Express Report from the «Zabeg.RF» Half-Marathon, prepared within the framework of two sessions for the course «Audio and Media Content Production Technologies.» The report conveys the atmosphere of the race and the event through text and photographs taken by me.
«Sasha, This is Your Day»: How St. Petersburg Celebrated the Half Marathon Amid Lilacs, Wind, and Flags
At St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the wind molded plastic tents, sunlight glided across golden medals, and the column of runners stretched so far that its end was invisible. On May 23rd, St. Petersburg hosted the «ZaBeg.RF» half marathon—flanked by flags, lilac bushes, and handwritten posters.Blue T-shirts bearing the inscription «Saint Petersburg—Running Capital» moved through the city center in a continuous flow. When the eye drifted into the distance, the end of the column could not be seen: runners filled the entire street, disappearing around corners and barricades. Some maintained a steady pace, while others noticeably slowed near the water stations, where volunteers could barely keep up with handing out bottles.
Near the route, the wind was whipping the organizers' plastic tents, and against their backdrop, St. Isaac’s Cathedral appeared particularly majestic and still. A few meters away, volunteers adjusted ribbons on the awards stand. Sunlight fell directly onto the gold medals, and they quietly chimed against one another—almost like glasses on a summer veranda, except that instead of relaxation, people had tens of kilometers ahead of them.
As the race neared its conclusion, the crowds grew larger. People waved pink and orange pom-poms and held signs reading, «You’re running like a girl» and «Sasha, it’s your day. Run for the cake.» The latter slogan, judging by the perseverance of some participants, was as effective as sports nutrition.
Some athletes unfurled the Russian flag and held it behind them in the final meters. Others drenched themselves with water while running or stopped immediately after crossing the finish line to grab bottles from volunteers.
— What was your pulse when you were running?
— Towards the end, it was already over one hundred and sixty, — two men discussed calmly by the fence, as if they were talking about the weather instead of a half-marathon.
A man sat on a bench nearby with a bottle of alcohol hidden in a paper bag. He barely glanced around as thousands of people in matching blue T-shirts continued to run past him. The contrast was stark: a half-marathon was taking place literally between two versions of a weekend.
Nearby, someone was cheering on the participants, while others filmed them on their phones, and children walked along the course wearing medals around their necks with a pride as if they had run the race instead of their parents.
Beside one of the barriers, a woman held a folded windbreaker and watched the runners intently.
«I didn’t understand before why people ran such distances, ” she said. „Then, I started coming to support my husband. Now, I stand by the finish line with water, searching for him with my eyes. After races like these, people look about the same—as if they dream of only two things: sitting down and taking off their sneakers.“
When it was time to leave, the end of the column was still out of sight. People in blue t-shirts continued to run past St. Isaac’s Cathedral; medals tapped softly in the wind, and the lilacs along the streets smelled as strongly as they had an hour ago. And as long as the banner «Sasha, this is your day» was still held above the railings, it seemed that for a few hours, St. Petersburg truly became a city for thousands of Sash—tired, wet, happy, and pressing onward.
