another Marathon comes to an end, for me as well, luckily. This time it was the Marathon in my own city, Cologne. That also means that there are only two Marathons to go until my project is completed! My training for this Marathon was even sparser than usual, so I wasn't overly confident. My legs were sore from just the few short runs beforte the Marathon and I just didn't really feel fit enough to run a whole Marathon. My mother-in-law was not around this time, but my sister-in-law Ade was there instead, who was attending her first Marathon. We got up at 07:30, had breakfast and got ready. I actually managed to not forget anything, which must have been a first. About time for my 21st Marathon, right? We took the train to Cologne-Deutz and walked down to the starting area. Our little baby seemed to enjoy the loud Karneval music, since he was kicking around vividly. The atmosphere was good and the weather was great for running at 12°C, dry and sunny with slight breezes. Perfect conditions for a Marathon.
A few more minutes of chatting and standing around and then it was time to do a bit of running. I waved to my supporters and off I was towards the Cologne Cathedral. I started off at a leisurely pace, sticking with the 03:45 pacemakers. The route changed a little compared to last year and so we headed off down the Rhine river much further, all the way to Rhodenkirchen. There, we turned around and headed back towards the city. I wasn't feeling great, but not as bad as I thought I would. My legs started getting heavy quite early, however, after about 12 Kilometers. We ran through the city and towards the university. A short trip through one of Cologne's suburbs and back into the city. I managed to keep up the pace until about the half marathon mark after which I had to start including walking breaks. That was also my weakest phase between KM 21 and 27. After that I managed to pull myself together and strung together a few more kilometers.
Then we headed off towards Nippes, where Christine and Ade were waiting for me with one of Christine's colleagues with her husband and daughter. They even made a colourful sign for me, which you can see in the photos below of the sign and the little fairy who made it for me. That was new, even for me. I took a small break and chatted to them before continuing on. I ran a small loop and back down the Neusser street. Then we started heading back towards the city with frequent walking breaks. One man was lying on the sidewalk with some people looking after him which is never a nice sight. A few more kilometers through the city center where I was being carried a little by the atmosphere. I walked a couple more times until I got to High Street, which is the main shopping street. You rarely see it this empty, so I made the most of it and gathered my last remaining energy to speed up the last kilometer up the cobblestoned pedestrian zone. I looked at my watch and I was still able to beat my time in Münster, barely. Past the cathedral one last time and onto the home straight. I beat Münster by a whole 12 seconds. 0.08% faster to be exact ;) Final time was 04:18:02.
Summary: Great weather, great atomostphere, great Marathon. Next year I will add "great performance", when I start training for my runs again. A big thanks to my supporters! I look forward to your support again next year :)
My next Marathon is also in Cologne, the exclusive Karneval Marathon with just 50 runners on 11.11. at 11:11 at the Pesch lake. Coincidentally it is also my 11th Marathon this year. I still have to buy my costume, but be assured, that I will be dressed up! I very much look forward to this one.
See you soon!
Stefan
Three+1 people on the selfie this time!
Christine and my selfie, which isn't a selfie this time :)
Still a little chilly when standing around.
Waiting in the crowd.
The cologne Marathon is now the 4th biggest Marathon in Germany, which you can see quite well on this photo.
My awesome cologne supporters, fairy included.
Give me a break!
And a few minutes later on the next street over.
And a great finisher photo in front of the cathedral.
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