Last Tuesday, we arrived back in Zurich. It felt good to be back!
I love South Africa’s happy vibes, but it’s nice to experience some quiet orderliness once in a while. I appreciate that everything works – having electricity for 24 hours feels very luxurious.
I’m also grateful for the warm weather and the beautiful running route from my doorstep. And all the water fountains!
We don’t have access to CrossFit anymore, but there’s an open-air gym nearby. My goal is to work on some skills that I can’t do yet: toes-to-bar, strict pull-ups and muscle-ups. I brought my skipping rope with me to practice double-unders, too.
Shortly after our arrival, our neighbours had arranged for an annual get-together. It was so nice to see everyone again. Everyone brought some food – the spread was amazing!
Next, we met up with my family. So much to talk about!
On Saturday, we helped out at a local race. My running buddy MapMan organizes this race, and he asked Kai and me to assist at a water station.
I runfess that this was my first time volunteering at a race. In fact, no one in our group had ever done this before, so we just set up the tables the way we thought was best.
It was a good thing that the slower category called “Fun Runners” came through first, this was a good stress test. After that, we were ready for the main category of 800 runners that followed. Things got very hectic!
Running-wise, I am continuing my training for the Berlin Marathon in September.
Next week, we will participate in the Zermatt Marathon. We will split it up as a team: Kai will do the first part, and I will do the second part. It has 1’400m (4’600ft) of elevation – it’s going to be interesting!
- Have you ever volunteered at a race? What was your assignment?
- What do you typically bring to a potluck party? – Fruit salad!
I’m joining Kooky Runner and Zenaida’s link-up, Tuesday Topics. I’m also joining Runner’s Roundup with Mile By Mile, Coach Debbie Runs, Confessions of a Mother Runner and Runs with Pugs.
Liebe Catrina,
willkommen zurück! 😀
Schön, dass ihr wieder da seid und wie gewohnt geht es bei euch gleich wieder munter weiter. Sport, Familie, Nachbarschaft! Langweilig ist es bei euch nie!
Was mir besonders gut gefällt, ist dass du die Annehmlichkeiten in der Schweiz (Europa?) so betonst, die wir, die das ganze Jahr hier leben, einfach so als selbstverständlich annehmen. 🙂
Bei deinen angestrebten Fitnessübungen muss ich aber passen. Was sind denn muscle-up und double unders???
Danke dir, liebe Doris!
Die erste Woche war etwas hektisch, jetzt ist es zum Glück etwas ruhiger geworden.
Es gibt so vieles, das ich auf eine ganz neue Art schätze: zum Beispiel die RIESIGE Auswahl in der Migros. Unglaublich! Die Freiheit, abends alleine auf der Strasse herumzuspazieren. Sichere Velowege. Häuser ohne Gitter und Sicherzeitszäune…. ach ja.
Muscle-ups: an der Stange sich aus der Hocke in den Stütz hochheben. Können die meisten Kinder problemlos, aber als Erwachsene finde ich es irgendwie schwierig.
Double-unders: beim Springseilhüpfen, wenn bei einem Sprung das Seil zweimal unter die Füsse durchgeht. Ist eine Übungssache… aber ich werde es wohl nie lernen, ha!
Ah ja, danke! 😎
🌞Nice to see you back home where like you say there is electricity full time. Luxury for sure. Most places in the world don’t!🤔 We have winter or storm outages in the country due to trees falling on the lines. 💨 We have a generator that kicks in when that happens, but not often! Need power to keep pipes from freezing & we can always heat w wood.
Wow that spread looks so amazing. The Monk’s head made me laugh. Is that sushi salmon lined up on the plate? Those puffy sandwiches look interesting too!
I cannot cook for others as such. My food is like camping food😅🤣 I am sure nobody would want to eat it except RADAR & me. Thankfully Pearl can prepare something. We often bring California Rolls of various kinds along w nigiri salmon or tamago sushi.
Race volunteer? Hmm? I cannot say I have lately! I volunteer at lots of other stuff but only so much time! 🌞
Having an outdoor gym like that is fun for XTraining. You still have access to your track I bet! Happy training for Berlin. Take care of your Achilles!🏃♀️💨
Oh my, having no electricity in the middle of the Canadian winter is no joke! Good that you have a generator and a fireplace!
