Ya know what probably isn’t great for fighting germs and a linger head cold? Running a marathon in drizzly weather with a chilling wind for good measure. But as this blog and my life in general prove time and time again, I am not a smart man.
I’m waiting to check out of the doghouse… er, um, AirBNB… to head to the airport for my flight to the final country on this European Vacation.
And so, as promised, here’s a photo gallery of the Wachu Marathon. I should point out that the official photos aren’t available yet… but they have a surprisingly specific deadline for making them available:
Meanwhile, here are my iPhone pics. It may be time to upgrade my phone — the weather isn’t all to blame for the blurry pics.
Not a lot of folks at 5 AM. Those that are on the train are super drunk. We’re having different days.
The station is… quiet. Too quiet.
That’s my train to the Marathon!
In the immortal words of Dr. Peter Venkman – “You don’t look good. You’ve looked better.”
Runners on the train.
We stopped here. I thought it was to get off… it was in fact to pick up more people?
I’m really confused if I should or should not get off.
Baffled — My German is non-existent and the announcements are only in Deutsche.
This is a pretty town.
Huh.
Wonder if we’re stopping here…
Nope… half marathon maybe?
Seriously, where the heck am I going?
There are a few other runners still on the train — maybe I’m ok.
This feels like an end of the line… or the setting of an American Werewolf in Wachau?
Are we there yet? Did we pass it?
Everybody got off here… so I did too.
Following the bags.
Hmmm…
That looks like a start line… but we passed a lot of these things on the train too.
Need a beer before the race?
Definitely a start line.
This feels right.
Fish on a stick anyone?
Wait – it’s less than 42K to the town we’re ending up in? Maybe we loop around beforehand (we did).
My read is this should be open 24 hours… it’s currently closed.
The goblin king will see you now.
Where I’m a goin’.
The start line base camp.
Official-ish.
Amongst the crowds.
That does imply a strict sub 3:30 pacer.
And we’re off!
Pretty waterfront for most of the race.
I wish this came out — that’s one of those Newton’s Cradle clanking balls things in the background. I don’t know if he invented here or if some local honcho just thought it’d be cool. I’m good either way.
to Wachau’s great credit — plenty of these on the route. With water, sports drink, cola, red bull, bananas, and water again at the end.
Boat drinks.
I’m running by the water.
These guys passed me like I was standing still. Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
This is us looping back around to the start so we could get in the full 42.195K.
Some spectators along the way…
…but mostly it was just you and the open road.
BALLOON!
The road.
The road.
The Road.
I wish this came out — the blurry green thing in the water? A Wachau Ness Monster, y’all.
The road.
Man, I look awful — bad hair day and just in general.
Dunke!
The sights of the Wachau Marathon.
A pretty place to be running.
There’s an arch. I assume for the half marathon starters.
Meh.
Halfway through.
The road to Spitz.
Closer and closer.
‘Allo, Spitz!
An arch for a relay point maybe? I lost track of what the arches meant.
Road.
Road.
Road.
Road.
Me.
Road.
Road.
Arch.
Road.
Me.
Road.
Tunnel.
It’s around here that the camera and I were just super waterlogged.
Lookig back…
At the finish,
Having finished the run, I had some time to kill before my 3:55 PM train back to Vienna. I wandered the town a bit and snapped some photos. It was a pretty little place, felt very touristy nestled as it was in the Wachau Wine Country. For my California readers, it had a bit of Solvang vibe to it… only this was perhaps a more authentic Bavarian town experience as we were, ya know, in Bavaria.
Cheesecake for a recovery food? Welcome to Bavaria!
Chilled to the bone.
Pigs must have been here.
What if the new Star Trek show with Patrick Stewart is actually about Jean-Luc Picard running a SPACE circus?
The pathetic 5-year-old in me thought this hilarious… but is it any more childish than calling it a “porta-potty?” Sigh. I’m as shy as a cliched Southern Belle in pre-Civil War literature.
A quick shot after the run?
I don’t trust that pigeon.
Get away, sir, you’re bothering me.
I put this up on social media too. The gimmick to me would be they charge you tax… but you should NEVER pay it.
Given that it’s not all beer, maybe it should be called “Beer+2go”
Do I know anyone named Norbert in real life? Or is it a made-up name like Tim?
Some day I’ll get this translated but for now I feel like it’s an infinite gift of story prompts. Everywhere you look there’s something new and inscrutable.
Here’s the finish line arches — Just like Berlin, they teased you with a finish line… but you never quite made it…
Even this one says it’s another 100 m to the finish.
The train back to Vienna.
It’s the second to last free train to Vienna… I could’ve wandered a bit more but I was done.
It’s the Wiesel? Is that a good name for a train?
Seriously, the only things I know about weasels come from Who Framed Roger Rabbit… and that’s basically if they don’t stop laughing they’ll die. Oh, and they are of questionable moral fiber.
Kevin Aboard!
One quick note to close this out. I don’t mean to be a stickler but if the Coke Zero is 2.95 and the Coke Light is 3 euros, and I buy the Coke Zero… how am I charged 3 euros? I know it’s only 5 cent euros but still — where I come from that’s called “fraud.” There, I’ve said it. Austria is a fraud.
As I power down my laptop and get ready to brave the Austrian public transport one last time, here’s the certificate they emailed me from the race:
And thus the curtain falls on Vienna… and rises on Denmark.
