Sunday, April 17, 2011

Weekend happenings.

As you well know,  I rarely have much to say on the weekends,  mostly since we're often out and about.
Today was the Vienna City Marathon,  which runs right along Mariahilfer Strasse,  which is 20 metres from our front door.
Now,  a couple questions.
Ever notice how an Ostrich runs?   Well,  the guy from Kenya who won the thing kind of put me in mind of an ostrich.  Now,  I don't mean that in a bad way,  I'm just saying his strides were so long,  I truly had never seen anything so amazing in all my life.   Plus of course he was so far out in front that I didn't get a picture.  There were the usual media guys on motorcycles,  but there had been a bunch of those,  and I just figured it was more of the same,  so of course I completely missed my chance.
We're right around the 19 kilometre mark,  so there's certainly no huge crowd of runners.  That comes later.

I do know he passed at the 57 minute mark.   That's helpful,  isn't it?

I did manage to snap out of it after the leader ran by,  and caught a few seconds of video of the remaining Kenyans as they strode past.

 These guys are also way out in front...



Clicky


Now,  speaking of screwing up in the photography department,  (a recurring theme) it's one thing to take a nice photo of a daffodil or your doggie running on the beach,  but just try picking out one guy out of a crowd of a few thousand?   Good luck.
I really could have used a step ladder and maybe a second pair of eyes.
See,  one of Travelling Companion's associates was in the running,  and I did see him.   And he did see me.   No photo though.   Happened too fast.



He's down in the middle there somewhere in the blue shirt.   I think.

*Crap*.

There's always next year.   Oh wait,  I think he'll be moving to the States in the mean time.  Double crap.

Have to say though,  he was in the first third of the runners,  and I was kind of impressed.

We'll probably leave later today for the airport around 4:00,  even though our flight to Düsseldorf doesn't leave until 17:40 (OK,  twenty to six).
There's some major construction going on over at the "Hanson Curve",  although I doubt that they'll be working on Sunday,  and I have a sneaking suspicion that there will still be some hoopla going on in the centre of the city.
In other words,  I haven't figured out just yet which way we'll go.

Bah.
This is why it's usually best to just stay home on Sundays.

The other slight consideration too is,  I do have to make sure I head in the right direction when I come out of the airport in Düsseldorf.   Must head north. 


That's another part that's kind of important.




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4 comments:

  1. vancouver marathon on today too.its like bizzaro world.

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  2. I'm sure your friend will appreciate your efforts to get a picture of him. It is hard to pick people out when they are running by in a crowd.

    Good luck with your flight to Dusseldorf.

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  3. not so bizarro - it was the Sun run not the marathon. How are you?

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  4. OK, Mr./Ms. Nony Moose? You need to add your name. I have a vague idea, but I'm not that bright.
    And yes, there were marathons or running events of some sort all over the place on Sunday. I had no idea there was something going on in London, until we got to our hotel and could watch the BBC.

    And Rick. Thanks.
    Our runner friend said he spotted me due to my moustache. (Huh?)...whatever works I guess. Didn't think it stood out quite so much. He ended up running it in 3hours 20 minutes. Not too shabby.
    Oh...and he smokes!
    All of those runners impress me. I'd still be out there somewhere. Or they'd have to come fetch me by ambulance.

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Well, I've been getting too many spam comments showing up. Just a drag, so we'll go another route and hope that helps. So, we won't be hearing anything more from Mr. Nony Moose.
I guess I'll just have to do without that Gucci purse.