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Where is Waldo?
Picture by Reinhold Fischer | |
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This was my first new year's celebration in Germany in a very, very long time. I believe last time was back in the 90s. I still enjoy the private firework shows that every neighbor puts on. You can buy rockets and noise makers in grocery and all kinds of other stores during the last few days of the year. It was a spectacle.
The year did not end on a happy note, though. My father passed away and did not make it into the new year. I was going to run the New Year's Eve run for him, hoping he could watch and enjoy, but after his death nothing was sure anymore. The next day, after wondering if I would be able to get out of bed at all and having a very somber breakfast with my family, I made the very last minute decision that I would be running the race after all. I originally wanted to dedicate it to him in the first place and now I should do so even more. I barely made the bus to bring me to the train station but I did. I am glad I went because it was a much needed distraction and it is my activity of choice to clear my mind and gain a bit of sanity. Let me recap the race day of the
41st Int. Sylvester-Straßenlauf in Kottweiler-Schwanden 2013.
When I got off the train station in Ramstein I had the choice of waiting for a bus, taking a taxi, hitching a hike, or just walking. I decided on the latter using it a bit to losen up my legs and get them run-ready. It was around five kilometers from the station to the start line and it took me a good 45 minutes or so across the fields and some muddy patches. As soon as I got closer to the event I knew I was at the right spot because more and more runners joined me on the way. Most came by car but they had to find parking spots all around town. I had plenty of time since the race started at 2pm. This was probably my first race that late in the day. I am not sure why NYRR and NYCRUNS events always happen rather early in the morning. It would be great not to get up at six in the morning just to get to some 9am start time in the Bronx.
The race was organized by a local running club and the start line was close to their club house. We had changing rooms, showers, the works. They were rather small but I was able to snatch a hook to hang my stuff. Picking up the bib was a no-brainer as well. I stood in line for a few minutes and received my bib after telling the volunteers at the registration table my race number and paying the €6. Luckily I brought my own safety pins. I don't think they handed any out. As no-frill as you can imagine... the race was not chip-timed either. How it was done, though, I cannot tell, but I will explain what happened after you cross the finish line in a bit so maybe you can come to an idea how they got my time (hopefully) correct (and share that with me.)
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| Um dein Wohlergehen ist gesorgt! |
Since German punctuality is well known it should not come as a surprise that the race started at exactly 2pm. A few minutes before that there was an announcement that the start would happen in 13 minutes which already made clear that a 2pm start is a very serious thing. Since it was a New Year's Eve race after all it was a proper thing to use fireworks to announce the start. After two rockets the race was on. I had a rather slow start because I fumbled with my phone to start Endomondo and get it back into my arm pouch but once that was done I was off. It was crowded. We had over 1,000 starters and the streets were a tad too narrow for that size of a field. After the usual zig-zagging and jockeying for a good position it all went rather smoothly. The 10k route was a loop through three neighboring towns and it was highly technical. The long downgrade at the beginning was made up by a very steep hill at kilometer six or seven and then a bone-breaking downgrade again very close to the finish line. The spectators lining up at the sides in all four towns were amazing. Their cheering helped a lot to get through some tougher spots of the race and a couple of times I just had to give them a hand back. I wish I took pictures of some of the more clever signs they brought.
The finish was a rather interesting experience. The finish line was a thin yellow marking on the road and all runners had to go through a one-person wide passage where officials wrote down our numbers as we walked by and at the end the bar code on our bib was scanned. After that we were free to get our after-race snack (more about that later.) I assume at the finish line there was a guy at a computer who pushed a button everytime a runner crossed the line, then immediately another guy wrote down the number of the person, and in the funnel then that data was verified three more times (two guys wrote down my number and the third scanned the bib.) With 980 finishers, and more participating every year, I wonder if the organizers will switch to a chip system eventually. The posted times were given to the 100th of a second, though, so maybe there was a bit more technology involved. I will examine my bib a bit more and maybe shoot off an e-mail to the race director.
The post-race snacks were different than the usual fare I have gotten used to. There was only one water station on the entire run (around kilometer 7 or 8, I believe, after the big hill), which was okay for me since I don't need much water on 5 or 10k distances, and after the run you were served hot tea with sugar and orange slices. Nothing else. Oh, there was beer, brats, frikadellen (meat patty on a roll), and cake, but you had to purchase it on your own. That was the second time (the Irish Fair 5k was the first time) I had a beer right after a race. It sure hit the spot coupled with a frikadelle and a slice of cake afterwards. There was supposed to be an award ceremony but I am not sure when that was scheduled to happen. I knew I didn't win anything and I couldn't really stay too long anyway.
It was a very strong field of runners. Germans really take their races very seriously. I finished in 45:42 minutes (considering my lack of real training over the last two months I was surprised to still get around 45 minutes), that's a pace of 7:22 minutes per mile. That time put me on position 251 out of 980 total and 74th out of 219 in my age class. You had to run a sub-40 to get into the top 100 total and top 25 in my age group. It was insane! These are really strong runners, something I would expect from NYRR-like events, but not at such small country-side events. It was fun, considering the circumstances, after all, and I would do it again in a heart beat. I will just train a lot harder for it. Can I run a sub-40 10k?
I wish everybody a very happy new year and I hope it will involve a lot of running. I hope my dad now rests in peace. He will be missed. This, dad, was for you!
