Week 11 contained another moment I had been looking forward to since I signed up for this program. Call me crazy, but I was sure excited for the Bonn Marathon (although I only ran the half marathon)!
We had travelled to Bruges the day before on a day trip and had eaten waffles, fries, and chocolate to our hearts' content. So, absolutely we were ready to run a half marathon/relay the next day! The race meant an early morning, but the center of town (especially by the university) was all decked out and alive with runners, banners, inflatables, and the beginnings of snack stands. The run itself was fantastic - we crossed the Kennedy Bridge and ran through neighborhoods and along the Rhine before doubling back across the bridge and running along the Rhine on the side of town. We went down quite a ways before doubling back again and running back towards town, then through town, spurred on by many cheering onlookers, especially towards the end of the race. The last 200m or so really made you feel like a champion, because you finished along a stretch where lots of people were lined up to watch the finish and were cheering everyone on all the way. Some people chose to run a relay, which split the full marathon between a team of 4. This started after the half-marathon had started, so if you want a head-start on the snack stands, I'd go for the half-marathon. Speaking of snack stands, there were stands with fruit (including watermelon!), energy bars, candy bars, doughnuts, something that looked like oatmeal but was in fact most definitely not oatmeal, sausage, and beer (alcohol-free and otherwise). So yes, college kids will even run a half marathon for free food.
Shoutout to James, Kendrick, Kimberly, Amran, Ben, and Madeleine for running this with me!
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