Wiesbaden Marathon – hilly and happy

It’s always special running a marathon. And it is particularly special to run a marathon with your friends. And if you combine both of these with an overseas trip to your hometown (or close enough), it was always going to be great fun.  Wiesbaden is a pretty, prim and proper town in the vicinity of Frankfurt, it’s grown up and grungy bigger sister. While I was there to visit family, my friends Kat and Garth were in Germany mainly to support a handful of friends taking part in Challenge Roth, that most legendary of triathlons of them all, but weren’t going to travel all the way to Europe, without at least taking part in a marathon themselves. So I must have put my hand up at some stage. I think.

In any case, when it came to it, we had been watching the temperatures all week sit around 30 degrees and were relieved, out of nowhere,  to get an absolute wash out on the day. Take that over heatstroke any time.  We had a ball. And while I perhaps underestimated the fact, that this event was hosting a mountain bike race on the same course the day after ( the clue should have been in the name), I slogged myself up and down the hills with a smile on my face. For a good 10 k at the end I ran with Gerold, who was the most wonderful example of that complete running stranger, who happily tows you along with infinite running stories and  is a stranger no more at the finish line. Gerold was on marathon number 165, making it his mission in life to be running marathons in all the capitals of the world. Well, I don’t know if he has any left, but I invited him to Wellington nevertheless 🙂

We still had smiles left on our faces – despite the fact that Kat and Garth had only arrived in Germany less than 12 hours before.  In any case, I don’t want to bore you with the tedious runners’ details of stubbing toes and toilet stops. I just wanted to share the joys of travelling and running.  Hills and happiness.  Friends and family. This trip had it all.

Wiesbaden Marathon – DONE!