Z Valdir's races

Back to the index Celebrating my 50 in style! This year I was going to celebrate my 50th birthday, so I wanted to do something special for the occasion. How about running the original marathon , the one that gave birth to all others? A pretty good idea, isn't it? So, off to Greece we go! A little bit of history "The marathon course is based on the myth from which the race gained its name: Pheidippides, a messenger in Ancient Greece, ran from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greeks' victory over the Persians." ( Wikipedia article on the Athens Marathon) Sightseeing before the race My wife and I arrived in Greece ten days before the race and spent our time there sightseeing. This was our third time in Greece, so we kind of know the place by now... ;-) We went to see the Parthenon, of course: We did a cruise by boat: I went to Delphi to ask the oracle there for a safe race... ;-): Days before the race I visited the Pan...

Back to the index Mont Tremblant is a resort city to the north of Montreal. For the last four years the city has organized a half marathon race (also 5K and 10K) in the month of August. I had already run this course in 2012, so now in 2013 I decided to try it again to see if I could improve my time. Here I am before the start of the race, at the finishing line: Last year, picking up the bib had been a hassle, but for this year the organizers streamlined the process, so it was quite fast. Going on the bus to the start line: Last year my wife had taken me to the start line by car, but then she got locked out because all streets and roads were closed. For this year we decided that she would stay at the finish line and I would go to the start line with the bus provided by the organizers. The course is absolutely gorgeous, the area around Mont Tremblant is very beautiful, we go part of the way through the forest. Earlier this year I had read Jeff Galloway's...

Back to the index Eurovision Song Contest I have been watching the Eurovision Song Contest on the computer for the last ten years, but when Sweden won in 2012, I decided that it was time for me to go there and see it in loco: The show would happen on May 19th. And by one of these great coincidences in life, the Copenhagen marathon was scheduled for the very next day! I couldn't pass on such an opportunity, now could I? So, off to Denmark/Sweden we went! Pre race sightseeing We arrived a week before the events and spent our time doing some sightseeing. We went for instance to the Museum of Modern Art in Malmö: Can you see me in the picture above? We visited the Glyptotek Carlsbad in Copenhagen: I went to the war museum: Of course I had to go see the Little Mermaid: We went to the Karen Blixen museum: "I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong hills..." The same day we visited the Louisiana museum, "the mos...