In Cape Town, we had an inverter installed. It works like a battery, and for an outage of 2 – 3 hours, it keeps the fridge and the computers/wifi working. At least that! And if we want to cook during that time, we always have our camping equipment. 🙂
It’s wild salmon from Alaska – one of our neighbours has friends who fish there every year and bring back some salmon. It tasted so much better than the “farm” salmon!
Ha, good job you have Pearl! I bet she is very talented in the kitchen! I had to google California Rolls, nigiri and tamago sushi. All of it looks amazing! Does Pearl make them herself?
I know! I think I will keep this annual volunteer gig going. It was a lot of fun, especially when things got hectic, ha!
The track is ready! Just waiting for my coach to give me some workouts! Hopefully soon…
You too! Hope it is less stiff in the morning now!
Great you have a solution to your power blackouts. It sounds like it happens often?
Yes Pearl prepares the sushi. It is so much better than store bought or even restaurants? Home made is so much better!
Wow all the way to Alaska? There are closer places for wild salmon! Wild is no comparison to farmed. Farmed tastes like mush. Texture is horrible & it is terrible for the aquatic environment! Like a monoculture where fish disease thrive. Blafff.
Keep on volunteering. It is a good action that keeps activities possible!
Happy 🏃♀️💨🚴♂️💨
About three times a day for two hours each. In other areas, it can be up to 6 times a day, which makes life very difficult, especially for small businesses.
Oh, I can imagine that homemade sushi is much better! And more hygienic, too! You never know what happens in restaurants…
Yes, transporting salmon all that way is not exactly environmentally friendly! But you are right, it tastes so much better than the mush! Yuk! You can eat that stuff after eating the “real” thing.
Will do! It was so much fun!!
Enjoy the running – I’m glad your Achilles is keeping quiet! Yay!
Wow! So often & for so long! Arghh. I would not like that very much. Having the backup system or solar panel system seems like a solution. However, you are renters so not up to you to install that. That is tricky for sure about who is responsible.
Restaurants! Yuk for the most part. Hard to know what goes on! How clean, how good is the food, how u happy are the people working there ? Not someone who goes to restaurants for years now. Don’t miss it. Grow as much as possible & prepare at home. We really try to be extremely independent! But not possible to be 100% of course. But it would be great to be able!
Very annoying for sure! But it is driving individuals to instal solar panel systems to become independent from the government provider. Do you have solar panels?
I get you! We do go to restaurants, but only because some of our friends chose to do that. I’d rather be at home! Much cosier, quieter and above all, you know how clean everything is and where the ingredients are from! So cool that you can grow your own vegetables. You have a great lifestyle!
No solar panels but we did look into it. It was just not there yet as EVehicles are not. Lots of limitations for both. In 10 years it will be normal.
Talking about restaurants, we went out last night w a friend. Booofff. The worst food ever. Never again. Food was not fresh & even the vegetables were wilted!!!
Can’t do restaurants at all. Just gross!
Home made is best & cheaper too. 🌞
Perhaps Zürich has amazing restaurants, but surely not where I live.
Guten Appetit
Oooh no! That sounds awful! Just shows that your verdict on restaurants is spot-on! What a waste of money, too.
Zurich has some great restaurants, but I still prefer to eat at home. I can use our high-quality oil and know exactly where I bought the products.
Also, eating out in Zurich is extremely expensive… easy to spend CAD 44 on a simple pizza. Ugh.
Wow, that buffet looks so appetizing (especially the cheese!)! I´d probably bring focaccia and hummus or bake a savory pie/quiche.
Good luck with the marathon training and the Zermatt race! Are there many people running duo relay like yourself and Kai? Sounds like a great way to get the experience even if your training schedule doesn´t fit an entire marathon.
I love cheese, too!! Focaccia and hummus sound like a delicious combo. My sister-in-law makes her own focaccia – she says it’s quite easy. I need to try it one day.
Thank you! I’m so happy there’s the relay option! About 300 teams will be doing it this way. I’m looking forward to this race because we will have a nice view of the famous Matterhorn mountain while we run.
I love volunteering at races. I prefer finish line or packet pick up.
I visited Zermatt in college. Beautiful. Good luck.
Welcome home.
Distributing medals at the finish line would be my dream job! Everybody is happy!
So nice! I love that it is car-free. And of course, it has a beautiful view of the Matterhorn.
