Ο Jón Gregersen έχει έρθει στην Ελλάδα από τα Νησιά Φερόες προκειμένου να πραγματοποιήσει τις μεταπτυχιακές του σπουδές στο European Master in Sport and Exercise Psychology (EMSEP) στο ΤΕΦΑΑ ΠΘ. Αυτή την περίοδο εκπονεί την Μεταπτυχιακή του Διατριβή στην αυτό-ομιλία με την χρήση του Vienna Test System σε πείραμα που πραγματοποιείται στο Εργαστήριο Ψυχολογίας της Άσκησης και Ποιότητας Ζωής. 
Μέσα σ'όλα αυτά, βρήκε την ευκαιρία να συμμετάσχει στον αυθεντικό Μαραθώνιο της Αθήνας και περιγράφει την εμπειρία του ως «Φανταστική». Ζητήσαμε από τον Jón να μας γράψει λίγα λόγια για την συμμετοχή του στον Μαραθώνιο και την εμπειρία που αποκόμισε. Χαρακτηριστικά αναφέρει:

"...the run itself made me feel like being at a great party!"

"Being part of such a big and professional event was an amazing experience"

"Although the legs were starting to get tired,
we could not stop getting carried away by the fantastic atmosphere"

Όλοι στην οικογένεια του EMSEP είμαστε περήφανοι για τους φοιτητές μας και τις ακαδημαϊκές τους επιδόσεις και πολύ χαρούμενοι όταν συλλέγουν εμπειρίες από την παραμονή τους στην Ελλάδα αλλά κυρίως όταν απλά… περνούν καλά! Ευχαριστούμε πολύ Jón που μοιράστηκες την εμπειρία σου μαζί μας!

Γράφει ο Jón:

My name is Jón Gregersen and I am from the Faroe Islands. I am a second year EMSEP student at the University of Thessaly in Trikala. In recent years I have started to participate in various running events. I have participated in distances of 5 km, 10 km and 21,1 km (Half marathon). In March, I participated at the Kalambaka-Trikala half marathon, which truly was a great experience.

"However, as an international student, I feel that one cannot avoid
considering participating in the authentic marathon
from the city of Marathon to Athens"

During the summer this thought started to occur more frequently in my mind. In the beginning of August I decided to participate in the Athens authentic marathon. This meant that I had 3 months for the training. Also, my girlfriend decided to come for a visit in Greece, and to run the marathon.

Since this was my first ever Marathon I found it difficult to set a goal for a finishing time. Therefore I started training with the goal of finishing the marathon between 3:30-4.00 hours. As time went by and the day of the marathon got closer, I realized that finishing around 3:45 would be realistic but still challenging for me.

The day of the marathon arrived the 8th of November 2015. We woke up at 4.45 to have breakfast. At 5.15 we started walking towards Syntagma in Athens, from where we entered an official marathon bus that drove us 42,195 km away from the finish line – to the city of Marathon!

Φωτό:  OJon & η κοπέλα του Anne τερματίζοντας ταυτόχρονα και πανευτυχείς στο Παναθηναϊκό Στάδιο

"Are we really supposed to run the whole way back?”
was my first thought when we left the bus.
Suddenly it seemed as a very long distance."

However, being part of such a big and professional event was an amazing experience. There was water and energy every 2,5 km, as well as people cheering and music playing along the route. When we arrived in Athens there were people everywhere. Although the legs were starting to get tired, we could not stop getting carried away by the fantastic atmosphere. The last kilometre really felt as the easiest one, and passing the finish line in the Panathinaiko Stadium was something very special. We finished the 42,195 km together in 3:40 hours.

"Although the route seemed very long
when we had left the bus earlier in the morning,
the run itself made me feel like being at a great party
that lasted for 3 hours and 40 minutes."

I would recommend everyone interested in running to participate in the Athens Authentic Marathon.

"Finishing the marathon while being a student in Greece
will be a memory I will never forget!"

                                       φωτό: Η Anne λίγο πριν τον  αγώνα