun comes out and starts to shine and burn.
My Garmin watch said that the average temperature was 28 degrees Celsius (82F) during the race, with a maximum of 33 degrees (91F). The weather prediction was 24C, measured in the shade, but starting with km 9, the entire race was under a nice shining sun.
Starting with km 18, I began to count the number of people who fainted on the side, and I think I counted 10–15 of them. Volunteers and medics were trying to relieve their pain, but seeing so many people dropping out of the race kind of made me more cautious.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed this race and loved my time spent in Lisbon. I recommend visiting this city because it is very nice, has good food, is relaxed, is clean, and has many things to do. It was my second time here, and I will come back the third, fourth, and fifth times whenever possible.
In my previous post, I wrote that my Garmin watch was predicting a finish of 1:46:54, and I thought that it was being conservative. I wanted to achieve more of a 1:44 finish time. It seems that Garmin wasn’t far off from my result. I finished in 1:46:46, which is eerily accurate!
I have mixed feelings about Garmin!
I’ve added some more pictures at the end and recommend doing the Lisbon Half Marathon. It is a race designed for a PB, and you can visit a great city.
The only tip I have is to get to the starting line two hours ahead, and I’m not kidding!
If you are doing the Superhalfs series, please check my other reviews:
I'm a recreational runner with an office job, testing running science on my own legs. More about me.