Time of year: March
Value for money: 5
Location: 3
Crowd support: 3
Organisation: 5
PB potential: 3
Course: Flat
Competitors: Approx 1000
Locality: Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, so there is everything that you would expect in a capital city – even if it’s a small one! The centre is very picturesque and there are a few good places to visit.
Getting there: If you are travelling from abroad, it’s best to fly to Bratislava although there are also good train and bus connections from Central Europe.
Webpage: www.bratislavamarathon.com
My experience: Due to the spring change in time, we had to leave home very early to get to the race start but as I am familiar with the city I was only going to run the race and then come home again.
The race was well-organised and there were cloakrooms quite close to the start where we could leave our clothes. It was quite a cold day and the race starts off running out of town along a main road. It was windy and cold, and this made the run out of town even more difficult.
The last part of the race is quite nice, running through the city centre but apart from that there is not much to see. Comparing it to other races I have done in big cities it was a little bit disappointing, but this probably contributes to the cheaper start price. The half marathon was a one lap course, with the marathon (starting at the same time) was 2 laps.
