London is a city that never sleeps. On the night leading to the 23rd
day of April, the Birżebbuġia guy, Bernard Farrugia was in
London and could not sleep either. The
day after he had 42 kilometres ahead of him with some 40,000 other athletes in
the streets of the English capital. For
one day, he was to swap his Mellieħa
AC kit to that of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the charity he chose to represent.
Bernard, you were a footballer, but now a runner.
What turned you in a runner?
I trained and played for almost 10 years with the senior
team and it was my decision to switch from football to endurance running. The
main reason that I turned in to running was that it’s more flexible and it’s
also an individual sports. Nowadays Maltese football has been hijacked from
foreigners and honestly I do not miss anything from football although I was a
clubman. Running gives me an opportunity to encourage new people into sports
and organise charity events for those people in need.
You have been running
for a number of years, what made you believe that it is now time to step up to
the marathon?
As from day one, my main target was to do a Full Marathon.
When I’ve joined Mellieħa AC under the guidance of Has Kesra, he always
insisted to complete a number of half marathons before doing the Full. About
one year ago, I’ve met once again with my coach to discuss this matter. After a
long discussion he gave me the green light to start preparing to the Full
Marathon and he guided me through since the foundation was already there.
How does completing a
marathon for the first time compare to great feats such as a PB in other
distances?
It’s always satisfying to do a personal best in any race but
finishing a Marathon is a different story.
You have done a number
of half marathons, and trained regularly for years. What changed mostly when preparing for a full
marathon?
I started the training from August and I have focused more
on my weaknesses. I worked hardest on my nutrition. In fact I recommend to
athletes doing the full marathon to take professional advice from a nutritionist
since it makes a big difference.
Did you have any
setbacks while training?
I do most of my training with Adrian Busuttil and we always
look forward to train together. The marathon journey is not always plain
sailing. Athletes meet with soreness, races disappointments, injuries and
illnesses. However, when I hit any setbacks, I always reminded myself the
benefits of running and the reason why I switched into running.
You ran a marathon
for the first time in London. You’ve
done races before but what makes the London marathon special?
I’ve done around eight half marathons locally and another
two abroad. The London Marathon is special because one of its main aims is that
athletes taking part have to collect funds for various charities. This helps to
create a unique atmosphere. Also, around one million people get into the
streets to cheer the athletes through the whole route.
Looking back, would
you divide the race in a sections?
I divided the race into two parts and would do so again for
the next once since I believe that it worked.
Were any of the 42
kilometres harder than ever?
I slacked a bit on the 37th and 38th. However, when starting the 39th I was
determined to make up for them as through the former I lost around 15 seconds
from my predicted time.
How much do you think
of the marathon is physical, and how much is mental?
I believe to do a full marathon, one ought to have experienced
long distance running before so as to be mentally prepared and be wary of the
tricks of the trade. It’s important that
on the day one is confident, be physically prepared and carrying a positive
mentality alongside an attitude of perseverance.
Can you describe the
feeling when crossing the finish line?
As I turned the last corner in front of
Buckingham palace I found a large crowd cheering and supporting all the
athletes that made it to the finish. Once I crossed the finish line, I couldn’t
believe that this is real and felt amazing. I kept on thinking, “Is this real?
Did I really do this?”