40 and Beyond.....: Marathon No.56

Sunday, 13 October 2013

Marathon No.56 - Munich Marathon

The Munich Marathon EXPO!

Map of the Marathon Route...... The course goes from the Olympic Park clockwise right through the centre of Munich, past the most beautiful sights and back to the Olympic Stadium again.

Munich Marathon started at 10am and ran through the city.

With 42.195 Kimometers and approx. 9,000 runners, the Munich Marathon is one of the five largest Marathons in Germany together with Berlin and Frankfurt.

Munich must also be admired for the organization, security and display of volunteers informing drivers and pedestrian of alternative route.

Munich is s beautiful city and the Marathon would highlight the beauty. The expo was larger than I'd expected. Munich wasn't cheap though, the race as well, on top of the registration fee you have to purchase or actually rent your chip for 6 Euros and if you want a race shirt you have to pre-purchase that too!

Inside the Expo!

List of Runners!

Testing my MIKA Timing CHIP, which I decided to keep!

Pre-purchase T Shirts!

There was Red Wine at the EXPO too.....................

Cheese & Salami Wraps for all runners!

Cutting up the wraps

Cheers!

Crossing the FINISHING Line in the Olympic Stadium was unforgettable and pure fun. I enjoyed it!

Staging the start and finish in the Olympic park is a great location with lots of room. The finish for all events in the Olympic stadium (1972 Olympics) on the track, and an amazing stadium it was. Not dated at all...

Race morning I took the Metro to what was suppose to be the closest stop to the Olympic park (not sure about that, as I walked along way to get there).

But get there I did and walked to the stadium where I met Dean Allay and a bunch of his running buddies (Dean was running Munich as his 50th Marathon), we all managed to take photos of each other at the stadium before setting off to the bag drop areas, which was very well organized (well they are germans!). Off to the start we went, and by this time it was getting crowded.

At the START - Dean was celebrating his 50th Marathon.....

The Baggage Area

Little Pub of Munich - Remember beer is plentiful in Munich!

Runners Point

Wide Boulevards

Majestic Buildings & Architecture

Ludwig Strasse

5km

Counting down the k's to the finish........................ That last couple of k's were extremely difficult! My legs were absolutely wrecked - I just wanted to FINISH!

37km

41km - Only 1.2km to go............... Yeahhh!

My name got shouted out on the loudspeakers after passing through 30k TWICE!

Supporters holding up signs on the Course

Live Bands

There was live music and small events in different parts around the route all ready to cheer up us runners and the audience.

Bananas!

Water!

Energy Drinks

Water Stops and Refreshment stations were located at 4, 7.5, 14, 18, 22.5, 27.5, 33.5 and 39.5 Km. In addition to water, there was also electrolyte drinks and bananas.