After I’d finally made it to the race in Limassol, and around some of Northern Cyprus, I didn’t expect to be going back there again. However, I also hadn’t expected me and Carmen to be offered places for pacing the Larnaca Half Marathon in November. I liked the idea of going somewhere in the winter - it’d be one last bit of sun before winter in the UK. It would also be a chance to explore more of the city I’d only visited as a day trip the first time I’d been there. I knew there were at least a couple of places I’d not been to.

Sadly this race coincided with my Granddad’s 94th birthday, and a meal out to celebrate that had already been planned. I had to decline the chance that time, but with better timing in 2024 it meant I could actually go. Not one to do anything by half, I decided rather than wait to see if the offer to pace was there again, I’d instead run the marathon option. This trip would now be to experience another race location, and could also be a chance to improve on some of the photographs I got when I visited the city for a day trip three years ago. I felt that the Church Of Saint Lazarus at least was a candidate for this. My thoughts soon went to thinking whether there was anywhere we could take a day trip to from Larnaca, such as Ayia Napa. I didn’t realise this had a reputation as being a party town though, so it seemed unlikely there’d be much there to see. I thought it’d be nice though if we could use the Friday for Carmen to see a different aspect of the island.

Fortunately booking flights, accommodation, and the race four months in advance meant that prices weren’t too bad. The flights were just ahead of them going up too much, and the race entry was still at an early bird price.This would actually be less than half of what Vienna cost, even when taking into account airport parking at Gatwick. We'd booked an AirBNB so it would at least give us options of either cooking ourselves, or eating out. The food in Larnaca is much more reasonably priced, so either option seemed fine.

The only other planning needed was being ready to run a marathon, and deciding what to pack.