4. Oktober 2009 21k O’er the Rheinland…

Germans sure know how to put on a marathon!  Yesterday I ran the Cologne (Koln in German) ½ Marathon.  So that is 13.1 miles, or what actually sounds way cooler, 21 Kilometers.

There were 14,600 participants just in the HalbMarathon (half marathon) and another 15,000 in the Marathon. I don’t’ know how many skated the “inline skating” or the hand-powered cycle marathon, the city accommodated the event really well and was super high-energy. 

It was raining when we started (and finished) but the announcer and 14,600 of my new best friends were really positive and energetic before the race, singing all in unison to what were local Köln Carnival songs.

 I just clapped along and threw my hands up when everyone else did. It made me realize how vulnerable I was to making a complete fool of myself given I could understand nothing and would pretty much do anything the guy next to me was doing. 

But eat your heart out, Germany, because I was the ONLY one who knew all the words to “Eye of the tiger” when they played it—10 times before the start.  Bless my friend Josef’s heart… he took me to the race, watched the start, and stuck around the entire time.

I won’t take you through the whole race with me, but it was a neat course and a great way to see the city.  I stalked a German guy who ran about my pace, and he finally noticed me (still there) after about 8km.  The distance between us slowly began to increase at this point with him taking the lead—I’d like to think this was a pure coincidence.

Also, at water stops, I wasn't always paying attention-- so I'd drink part of my water and then throw it on the sideline before emptying it... without looking and on accident showered my leftovers onto the poor spectators who got the major splash back.  I just looked at them, smiled like... "oops??" and picked up the pace a little of course.

Incidentally there are no pictures of me actually running because Josef said that whenever I ran by, I was "too fast." :)

 We started AND finished by crossing over the Rhine River on the Deutzer Brücke (Deutzer Bridge) and ran around the enormous and beautiful gothic Cathedral (Cologne is famous for this cathedral and it is a UNESCO world heritage site).  There were many people out watching for the entire course and many participants in costume also. 

check this guy out.

HIGHLIGHTS (I have divided this picture documentary up into categories for your easier understanding of my experience): AWESOME and NOT Awesome.

AWESOME:  I ran my fastest ½ Marathon ever! I beat my SF ½ Marathon time in July by 13 minutes and set a new personal best ever by 7 minutes. 

NOT Awesome:  I got beat by this guy who ran the entire race wearing this thing.


NOT awesome: They made us walk an additional 2 km post-race to return the stupid electronic chip on our shoes (your credit card got charged if you didn’t return it)


AWESOME: At the finish, line, they had the best post-race giveaways ever. Normally you get like an egg burrito, some gross energy drinks, bananas and fruit chews, but in Köln, they took it to a new level:

Apples & Bananas

Candy bars taken out of the wrapper and handed to me so I didn’t have to do it!

Granola bars

Cookies

Fruit snacks

Homemade German donuts (mmm…donuts)

Apple Juice

Hot and cold Tea

Bakery bread and special   butter with nuts in it (already buttered for us)

Red Bull

Coke

And last but not least…

What German event would be complete without--you guessed it--

Beer and Sausages.

*Don’t worry, I ate the apples, bananas, candy bar, bread and butter, donuts, and tea all BEFORE I drank my beer.

Some of you may think this is AWESOME (new category, I know):

I broke 11 years of vegetarianism with a piece of sausage at the finish line.

Last thoughts on the race....

This was a great way to start out my time in Germany, I’m definitely excited to be here.

Incidentally, there was no water at the finish line.

And I was disappointed in the sausage.