Software development is a marathon – not a sprint

42.195 kilometres. To anyone who has never run a marathon, that is simply a number. For me it was the SwissCity Marathon in Lucerne in October 2025. An experience that has not let go of me since. Not only in sport, but at work too.

I am a software developer at xappido, and somewhere between kilometre 20 and the finish line I noticed how much running and programming have in common. More than you would think.

No plan survives first contact with reality

Let me start honestly: my marathon preparation was anything but by the book. I have been running actively since the start of 2025 and built up a solid base over several months. My longest run? A half marathon. And then, about two weeks before the start, a colleague transferred his race entry to me. Two weeks. Twice the distance. Sounds mad – it was.

We know this in software development. A project that suddenly doubles its scope. A client request that lands two weeks before release. You can be annoyed, or you can say: I have a base that holds. I am going to see this through.

That is exactly what I did.

The first kilometres: everything feels easy

The start in Lucerne, adrenaline, your legs almost carrying you by themselves. The first kilometres feel like the beginning of a new project: everything comes together, motivation is high, you feel you have it all under control.

But experienced runners know: go too fast now and you pay for it later. And experienced developers know: take shortcuts now, skip tests, ignore the architecture, pile up technical debt, and you will have a problem later. The initial euphoria is deceptive, in running as in coding.

Kilometre 20: the wall comes sooner than expected

For me the wall did not come at kilometre 30, as you always read. It came at kilometre 20. Cramp. And the awareness that you are a long way outside Lucerne, and the way back is long. Very long.

I know this moment from software development. The project is half finished, but suddenly the bugs appear that make no sense. Edge cases nobody considered. Requirements that have quietly changed. You are in the middle of it, and the way to release feels endless.

What helped me out on the course: I never thought about the finish. Never about the full 42 kilometres. Only about the next stretch. Always just: keep going. Do not stop.

That is perhaps the most important parallel with software development. When a project becomes overwhelming, staring at the whole scope does not help. Fix the next bug. Get the next test to green. One problem at a time, one kilometre at a time.

The finish line

And then, suddenly, there I was. Back in Lucerne. The finish. For a moment you are simply proud. Not because it was perfect – with cramp from kilometre 20 it was anything but. But because you saw it through.

When a project goes live, it feels similar. You know it is the result of many deliberate decisions. It works, it solves a real problem, and you saw it through, including the hard phases.

And now?

I have signed up for the SwissCity Marathon 2026. Not out of euphoria, but because I know what I can do better next time. The goal: under four hours. And above all: a whole year of focused training, not two weeks.

Fundamentally that is the same thing we do after every release. You look back, see what worked and where it got stuck, and take that into the next round. Not a fresh start, but an improvement on what is already there.

What I take from it

Good software does not come from rushing. It comes from endurance, focus and careful work. From being willing to run the hard kilometres too – to write the tests, keep the documentation up to date, keep the architecture clean, even when nobody is looking.

And sometimes it comes from taking a chance you never planned for and simply seeing it through.

See you at the start line in 2026. And until then: just one kilometre at a time.