Among the few remaining national marathons, I still had Ibiza pending, and in my completist drive, I was also missing a marathon on the 12th day of the month. Strange, with 148 marathons under my belt, that none had fallen on that date. It seemed as the perfect opportunity to start “closing chapters” on the way to marathon number 150.
With a race start scheduled for 15.30, I chose a 7.05 am flight from Madrid that would get me to Ibiza by 9.20. The initial plan was to return the following morning. However, someone in a group chat mentioned a Ryanair flight late at night, at 23.55 which opened the possibility of a lightning-fast trip: there and back in a single day. That would mean saving the cost of a hotel night. In the end, this is the option I went with—which meant catching a bus from Valladolid at 2.00 am.
A long day awaited me, and nearly two sleepless nights (the one before the outbound trip and the one of the return), all to make it to the island of Ibiza. First stop: bib pickup in Santa Eulària des Riu, which will also be the finish line later on.
After picking up my bib at the well-stocked runner’s expo, I killed a bit of time around the area. With the rain, there isn’t much else to do. Without much delay, I take a bus back to the city of Ibiza, where I end up in a café near the starting area by the port, just to pass the time and rest a bit before heading over there. The rain has stopped, and although they are still setting up the start arches, I already spot a few familiar faces—like Mario, who never misses one either.
We start right on time, at 15.30, not the most typical time for a marathon race. It quickly becomes clear that it won’t be an easy day. The 3h45m pace group pulls away, and I hardly manage to latch onto the 4h group, though only until kilometer 6. With just two hours of sleep and a demanding workweek behind me, it feels like neither my body nor my mind was particularly suited for a 42-kilometer overdose.
With 20°C temperatures and high humidity, I make my way through a course that keeps reminding me of previous marathons. Maybe it’s the result of having run so many, but I strangely run sections that remind me of Badajoz, Málaga, Gerês, or Madeira, among many others. A kind of hallucinatory déjà vu, a product of fatigue and all the accumulated experiences over the years. A feeling of closing chapters.
In any case, despite some negative reviews I’d read about this marathon, I found it to be perfectly organized. Less hectic than the big races, and lacking nothing. That said, it’s a demanding race, with a steady climb from kilometer 7 all the way to the halfway mark.
In the end, I crossed the finish line with a net time of 4:13:02 (official time: 4:13:42), in position 547 out of 1129.
With this, I complete my first marathon in the Balearic Islands, and my first on the 12th of any month. Now I’m on track for marathon number 150, waiting for me in 15 days at the Zurich Rock ‘n’ Roll Madrid Marathon. But first, there’s a long journey home and a few days of active rest, with Easter in between.
