Hendrix Half Marathon 2016

You probably wonder, why this half marathon is called after one of the biggest guitar player of all times – Jimi Hendrix. The reason is simple. 800 m after the starting line, you will pass under an old train bridge on which there is a graffiti sign Hendrix. Even though the graffiti was painted over during the last renovation of the bridge (to the great disappointment of people from Zagreb), it miraculously reappeared, which brought joy again.

The graffiti is so popular that a Facebook initiative to rename the bridge to Hendrix bridge was started and gathered over 5000 supporters. Croatian Railroads accepted the initiative, agreeing that it has become one of Zagreb’s urban pop-culture symbols. At the moment, we are still waiting for an official decision from the city authorities about the name change.

So, in an honor of one fantastic guitar player, one old-new graffiti, and a crazy guy who wrote it, while dangling from the bridge over river Sava, today’s half marathon is called Hendrix half marathon.

This year’s Hendrix half marathon was held on April 9th, 2016. and participants received a uniquely designed T-shirt and a medal even though the entry fee was affordable (16€). The only bad thing was the weather. The whole week was sunny (20 – 25 degrees), warm and beautiful but the day before the race it started to rain. On the race day, there was no rain, but it was cloudy and gray and the temperature was about 14 degrees. Almost perfect conditions if you are trying to get your PB, but if you came to run just for fun or as a training for another race, little more sunshine would have been great.

Well, sunshine or not, the race started at 11am with Jimi Hendrix songs playing in the background.

This year I was running with two of my friends and we decided to go slow and just enjoy the race. Reason? Weekend after Hendrix half, I was running 110 km race, so I needed to stay fresh.

After running under the Hendrix bridge and soon after that the Jadranski bridge, we continued on the banks of river Sava. The terrain was mainly soft ground and grass. After 10 km we were going across Jankomirski bridge to the other bank of river Sava, starting our way back. Although the scenery is not spectacular, running by the river gives you a great feeling of peacefulness and calmness.

On 19,5 km that feeling was gone, because we could hear shouting…screaming…loud noise. As we were approaching, it was getting louder and louder! And then we saw them!

They were in the middle of the pedestrian bridge which we needed to cross. It was runners from “Zagreb runners” and “442 crew”. They were supporting other runners, singing, throwing confetti, whooping and yelling in the bullhorn! Runners loved this sudden extra boost of energy.

So it was time to finish the race and as we ran once again under the Hendrix bridge, we all jumped up to grab one of the snickers which were hanging from the bridge.

And before we knew it, the original medal with Jimi Hendrix playing the guitar was around our necks.

So what to say in the end? This was my third Hendrix half. Am I coming next year as well? Most definitely. See you Jimi!!!

“Still Raining, Still Dreaming”

Rainy day, rain all day

Ain’t no use in gettin’ uptight

Just let it groove its own way

Let it drain your worries away yeah

Lay back and groove on a rainy day hey

Lay back and dream on a rainy day

Lay back and groove on a rainy day

Lay back

Oh yeah!

Lay back and groove on a rainy day

Lay back and groove on a rainy day

Lay back and dream on a rainy day

Lay back and groove on a rainy day

Lay back and dream on a rainy day

Lay back and, lay back, lay back, lay back and groove.

Jimi Hendrix