Willkommen zurück in der schönen Schweiz, ist ja auch nicht gerade das schlechteste Pflaster, in der Schweiz zu wohnen – oder ??? Wie ich schon anderweitig erwähnte, alle freuen sich, dass ihr wieder da seid – es werden sogar Feste arrangiert – da hätte ich auch mitgegessen ! 😉
Und dann bei einem Wettkampf als Helfer tätig zu sein, das ist auch für mich selbstverständlich, wann immer ich die Gelegenheit dazu habe, eine kleine Revanche dafür, dass ich jahrzehntelang von anderen liebevoll betreut wurde, da kann man gar nicht anders – hier vor Ort bin ich zweimal im Jahr sehr gerne als Helfer dabei !!
Nächste Woche ein geteilter Marathon, auch nicht schlecht, ein neuer Start ins Läuferleben !! Bin gespannt. Dann die Vorbereitung auf DAS Event – viel Glück dabei !!
Pass gut auf dich !🍀🏃♀️
Danke dir, liebe Margitta!
Gerade heute beim Lauf habe ich wieder gedacht, wie gut wir es hier in Europa haben – saubere öffentliche Toiletten, Wasserbrunnen mit kühlem Wasser, Spielplätze mit kleinen Pools für die Kinder – es ist alles da.
Der Wildlachs hätte dir besonders geschmeckt!
Unser Einsatz war recht lustig, vor allem, als es hektisch wurde. Etwa 20 Minuten wussten wir nicht mehr, wo uns der Kopf stand, da ging es wild drunter und drüber. Es liefen auch einige Bekannte mit, aber die haben wir im Getümmel kaum gesehen.
Ich bin gespannt! Ein Lauf mit Sicht auf das legendäre Matterhorn – da freue ich mich!
Liebe Grüsse aus dem bedeckten Zürich!
Liebe Catrina,
ja, ich glaube gern, dass der Kontrast zwischen Südafrika und der Schweiz schon kräftig ist. Ihr kennt von beiden Ländern das Positive wie das andere und wisst sicher, euch jeweils darauf einzustellen. Wie schön wurdet ihr willkommen geheißen! Bestimmt gab es viel zu erzählen!
Als Streckenposten helfen, dazu bin ich bisher noch nie gekommen, würde das aber auch gern einmal machen, bzw. habe es auf meiner bucket list für demnächst!
“Potluck-Party” – Witziger Begriff! Da würde ich mich anpassen, was am ehesten noch fehlt, also Salat oder Süßes oder Snacks.
Viel Glück und einen guten Lauf in Zermatt!
Wir stehen ja danach beim “kleinen” Eiger an der Startlinie 🙂
Liebe Grüße und gutes Wieder-Einleben in Zürich!
Elke aus dem heißen Rheinland
Liebe Elke
Es ist interessant, dass die Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Ländern mit der Zeit immer krasser auf mich wirken. Man würde denken, dass die Unterschiede mit der Zeit “normaler” werden und nicht mehr so gewöhnungsbedürftig sind.
Es war so nett! Sowohl mit den Nachbarn wie auch mit der Familie. Meine Eltern haben damals bei der Rückreise keinen Platz mehr für Ihre Kleider gehabt… jetzt haben wir sie im Koffer mitgenommen. Da waren sie auch froh! 🙂
Cool! Es war richtig lustig – ich glaube, ich werde ab jetzt jedes Jahr mithelfen. Bin gespannt, wo es dich als Helferin verschlägt!
Du bist eine flexible Potluckerin, die hat man am liebsten.
Ich werde an euch denken Mitte Juli! Macht Christoph den 35er? Und du den 16er?
Rate mal, wer auch in Zermatt sein wird…. 🙂
Liebe Grüsse aus dem bewölkten Zürich!
Ja klar weiß ich, wer noch in Zermatt sein wird 😉
Beim eiger machen wir beide die 16, alles andere war zu schnell ausgebucht.
Liebe Grüße aus dem schwülheißen Rheinland
Die 16km sind ja auch anstrengend! Viel Spass!
Yay, nice to see you’re back in Zürich. I look forward to meeting up with you there later in the summer 🙂
I volunteered at races and charity sports events in the US. One was in a New York building. The participants had to run all the way up the skyscraper, and then there was a party at the top. It was very impressive!
It’s so good to be here again, Kat! Looking forward to seeing you here, too!
Oh my goodness, what an interesting event! So you had athletes run up 60 floors (or more)?! That’s impressive indeed!
I hope you could take the elevator to the rooftop party!
Yes, exactly! It was crazy, but they had clearly trained for many months beforehand.
I confess, I did take an elevator up. We helpers had to be fresh and ready to welcome the participants enthusiastically 🙂
Ha, I would have taken the elevator, too!
Imagine training for a stair-race… at least it’s nice and warm in winter!
I have done a water stop job a few times. It’s a totally different experience and really made me appreciate the volunteers even more. Enjoy Zurich!
Nice! It can get quite hectic, especially if you’re working on the first table! It was great fun though. I’m sure I’ll be doing it next year again.
Welcome back! I visited Zurich two times, the first long time ago (40 years ago?): I like a lot your hometown.
I have never volunteered at a race however I am very grateful to the volunteers: they (you) are always kind and helpful.
The buffet looks delicious.
It’s good to be back, Stefano! Zurich isn’t too far from the Italian border – although quite far from your hometown.
I think I will stick to this volunteering gig – it was great fun and I learned how to work fast with filling those cups!
An Italian buffet would probably look even better, haha!
What an amazing spread of food! Totally envious.
You both have such a great combination of off/on between CT and Zurich. Not just the weather but with two totally different ways of living. The load shedding is nice in a way as you learn to live without electricity for a bit – a forceful way of shutting off for a bit and relaxing.
Well done on the volunteering. I volunteered at a 40 mile coastal ultra marathon a month ago – also my first volunteering experience. I helped 3 others run the final checkpoint and also helped setup registration at 5am. It was 2 hours away so I was up at 3am! The race series is well known for having no cut-off times, so the final runners only came through our checkpoint at 20h30 at night. It was almost like running an ultra ourselves just being up and at it all day. I really enjoyed it though and got a lot out of helping all the runners through the really hot weather with food, water, and motivation.
Enjoy the elevation rich race coming up! I see now why you’re adding more hill runs to your running on Strava! 🙂
So true! It makes me appreciate both sides – Cape Town is such a happy and charming city with such friendly people. As you can imagine, although things work well in Switzerland, there are also some drawbacks…
You are right about the load shedding! According to my Garmin, I slept more in CT – with no lights on, I went to bed earlier!
That’s a 20-hour volunteering day, oh my! As an experienced ultra runner, you make for a great volunteer. You know exactly what participants need and what to say at the right moment. You would also make for a good sweeper!
Zermatt is quite scary… I’m not even remotely prepared but at least it’s great training!
All the best with preparing for Dragon’s Back!
I love that you fit so beautifully into so many different settings! But home is home, and nothing quite beats it, wherever it is in the world! Well done on the volunteering – I still haven’t done that – and think it would be quite daunting especially at busy times! But you guys looked pro… now as for that food spread at your neighbour’s – wow, wow, wow!
So true, Shathiso! And I can also understand why many South Africans are so homesick, ha!
You would do so well as a volunteer! I can just imagine you and your family manning an aid station and shouting encouragement to everyone.
So much food! I had to run it off the next day!
All of that food looks super yummy!
I have volunteered twice at the Gatorade/Water station at NYCM and it was quite the experience, lol, but also a lot of fun.
Oh, now that’s a nice job! Our race was only small, imagine seeing 10’000s of runners!! So much fun!
I think volunteering for a race is fun and a great way to give back. Also, it’s nice to appreciate the work on the other side of racing. I’ve helped organize a few races, so I’ve volunteered in a lot of different capacities…water stations, corner marshalling, traffic control, check-in, etc.
Oh, that’s so nice! You are absolutely right, Kim, as runners, we should be volunteering regularly. I’m always putting it off as something I can do “later”, but it’s better to do it now! And it’s so much fun!
Enjoy the summer in Europe! And having power all the time. the load shedding is really testing my patience now. We are about to triple our solar plan and battery capacity.
Yes, I have volunteered, its very stressful! But fun!
You are so clever to instal solar panels! I wish we could do that with our place in Cape Town. The home association is looking into it, that would be the way to go forward.
Good luck with your training, Birdie!
I volunteer at races several times a year.
For Boston my running club does a bib packet pickup shift. We’ve been doing it long enough that we now have the morning shift on the Sunday before Marathon Monday.
For a local race series I help set up and manage t-shirt distribution.
It really is a lot of fun.
As an experienced runner, I can answer a lot of questions for people also.
I bet your crew knew just how a water stop should be run!
Oh, that’s so nice to hear, Andy!
Runners make for the best volunteers. And now I know – if I ever run Boston – who to look out for a packet pick-up!
That’s right! From our own experience as runners, we knew how to position the tables and the rubbish bins. And we always had those cups filled!
What a great welcome home party for you and Kai. That food looks amazing! I’m sure everyone missed you. And I had no idea about the blackouts in SA–here I thought it was just like everywhere else!
I’m actually volunteering at my town’s annual 4th of July race. I’m not running it this year because Leadville is the following week. I don’t want to risk injury! I’m going to be a course marshall, which I’m excited about–I’ll know a lot of the runners, so it should be fun!
It was so lovely, Wendy! The neighbours were so happy to see us – and we were happy to see them!
The blackouts in Cape Town are about 2 – 3 times a day, 2 hours each. Other areas have it even worse…. But it’s funny how quickly you adapt to such situations!
Oooh! That sounds like so much fun!! Especially if you know other runners! As a course marshall, you will have the time to spot them and wave. So cool!
Good luck with your Leadville training!
I love the change of scenery! I’ve never volunteered for a race but I’d like to do it sometime. My first choice would be a volunteer photographer.
If I can get ripe avocados I love to bring chips and guac to potlucks.
Oh, a volunteer photographer would be so much fun! It needs quite a bit of stamina too, sitting in the same position for an hour or so.
Now that you mention it, I really feel like some guacamole and chips! I think I’ll get some for tonight.
Liebe Catrina,
willkommen zurück 🙂
Ich finde es cool, dass ihr ein Outdoor-Fitnessstudio habt. Das macht ja bestimmt auch total Spaß.
Wir haben schon oft als Helfer bei Sportveranstaltungen fungiert. In der Anmeldung, als Streckenposten, beim Auf- oder Abbau. Ich finde das immer ganz toll. Es ist auch eine schöne Art den ganzen Helfern auf den Events, wo ich als Sportler am Start bin, Danke zu sagen 🙂
Ihr habt das richtig toll gemacht bei der Wasserausgabe!
Ich bin der frische Salat Typ. Wenn wir irgendwo eingeladen sind und was mitbringen sollen, dann ist das bei mir meistens ein frischer Salat oder ein Linsensalat 🙂
Das sieht alles sehr lecker aus was bei euch da aufgetischt wurde.
Liebe Grüße
Helge
Danke, liebe Helge!
Wir nutzen den Outdoor Gym fast jeden Tag! Daneben machen wir die gratis Fitness-Videos von Pamela Reif. Die sind recht hart, mir tun heute noch die Bauchmuskeln von gestern weh.
Das finde ich super! Eigentlich müsste man ja viel öfters als Helfer mitmachen. Ich schiebe es immer auf “später wenn ich älter bin”, aber eigentlich müsste man es jetzt machen.
Salat gefällt mir! Das gibt’s bei diesen Buffets meist viel zu wenig! Linsensalat hatten wir auch, der war sehr schnell weg (war aber leider nicht so fotogen…). 🙂
I have volunteered at many races (also had a few paid positions 🙂 ). I think it’s so much fun. I’ve helped at registration, the finish line, and at the water stations. I like the water stations because it gives you the chance to cheer the runners on.
Oh my gosh, the food at your get together is making me hungry and it’s only 7:00 in the morning here!
Oh, getting paid for volunteering sounds great, haha!
Although, we did get a lot of freebies, too: we got pasta, cookies, free drinks and a free lunch. I loved working at the water station! We had music with us, too, to add to the energy.
Ah! Great food is appropriate for any time of the day!
All I could focus on was that wheel of cheese. Yum. Welcome home, though! It sounds like your homecoming was great.
I typically bring a charcuterie board to parties. Last night, I brought spanikopita. Just depends on the effort I want to spend and how creative I feel.
I’ve volunteered at a few races, but usually I prefer to run them.
Oh, that cheese not only looks fancy, but it also tastes great too!! We couldn’t get really good cheese in South Africa (except cheddar), so tasting all these different types of cheese again was wonderful.
Oh, I would invite you to all our parties! Who doesn’t like a good charcuterie board or spanakopita!
I get you! I love the feeling of accomplishment after a race. Here, we could at least benefit from the energetic atmosphere.
I remember my track team volunteered at a race in high school, and I got to hand out water cups! That was before I was into doing races like that (I had only run track). Enjoy your time back in Zurich!
