-= adventures in Europe =-

Posted In: Netherlands , Runs . By Zεηιτħ

Eindhoven Marathon

Gosh...It was the first time I participated in a run overseas...and I must admit, European races are DEFINITELY more expensive than the Asian ones. I guess Singapore's races are pretty cheap compared to here! Paid €21.50 for the half marathon (21km) and it was almost €1 for 1km ran! Gosh. In Singapore, it IS definitely cheaper (thinks AHM, SCSM)

Anyway...the race ended. Back home. Totally shagged. Weather was GREAT! Cool, not humid, and there was the sun because it was a 2pm race (compare that to SG??) Think ave temp is probably 22 deg or so. Occasional winds which really made my hands feel cold, which I am very adverse to.

Did not have much time to train prior and I had strained muscles in the right thigh prior to the race due to a training course I was undertaking in the school sports centre - called outdoors (think Army haha)

I would say that the "people" part of the race was absolutely excellent! Gosh. There were people cheering u everywhere along the 21km route!!! Some cheered, and some brought out their bbqs and had outdoor bbq there and then, watching the race. Others, brought out their sofas and sipped beer/wine and had a great time chatting whilst enjoying the race! On top of that, there are live bands playing from those huge container trucks (they served as stages), and there was ample water, energy drink resupply every 5km, and even oranges every 10km! These are things which u don't see in Singapore, I'll bet!

The glitch was that there was probably 15K people running the 21km race, and maybe even more for the 42km run! Gosh. It was slow to start, and when it ended, they ensured that everyone went through a certain route to get the 'freebies' - race medal, some advertisement material, energy drinks, water etc.

The bag holding area was the most interesting. Situated in an underground carpark (someone use the Esplanade carpark pls?), there were ample signs to direct u to the station to place ur bag, and there were plastic bags to store ur items, and hooks to hook them up on the mobile fences placed behind the counter. Very interesting. And being a relatively large carpark, there were a lot of space for people to change, benches were provided to allow people to sit down! Now that's what I call thoughtful organisation.

All in all, it was really an eye-opener to me. Though I completed it, it was not my fastest as I started off relatively slow and I had problems with my strained legs, but made it through nonetheless. Guess I need to train more huh? Timing was approx 2:10 I think...or lesser as it took me some time to reach the start point!

Some pictures from the event: