Marathon Memories - Spijkenisse Marathon

Marathon # 52 - A Report

Spijkenisse Marathon just happened.  I did not plan for it and in fact had mentally closed my mind to marathons this year after Chicago.  In fact, I even decided not to run Shahid Ultra, though much tempted.  Then my travel came and the Spijkenisse marathon happened... Read on..

Mannetjes op de krom (roughly meaning Males on the crooked according to Google Translate)  in the Spijkenisse square

When it became clear that I will have to stay back in Sweden over the weekend,  I found this marathon in Netherlands and decided to give it a shot.  Fortunately, all stars aligned and I was able to pull this one off.  I was able to spot, plan, travel and run  this marathon, all in a span of 5 days.

Getting to Spijkenisse was a marathon journey in itself.  I woke up in the wee hours of Saturday and trekked across three countries to reach my destination.  Helsingborg (SE) - Helsingor (DK)- Copenhagen - Amsterdam (NL) - Rotterdam - Spijkenisse.  Door to door it took me 7 hours and the return trek was even more laborious after the marathon.  But, the weekend of packed and I enjoyed every minute of it.. (ok.. ok.. I see you grinning.. just most of it.. I swear.)

There was no Expo, no fanfare.  The bibs were distributed just prior to the run on the race day.  I trooped in to a small hall were the runners, organizers, family, kids and dogs were all milling around.  Though there weren't many signs (none in English), it was easy to figure out what needed to be done and I got them through in a breeze.  After getting suited up for the run, I looked around for the 'baggage counter' and there was none.  When I asked a volunteer for it, she gave me 'that look' and said "simply leave your bag here and it will be here when you come back.".  No tag, no counter, no nothing.. but simply a system called trust.

Start and finish was at a stadium on an olympic spec astro turf.  300 odd FM runners milled around before being flagged off, sharply at 11:00 AM.  We were made to do one loop inside stadium to spread the runners and make it easy for us to get on to the narrow country side roads.

It was sunny but cold and breezy.  When we started it was around 4C and I don't think the needle went any higher.  However, I was going at a good clip and in fact was ahead of the 4:15 bus till about 21k.  But, I slacked little bit hoping to catch the 4:30 bus which never came.  Interestingly, 4:15 was the last bus.  No wonder the cut off time was 5 hours.

After 22+ kms, I kept asking 'why does my feet hurt'?  I tried playing various mind games to keep it at bay but at one point I just wanted throw in the towel and throw my shoes in the all pervasive canals.  This run was yet another reminder that my PF is still around.  Like diabetes, once PF gets hold of you, it doesn't leave you.  You can best hope to contain it, but it will rear its ugly head any time and mostly in inopportune times..

One of my mantra is Running is always better with company.. and I believe, would have fared better here, if there were more runners.  It may have motivated me to run better with them.  But, I mostly ran by myself and without that external stimuli and PF, my system slowed down automatically.  Nevertheless, I did finish my marathon #52 at 4:43:40.  According to the published results, I was placed 249 with 10 more runners finishing after me.  A look the results seem to indicate that the 5:00 hour cut off was indeed enforced.

As I was heading out, met this guy.  We ran the last km together and we finished almost together.  His name is Hans Bui (63) and he is one of the top marathoners of Netherlands.  He has run 525 marathons in the last 20 years.  Hold your breath, he is not the top guy, the top guy has apparently run 800+ marathons..  Beats me as to how someone could run so many marathons, but then encounters like this puts things in perspective.. Take a bow..

I don't seem to get it right with Garmin.  The best Garmin for me was forerunner 305.  I cycled through 3 of them.  But after that, it was all downhill.  After a disastrous stint with forerunner 410, I recently moved to 620 hoping to like it like 305.  But not liking it yet.  Yesterday, my Garmin 620 abruptly froze, at exactly 38K.  It simply froze and refused to budge.  Fortunately, it was the Garmin that froze and not me.. (This reminds me to do a separate post on Garmin 620 in the coming days.. one of these days.).

More photos of Spijkenisse here
More photos the Spijkenisse Marathon here

Tags - Marathon, Running, Spijkenisse, Netherlands, Travel, Travelogue #71

How I chose Spijkenisse Marathon?

When my mobile phone alarm dutifully rang at 6:30 AM today morning, It took me a few moments orient myself.. Where am I? Why am I not in my bed?  Why are the surroundings feel new?  No, I was not drunk and it is not the feeling from hangover.  But, the fact of the matter is that with so much travel, I get this kind feeling whenever travel gets to me.

It was still dark outside and for that matter it is 9:00 AM now and the Sun is thinking of coming up on this cold Sunday here.  That brought me the question of what am I doing at Spijkenisse?

Whenever business travel shows up in the radar that includes a weekend stay, I reach out to Google to look for nearby marathons.  Finding one that suits many of my requirements is not always easy.  It has to near, easy to register and more importantly easy on my wallet etc.  Many times I don't find one.  Those weekends are hard.  I would end up just vegetating in the room.

This time around, my first preference was to find a run in Southern Europe.  I did find one Italy, but it was impossible to swing it in the few days I got to register and make travel arrangements.  After a few eliminations like the above, Spijkenisse was the only one left on the table.  After getting over the language hump, I hit a payment wall.  They took only international bank transfer and I couldn't do it.  Fortunately, few emails exchanges with the organizers took care of it.

Once I got the registration confirmed, I looked for air tickets to Rotterdam and got a sticker shock.  First there were no direct flights from Copenhagen and second the ticket prices were exorbitant.  Here again, Google helped.  It gave me tip to fly to Amsterdam and take a train to Rotterdam.  With that single cue, flood gate of options opened up.  More non-stop options showed up on my search and the prices were 50% cheaper than the earlier ones.

With that, here am I in Spijkenisse getting ready for my 52nd marathon.  This is going to be one of the smallest marathons I have run.  Organizers are expecting around 300 FMers.  This is going to be one of the coldest marathon I have run as well.  Sun is just starting to peek through the clouds and temperature now is 3C with a high predicted to be at 5C.

A word about the Atlas Hotel, Spijkenisse guys.  They are pretty accommodative to the runners.  They have about 25+ runners at the hotel and have allowed us late checkout till 6:00 PM today.  Besides that accommodated my request for early check-in (and free breakfast) yesterday.  Thank you Atlas Hotel for your friendly atmosphere and accommodating runner needs.

Now off to the run friends... See you soon

Tags # Spijkenisse, Netherlands, Marathon, Running, Travel, Travelogue #70

Free Wifi in Helsingborg

When traveling, free wifi is god sent.  While more and more places are starting to offer, it is still a rarity...

Free wifi zone near Karnan, Helsingborg.  It looks like the Chennai poster plasters have gone there too...!!!!

So, when I saw this in Helsingborg, near Karnan, I was thrilled.  I immediately, whipped out my phone and connected.  Unlike the 'free wifi' in Chennai airport, this did work and worked well where available.

This map, pulled from a website shows the wifi spots available in any given area and its coverage.  It allows you to zoom in to see exact coverage for a particular area.

I falsely assumed citywide wifi coverage and soon realized that was not the case.  The wifi connection kept dropping as I moved around the city.  Then I learned that, the wifi coverage is not citywide after all and only available at specific locations.  Nevertheless, made best use of it, when and where it was available.

Tags - Travel, Helsingborg, Sweden, Travelogue #69

சிங்களத் தீவினிற்கோர் பாலம் அமைப்போம்

சிங்களத் தீவினிற்கோர் பாலம் அமைப்போம்

Helsingborg is a small town with less than 100k population, but its economy is booming due to open borders.   The frequent ferry service to the Danish sister city, Helsingor seems to the catalyst that has made this small Swedish town humming.  

From Google Maps

Oresund strait is pretty narrow and because of that, Helsingborg and the ferry connectivity has become a key commercial hub.  In fact, on a clear day, you could see the city on the other side and giant ferries are waiting to take you across in 15 minutes.

Constant stream of vehicles drive to the belly of the ferry to be transported across to Denmark.

The ferries that ply across are massive, they gobble up hundreds of trucks, cars, bicycles and passengers.  It's pretty much open borders on both sides with little or no control.  I am sure there are plenty of cameras capturing movements at multiple places, but that's about it.

Truck seen here and plenty more like this just drive in to the ferry with little or no border control to continue driving in the Danish side.

சிங்களத் தீவினிற்கோர் பாலம் அமைப்போம்.....
India and its neighbors just concluded their SAARC meeting Nepal with little or nothing to show.  At this time, open borders amongst SAARC countries is a pipe dream, though there is a strong underlying cultural and historical linkage.

