Aged 55, Slovak foreign affairs minister Mikulas Dzurinda ran the Budapest Marathon yesterday in 3 hours, 39 minutes and 12 seconds, meaning he reached his goal of being under 3 hours 40 minutes.
He appreciated all the support from the crowd along the route, who were chanting for him in Slovak, Hungarian and English. Dzurinda was one of 15,000 runners from 50 countries who did the full marathon in the pouring rain.
Now he has to get on with his first official visit to Hungary since taking up his post, with meetings set today with top officials, including PM Viktor Orban. Dzurinda said it was a good idea to clear his head with the marathon before the talks.