The Half Marathon

 It was a new experience for me participating in a half marathon here in Germany. The event was organized in Hauptmarkt, Nürnberg - a city which is located north of Munich.

A half marathon is an event where the runners are required to complete a 21KM course. Of course there is a time limit behind ranging from 3 hours down to even 2 hours time limit. Runners here does not mean that you have to run non stop. It depend on how you approach the course. Some prefer to go at higher pace, some with a light jog and you could find others with a combination of jog and walk or run and walk. 

Back in Malaysia, a half marathon normally starts early in the morning. Yes, I do have an experience running at 1AM in the morning. By the time you finish the course, it is already close to Subuh prayer. In a different event, I had the race start at 4AM. Interestingly, the organizer provided the runners with praying areas along the running course. Comparing to the Nürnberg Half Marathon 2023, the flag off started at 10AM - a much later time compared to what I am used to.

With the October temperature now in an average of 20C comes noon time, it is quite pleasant to run the whole course. It started from the Altstadt (old city), going through the park, bridges and making a return back to the starting point. The runners need to complete 2 rounds to get to 21KM where they will be celebrated by the spectators.

I like the scenery and the people there. Along the way, they were cheering for you with your much needed moral support. Regardless if you are non Germans, the support given was great. I made also some friends while running. Surprisingly, they are also not from Nürnberg and came just for the event. It's good to run within a group so that you could help push each other. This is what we did. Wir laufen zusammen!

During the run, what came to my mind is to just complete the course. Personal time best is no longer my a priority. I was still fresh when I reached the finish line and enjoyed the run as well. Perhaps another event in the future? We'll see. Until the next post then. Bis dann!