If Europe, a continent ravaged and bitterly divided by two world wars can bury their hatchet and come together for the collective good of their people, There is no reason why Bharthiyar's dream shouldn't become a reality.. but will it?

Tags - Helsingborg, Sweden, India, Travel, Travelogue # 68

Bicycle to work

Bicycle to work

My workplace in Chennai is less than 2km from my home.  I tried bicycling to work couple of times and gave up. Inconsiderate traffic, pollution, humidity and the need to lug a backpack all combined colluded against me my desire to bicycle to work.

But, that is not the case in Helsingborg.  The weather, infrastructure & traffic are all conducive for folks to pick up the keys of bicycles instead of their cars.  Even in this small town with less 100k population, there are separate lanes for bicycle everywhere.

From train stations to bus stops to shopping centers, all are bicycle friendly.  They have ample place to park as well hire bicycles if needed.  

 At work, bicycle parking is closer to office entrance than the car parking lot.  Even in the single digit weather of this Scandinavian town, I see plenty of folks coming to work by their own pedal power.  It was gratifying to see several of colleagues from India, staying here long term, coming in bicycles.

Pedal power (combined with public transport) is the perfect solution for our traffic woes in Chennai.  Everybody knows it.. but nothing is moving on the ground.. like Chennai traffic..:-(

Tags - Helsingborg, Sweden, Travel, Travelogue # 67

Want directions to Office in a new city? - Simply look for turning torso..

Recently, I travelled to our offices in a different city with the Turning Torso as the only landmark.  Wonder how?  Read on..

Earlier this week, I was asked to come to Office in a different city.  When asked for directions, I was simply told "Really easy, Look for the white tower and our office is right across from that'.  Besides the printed directions in Swedish, this all the directions I got for visiting our offices in Malmo, Sweden.  Though, I was a little skeptical, it wasn't all that difficult.

Took a train from Helsingborg to Malmo.  I looked up the schedule on net, knew the time, price & platform.  Armed with this information, getting to comfortable confines of the train was a breeze.  Though free wifi was available, it was spotty at best.  But that was enough for me to catch up with whatsapp messages and FB.

Malmo is a small little town, in the southern most tip of Sweden.  Besides housing the tallest building in Nordics, it also boasts of the longest bridge linking Sweden to Denmark across Oresund Strait.  My colleagues tell me that, the bridge has given a new lease of life to the city.  Since the bridge opened, more Danish folks started moving to Malmo due to cheaper real estate.  Live in one country and work in another.. what a concept.  I seen similar phenomenon between Evian, France and Lausanne, Swiss as well.  This must be happening all across Schengen countries.

Looking at this no hassle travel across most of the EU countries, I wonder what it would take to have open borders with of India's neighbors... That would be quite something isn't it?  But I also know the reality that, that quite something that would not happen in my lifetime.  (Enough of dreaming.. Get back to blog!!!)

As I stepped out of the Malmo station, there it was, the tallest tower in Nordics in its all twisted glory, standing tall.  With the Twisted Tower as my beacon, I walked for about 20 minutes and voila, landed where I needed to go.  More on the Twisted Tower here.

More pictures of Malmo here

A short clip

Tags - Travel, Sweden, travelogue #66

Sweden - Cashless Society?

I don't know the definition of a true cashless society, but I didn't have to touch cash for any purpose in the last 4 days, here in Sweden.  In fact, I needn't have purchased Swedish Krona from Western Union, shelling out a heavy commission.  (They charge SEK 50 per transaction.)

(picutre source - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp9r0wtRHOLZak1OxiIFUTN7C53PWC0gq5jK8lsT9DN28cO4ytM3ECzZBDGMCaIUV0W5vaW_NsHXS9125X_4xrMML76OQ3NBGYyNpLkt65XA1sQB8O-CkBEJ7Ie-f65U7oZkraGw/s1600/geen+geld.jpg)

From train stations, convenient stores to fast food restaurants,  all accept cards for transactions of any value.  The only prerequisite is a chip embedded card with two factor authentication.  (Interestingly, my US citi bank issued card doesn't carry a chip but all my India cards do).

There is lot of talk in India about black money and bringing back monies stashed in Swiss Banks.  One way to stop the growth of black money would be to make card transactions easier and prohibiting cash transactions over INR 1000.

Tags - Travel, Sweden, Travelogue #65