While we lived in France I thought often about that race, but didn't try very hard to actually make a running of it happen. Did run the Dublin (Ireland) Marathon during our time in France, but really spent more time biking, hiking and skiing while living there and so running took a back seat.
A few months ago I was descending down the rabbit hole of the internet, one event search sparking the dive into another search, and landed upon the Marathon du Medoc. The race with the wine.
Words cannot begin to describe how insanely fun this race looks! First and foremost, the French know how to have fun. We learned straight away while living there that family and recreation are priorities. They embrace their leisure time. Be it a long lunch or a 10 hour randonee through the mountains. Life is to be lived to it's fullest. There is no tomorrow, only today and have no regrets with the choices you have made. So keep that in mind as you imagine a race that has a theme each year (last year it was Aliens and Superheros) and according to the race webpage, 90% of participants dress in costume. That's more than Disney. There is a huge party the night before....making the race a "hair of the dog" thing for many. There are 21 wine tasting stops, charcuterie/hard sausage tastings, oysters, cheese and ice cream and all of these are labeled on the course map along with view points. So you can plan your dining and your kodak moments.
When you finish the race, not only do you get a finishers medal, but a finishers tshirt, a race poster, "surprise gifts" and a bottle of Medoc wine! And there is a BALL that evening in the Marathon Village with more food, wine and fireworks. The next day there is a recovery walk in which you can participate.
There are youtube videos that can do a much better job of bringing to life this crazy cool race better than I have. I highly recommend checking them out. And registration for this year's race (September 13, 2014) opens in February.
No comments:
Post a Comment