Sun, Sep 6, 2020 - 10K - 01:04:20
10K Müggelturm Lauf with Hannah (01:04:20)
This was our first official public race again after our six Corona-era solo-runs this year (1. Grunewald, 2. Jüterbog, 3. Tempelhofer Feld, 4. Pichelsberg, 5. Erfurt, 6. Tempelhofer Feld), which turned out to be an interesting variant in running, but it's nice to run with other people again.  
 
This race was called the "Lauf in den Frühling," actually one of the two races we were thinking of signing up for in March 2020 until it was cancelled. It was then rescheduled for May, cancelled again, and I saw two weeks ago that after the new regulations they passed here in Germany to allow more people to participate together in outdoor activities, the organizers scheduled it for September 6th with Nachmeldungen only, so Hannah and I decided to take our chance.  
 
The race started at 10:00 but we arrived at 8:00 to make sure we got numbers, which we did with no line (although it filled up quite quickly after that). We brought with us our breakfast and enjoyed it on the banks of the Spree chilling in the warm sun that was rising, listening to the occasional rowing team that would pass on the river, very nice.  
 
The area is a beautiful beach/restaurant/recreation location on the Spree called "Strandbad Wendenschloss" which is connected by a forest with the Müggelsee, hence the name Müggelseeturm which the race trail reached at about 4K after a 2K hill run up to it, a tower which apparently has a wonderful view of the area if you climb to the top.  
 
Hannah was planning to get as close to 01:00:00 again, but the aforementioned 2K hill was quite tough, and even the subsequent downhills weren't enough to help her pick up enough speed, so she settled for a strong 01:04:20 with a classic sprint at the end, which I was actually able to keep up with this time. She also got first in her age division which was a nice consolation prize.  
 
While this event had that feeling of a race-of-yore, it was not without numerous Corona-era stipulations such as obligatory mask-wearing before and after the race, no medals presented to us at the end, and no food (just water) at the 5K refreshment stand. But it was nice to run with hundreds of other people again, about 200 in our 10K, and there was also a 5K and a half marathon which started at the same time, so in total, almost 500 people running together, which I think is the current limit for outdoor events.  
 
We're already looking for a flat and fast 10K to run in October for Hannah to give it another try to break her long-sought one-hour barrier.