The Agargaon Half Marathon was the first running event of the summer season in 2024. A few months back, when the event was announced, we all expected very hot weather, high humidity, or thunderstorms. Despite these extreme weather conditions, there was a huge rush to participate. In about an hour, all the slots were booked. I was one of the lucky ones to register myself in the first chance. However, after fulfilling the first 500 slots, due to high demand, an additional 100 slots were opened.
The most special aspect of this event was that it was a night run. Usually, we are used to participating in morning or daytime runs. This one started at 1 AM. Additionally, it was only a 20-minute walking distance from my neighborhood, so I did not want to miss the event.
A month before the event, we observed fasting for religious reasons. I had one month to prepare. I used to run slowly, covering 20-25 km a week. It turns out that was not enough.
During the race, I started very slowly, just jogging. We had four loops of 5 km and one very small loop, around 1.5 km. I completed three loops, totaling 12 km, with slow running. Later, I did not feel well and started walking. For the rest of the track, I alternated between walking and running 1 km each.
I took more than three hours to complete the run, whereas my best time was 2 hours and 18 minutes. This event highlighted my weaknesses, particularly my lack of endurance. I have now started a 10-week training program to increase my endurance.