And now after two days looking around Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Roermond, now we get to the part where I actually ran the 42 kilometers/26.2 miles of the Cologne Marathon.
Sunday, 13 October 2019
This was it, the big day, my first marathon since Honolulu nearly two years earlier, and at the time I'm writing this, still my last marathon. The starting line was at the Messe/Deutz train station, so it was a short S-Bahn ride there.
Everyone lining up for the 2019 Cologne Marathon outside Messe/Deutz.
The marathon was long and grueling. It's a full marathon, how can it not be? Beyond that, it was definitely one of my favorite such routes to run. Starting line was, again, outside the Messe/Deutz train station which is on the east bank of the Rhine, and we all soon crossed one of the bridges over that river, since most of the city is on the west bank, into the old downtown. The route wound and wended its way through every historic quarter of the city, going through nearly every neighborhood and passing by just about every scenic building and park there was. I caught my first glimpse of the TV tower, Colonius, while running past it.
The finish line was at the Cologne cathedral. Promotional materials for the marathon always proclaimed "Der Dom ist das Ziel" (the cathedral is the goal). I have to say something here about what I was thinking during this long run. As my feet kept pounding the pavement and my knees kept aching for hour after hour, I was seriously thinking about quitting running after this. "Maybe I should stop this and just concentrate on swimming and biking." But then as I ran through the finish line next to the historic cathedral, with all those cheering spectators behind the fences...nope, I can't quit now. There will be more marathons in my future.
My time was 5:14:27. Far from my best but not my worst. My best marathon time ever was 4:44:21 at the 2016 South Padre Island marathon.
Right after the finish line, just like at any marathon, there's a cool-down area where exhausted finishers can get some free refreshments like a bottle of water and a banana, or a granola bar, or here something this city is famous for...
Cologne is famous for its beer, so of course I got a free Kölsch!
I know I must have had something for lunch immediately after that, probably right there by the cathedral. I don't at all remember what it was, though.
After I was done with the marathon and lunch, I took the S-Bahn back to the hostel for a much needed shower and change of clothes. The rest of the day was mostly spent exploring the city and not being able to do much in the afternoon, then dinner and some final bar hopping at night. Being Sunday, most attractions were closed, so there wasn't a whole lot to do; I should've done that the day before. The rest of that day I just took it easy, being burnt out from that long run, and just hit a few bars and restaurants.
I had dinner somewhere downtown and ended the night bar hopping along Neusser Straße in Nippes, the street my hostel was on. Here I drank a lot of Kölsch.
But at one bar I found this: Budweiser. That is, the real Budweiser, brewed in Budejovice, Czech Republic (Budweis in German). The bitter yellow water we call "Budweiser" in America is in no way related to this one, but was merely named after it for no reason other than that it sounded German. This, the original Czech Budweiser, is a tasty lager. And guess what, you can actually get it in the States! Due to copyright reasons they can't use the name "Budweiser," so it's sold as "Czechvar" instead. I've often seen it on the shelves in Texas supermarkets like H-E-B and Albertsons.
Cologne, home of Kölsch, and Düsseldorf, home of Alt, have a famous rivalry over their beer styles. The text at the bottom of this cartoon says "This is how Alt is brewed!!"
So now, the big question: which beer style do I like better, Kölsch or Alt? They're both good but I have to say I favor Alt. I know that will earn me a lifetime ban from Cologne but I just like the taste better. Kölsch is a little bitter, a little watery, and with a slight fruity tinge. I find Alt to be more flavorful and, depending on the brand, similar to an amber ale.
I drank a lot more Kölsch, of course, just because I spent more time on this trip in Cologne. I wouldn't have another Alt until visiting Essen over a year later. What I don't understand about Kölsch is why they serve it in those small 25cl glasses.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Without much left to do, and a train leaving in the early afternoon, I walked around a bit to see what else I could see before dashing off. I did go back to the Colonius just to get a look at it, even though it's not possible to go up to the top.
Due to some legal technicality, the observation deck has been closed to visitors since 1999.
This was more or less the end of the trip; the next day, Monday, I rode an ICE home to Stuttgart, but not before tying up one more loose end. Passing through the city at this time was an old friend named Aisha. I had stayed with her and her husband in Honolulu back when I traveled there for that city's marathon in 2017. Since then they'd moved to another state and hosted an exchange student from Cologne, who she just happened to be visiting on my last day there. And so we got to have an unfortunately-short reunion by the train station and the cathedral in the last 10 minutes before I had to board my train.
Overall, this was a great trip although I feel I could have afforded to stop and smell the roses more. While there wasn't too much more I could have seen in Cologne, I barely scratched the surface of Düsseldorf while I was there. The marathon was definitely one of my favorites to do, up there with Seattle and Honolulu.
This is Kölsch dialect for "42km on bare feet through Cologne."
