I finished. It was difficult from the moment I crossed the starting line.
The marathon animated the starting arch in the colors of the rainbow in support of “cosmopolitanism, tolerance and acceptance.” It looked really cool and was probably the most interesting starting line I’ve been at.
The race was crowded the entire time, but I never felt I was being run up on. I did have a few close calls with people crossing the street which was a little annoying. At the aid stations they had tea, which after talking with a German runner is very common. I’ve never had tea during a race but found that interesting.
As I mentioned the race was really hard from the very beginning. I won’t tell you some of the thoughts running through my head. My legs were already tired when I started and I may be developing plantar fasciitis in my right foot as it was killing me all day. I tried to hang on for as long as I could running a consistent pace but by the 27 km mark I couldn’t anymore. It was a very hot day which didn’t help either. There were a couple of times where someone on the side of the road would see my name and call out to me with some encouragement.
Once we made our final turn and I saw the gate however I knew that no matter how bad I was feeling, I wasn’t going to have a picture of my walking through the gate so I ran the rest of the way. I collected my medal, my food bag and my poncho and then I went and sat in the grass. Luckily I was looking at my phone because I got a text message reminding me about my virtual COVID test appointment so I had hobble back to my hotel.
Unfortunately because of disappointing finish and being grumpy I didn’t take any finish line pictures. Hopefully there will be some good ones in the race photos.