Oh, then you have first-hand experience! It was quite stressful – all the runners seem to come at once and we could hardly keep up!
We had two tables but of course, everyone came to the first table, while the second one nearly had nothing to do, haha!
You live in such a beautiful place! I can understand why you’re happy to be home. Can’t wait to follow along as you train for Berlin. Please share lots of pictures!
I volunteered with my MRTT friends at a race, and like you, we did a water stop. It takes a little bit of practice to know how to best hand out the water even though we’ve been on the receiving end many times. And like your group, we practiced before the runners came through. I was also the race director of “The Tortoise and the Hare 8K” for several years. That was a lot of work, but fun. It was sponsored by the gym where I worked and when I was hired and they found out I was a runner they immediately handed it off to me. 🙂
Zurich is beautiful, but I think the countryside where you do your rides is beautiful, too!
You said it! You can’t just stand there with the cup, you need to go a few steps along with the runners. It’s quite tricky!
Oh, you were a race director! That’s so cool!
I know from my colleague how much work that is. For a few weeks, it’s like a full-time job. He needs to liaise with so many people and attend so many meetings. This race was sponsored by a local bank, so at least there will always be enough money, ha!
That is a great way to describe Zurich- it’s orderly and everything works. Plus, it’s beautiful. I spent some time there back in the day (when I worked in Germany for a while) and I loved it. I remember those water fountains, and I used to run by a river that looks like one of your pictures! I couldn’t begin to tell you where it was though.
Anyway, I’ve never volunteered at a race either! But I want to. One of these days!
I remember that you worked in Zurich! It’s rare to find someone who’s been here!
Zurich has two rivers, I suspect that you ran along the Limmat River. It’s closer to downtown and flows directly out of the Lake of Zurich (which I’m sure you remember too).
If only we had known each other then, we could have run together!!
Have a great time back in Zurich! So much good food there in that spread. Yum!
Thank you Zenaida! It’s nice to be back!
Liebe Catrina,
ich freue mich auch, dass ihr wieder da seid. Dabei finde ich es immer wieder toll, wenn eine Reise ohne Unglücke und Unfälle abläuft! Auch das ist bei weitem nicht selbstverständlich, obwohl wir es uns oft nicht sonderlich bewusst machen! 😊 Ich freue mich dann, wenn ich etwas höre und bin immer sooo beruhigt, wenn alles glatt lief, vor allem bei langen Reisen, obwohl es ja heißt: no news are good news!
Danke auch dafür, dass du uns bewusst machst, welchen Luxus wir hier haben! Leider ist der (gemeine) Deutsche oft viel zu griesgrämig! 😢
… und dann waren so viele dankbar, dass sie euch wieder haben! 😋 👍 👏 Nachbarn, Verwandte … und sogar Reto! 😋 Schön etwas von ihm zu hören, muss ihm mal wieder schreiben! – Toll, dass ihr ihm geholfen habt! Jetzt habt ihr Erfahrungen, aber es ist überhaupt kein Problem, wenn ihr erst als ‘Graugänse’ mehr helft. Man ist nicht ewig jung und kann gut selbst Wettkämpfe laufen!
Bei uns war der Darmstädter Stadtlauf gerade gestern Abend. Logischerweise war ich wieder dabei! (Werde berichten!) Da es bei mir selber nicht rund läuft, helfe ich erst recht gerne mit! Meist bin ich Streckenposten und manchmal als solcher für einen Streckenabschnitt verantwortlich. … und dann sehe ich immer krass viele Leute
Potluck Partys sind seit Jahrzehnten in unseren Kirchengemeinden üblich. Wir fragen oft nach, was benötigt wird, manchmal liegen Listen aus, oder es wird per Mail abgefragt. Eine kleinere Kirchengemeinde hier vor Ort macht sogar wöchentlich nach dem Gottesdienst eine Potluck Party. Sind wir mal dort und wollen mitmachen, dann macht meine Frau oft einen Salat, entweder was Frisches, oder einen Nudelsalat. – Bei euch hat es turbo lecker ausgesehen, wie es unsere Enkelin ausdrücken würde.
Viel Spaß bei euren anstehenden ‘Halben’ und bei der Vorbereitung für Berlin! Bleib gesund und unverletzt!
