Kiel Half-Marathon, Feb. 28

Last week Kiel had the biggest snowstorm it has seen in 8 years. But, do you think that stops Germans from getting out there and running a marathon? Heck no. In fact, I kinda think they prefer it that way. So, last Saturday, Britt and I headed to Kiel's waterfront so I could run a half-marathon. It was about 30 degrees F, windy, and snowing. However, 1600 runners were there ready to hit the pavement and run back and forth for 2 or more hours. The course ran along the water and was a 10K loop. I learned from some "friendly" German runners that the 1/2 marathon was around 22km and would consist of two loops around the course. My only complaint was that there were 2 drink stations, one on each end of the loop, so essentially you had to run about 10K to get a drink of warm tea (German Gatorade). For the runner's out there (Britt's dad, my mom) it was a lesson in "how far can I go being completely dehydrated?" Other than that I had a great run and received a funny homemade wooden necklace at the finish (a yellow snail). My finishing time: 2:11:15.4