The Race

Saturday I had the pleasure of running in my very first marathon, and to make it better TJ ran with me and it was conveniently located in our town. It as a little strange as most of the races I have participated in have been in the morning, but this one started at 6 pm in the midst of a big party...and I have to say that I thought it was very cool! Like most of the big events in Mannheim, the race(s) and celebration were centered around the water tower in the city center and it was very busy. Here is a photo of the start and finishline about an hour before the race...

And another look at the festivities on the other side from the water tower...which got very busy after the races...

Side note, I have never seen so much of the male anatomy in one day...it was almost exhausting. Let me explain. First we have the issue of spandex...and a lot of the shorts were not black so it was a little scary on that front, but there were other reasons as well. Like during the race where men just started peeing and didn't really have any discretion at all, and of course there were the men pre and post race that were sporting there teeny tiny underwear when they were changing out in the open. And FYI those leave little to the imagination! But perhaps the worst and most shocking was the all too public urinal. I can't explain it, but you can see for yourself (and please excuse my goofy look on my face)...

It appears like you can't see anything...oh but you can...like before they get up there and when they are done. I was sorta mortified, but now I am over it. We had some time to kill if you can't tell so we wandered around and took photos. I like this one the best!

I keep mentioning the races...like more than one...because there were many different ones happening. There was a mini-marathon for kids, a handcycle marathon, in-line skating marathon, and the they half and full runners marathon. It was a busy night in Mannheim! The runners were the last to start so we got a few pictures of the other races. Here are the kids...

And the bikes...

We have a video of the skaters, but I promise all they do is zip by in a flash. In-line skating is huge here for some reason and they take it kind of seriously. After we checked it all out and warmed up we got in our starting spot, and we were ready!

This girl gave two thumbs up and said "lets do this"...(although I was really very nervous inside)!

And then next to her was a more calm and seasoned runner despite his bum ankle from that snowboarding accident last season.

It took us about four minutes to get up to the start line, so at 6:34 pm this is what we saw...

TJ stuck with me for about a kilometer or two and then sped away. I was left with my IPod to enjoy the rest on my own, and thank God for BODYSTEP music, The Killers, and a few oldies because they got me through! The race took us out of Mannheim and through our little village of Seckenheim where we looped around and headed back. That was the best part because our little town just rallied for the event! 
It was pretty lively and dark when we finished...here is a look at the water tower fountain!

I had fun, but was really happy to have a shower and hit the sheets when it was all said and done! The knees are on the mend, so I have decided to do it again...but probably not for a while :). The only downside was looking up my time...it was listed under Annie Lugero. Yep, they spelled my new name wrong! Figures! We spent the next day resting and hit the new Star Trek movie...let me rephrase...I went with TJ to Star Trek because he wanted to see it and I wanted to die. Not my kinda movie, but since it was the start of TJ's birthday week I thought I would take one for the team!

Auf Wiedersehen!