Aus dem schwül-heißen Darmstadt
liebe Grüße Manfred
Lieber Manfred
Es ist schön, wieder hier zu sein! Sogar das Wetter ist angenehm: warm, mit Regenschauern dazwischen. Gestern wurde ich auf meinem Lauf so nass wie schon lange nicht mehr.
Genau, man weiss nie, ob auch alles gut läuft, wenn man reist. Und dann zu Hause: wird jemand krank oder wird jemand einen Unfall haben, während wir weg sind? Meine Eltern sind auch nicht mehr die jüngsten, und da schwingt immer etwas Unsicherheit mit.
Ha, wir hatten kaum Zeit, mit Reto zu sprechen, der war so im “Tunnel” mit all seinen Verantwortlichkeiten. Er läuft am 1. Juli den Swiss Irontrail in Graubünden, 50km. Seine Vereinskollegen sagen er sei topfit! Ich hoffe, dass wir dann später im Monat mal Zeit haben, zusammen zu laufen.
Ah, du warst also auch im Einsatz! Wunderbar! Das glaube ich dir, dass es ein grosses Wiedersehen ist, wenn du als Streckenposten arbeitest! Ich kannte auch ein paar bei diesem Lauf, aber wir waren alle so im Stress (Läufer und Helfer), dass wir kaum Zeit hatten. Und herumstehende Zuschauer hatte es leider keine. Ich freue mich auf deinen Bericht!
Ein frischer Salat ist immer willkommen. Ich mag gerne Potluck Parties, weil man sich das immer schön aussuchen kann. “Turbo lecker” habe ich noch nie gehört, werde ich mir merken!
Danke dir! Der Halbe wird anstrengend, aber das wollten wir ja so!
Liebe Grüsse aus dem bedeckten Zürich!
I’m sorry I missed you in Capetown but it looks like you had a wonderful homecoming! What a fun get-together! I’ve been a course marshall at races, as well at worked at packet pickup. It’s fun. Good for you for volunteering!
Yes, what a shame! I hope the weather in Cape Town wasn’t too bad during your visit. I always feel sorry for tourists when they can’t go up Table Mountain. Or even see it behind all the clouds. I’m looking forward to seeing your photos of the safari!!
Volunteering was so much fun!
Hi Catrina, welcome back to Switzerland. It would be amazing to run with all those wonderful water fountains again.
I haven’t “officially” volunteered at a race. Though I will often stay to the end of a race to cheer the final finishers. I will then ask the directors if they need help packing up. Sometimes they say they have enough help. Sometimes they gladly accept.
I will be officially volunteering this October for the Monarch ultra race and Monarch festival that follows. It will be a lot of fun. Not sure yet what my volunteer role will be.
At a pot luck we bring something gluten free so we know there is something my wife can eat. 🙂
Those water fountains are awesome, Carl! And I even have a number of clean toilets on my route too. I really appreciate it.
Imagine if all runners were like you! We wouldn’t need people to sign up as volunteers – every race would have enough people to take on a task. I think cheering the final finishers is the kindest gesture of all. They deserve to be celebrated, just like the first finishers. Thank you for doing that!
Oh, that sounds exciting! I can’t wait to hear about the Monarch Ultra race. Are you not running it anymore?
Yes, I remember that your wife is heavily allergic to gluten – I bet there are often other guests who are also grateful for that!
Thank you, Catrina. You are very kind.
With the Monarch Ultra, I’m on the executive for it this year. For 2023, we are having 3 races, and each race has a monarch festival that follows. The one in Canada and the United States is just a 10k race, so we can get more participants. The one in Mexico will be a 50k. Hopefully the festivals will raise more awareness of how much the monarch butterfly is declining. 🦋
Ah, I see!
This sounds exciting! I am sure you will get a lot of participants for the 10k races! This is going to be a very busy time for you – it’s a lot of work to organize a race, let alone a festival! But I am sure it will be worth it – the more people that know about the monarch butterfly’s plight, the better!
I usually bring a dessert because that’s my favorite to make!
As for races, I’ve handed out bibs a few times. Doing a water stop would be much harder!
I think I went skiing in Zermatt when I was a tot — does that rhyme? Good luck with the marathon!
The PIA apple pie!! 😉
Doing the bib collection sounds nice! I bet there is a lot of excitement in the air – and it’s less hectic than the water stand!
I think it does rhyme! I remember you told me that once. I guess it was a nicer, more charming little place when you visited it years ago!