Running Geneva

While looking at a calendar of holidays and running races, I realized I had a long weekend at the same time as Geneva would host a marathon...I also realized cloe lives only 20km west of Geneva, just over the French border...it was the perfect chance to see a great friend and run a race...after the ridiculously unorganized race I'd run the weekend before in kyiv, I was super excited about 'Swiss efficiency'...
I flew into Geneva, transiting through Brussels...(that airport does not have free wifi, how annoying)...after landing, I took the free (!!!) train into the city centre, then walked to my hostel...it's been a while since I've stayed in a dorm room of a hostel...

One of my students last year in kyiv has been living in Geneva this year with his mom while she attends school...while getting ready for this trip I made plans to get together with them, just for a catch up...I was able to find their flat, it was nice to hang out and chat for a couple hours...
The next morning took full advantage of the giant breakfast included in the price of my hostel...nothing is cheap in Switzerland, so 'free' breakfast is a great thing...food was served in a large room, filled with people...the hostel houses a lot of people, many more than I thought...there were several floors of dorm rooms...

I replaced my stuff, then found my way to the hotel I'd booked for my next night...finding and getting to that hotel took longer than expected, but I had time...then I went back to the main train station and met Bo as his train arrived...(he'd just spent a few days in garmischers after finishing his job)...
We dropped off his stuff, then used the free public transport for a day passes provided by our hotel to go back into the city centre...Geneva is a financial centre, a classic town, but it isn't particularly picturesque...there are no scenes that make you think wow, Geneva...but it was still nice to walk around...

we picked up dinner from a supermarket, and ate while sitting on a bench near a tree...after more walking we found the chocolate section of a big supermarket...apparently a lot of people buy heaps of chocolate to bring home with them...we saw numerous people with bags and bags of chocolate...I like Swiss chocolate, buuuuuuut...
The next morning Bo and I visited another supermarket to get breakfast...bakeries in Switzerland are soooooo much better than what I've seen in Ukraine...properly baked items...good bread...lovely cream...lots of variety...heaven...

We took the bus into the city centre, and found the English gardens, where the marathon village had been set up...I love this part of a marathon...at an expo you get to see different races, products, gear, etc...and of course the important part of picking up my race shirt and number...the race in kyiv didn't have anything other than race numbers and tshirts, and even that was amazingly unorganized, so I loved Geneva even more...I realized I'd forgotten my running hat, so I bought a hat to wear during the race...(useful both for keeping the sun and sweat out of my face...since I'd signed up for this race a month in advance, my name was printed on my bib number!! :)

We picked up our stuff from the hotel, then went to the train station to meet cloe...we ended up waiting longer than expected, as cloe was coming with her boyfriend, and he was having issues at work...anywho, they rolled up, cloe and I were super excited to see each other again...it had been almost a year since she left kyiv...
Victor drove to Cloe's flat, we got the grand tour, then we had some snacks and chatted...mostly in English, but a few phrases in French, Russian, and Portuguese...good times:)
We walked to the town bakery the next morning for breakfast, cloe lives in a very small town...not surprisingly, my eyes are much bigger than my tummy...oops...anywho, so good...eventually we hopped back in the car, and went to the supermarket...cloe hadn't been in her flat in over a week, so she had very little food...plus, Bo said he would cook dinner that night so he needed ingredients...it was awesome to be in a supermarket with so many choices, and so many products I haven't seen in a while...

Later that afternoon cloe took Bo and I to see the school where she has been teaching this year...fun:)...across the street from the school is a park with a nice walking trail...Bo and I went for a walk, as the weather was lovely...
Dinner by Bo, yum!!
The next morning everyone was up early, we left the flat around 0700...I wanted to arrive 30 minutes before race time and google maps said it would take 30 minutes...we added in extra time in case of detours or getting lost, hee hee...we arrived just when I wanted to arrive:)...I had run half marathons previously, so I knew what was happening...Bo used to race bicycles, but hasn't run distance races...victor and cloe had never seen this sort of event up close...I love the energy during prerace time...some people talk with friends, others stretch...some people do warmups, I just make sure my number is pinned on securely...(ive always hated warmups, even when i was a swimmer...why would you want to use all that energy before the event that counts????)

the race was organized to start in waves, i started out in E section...race time came, the crowd slowly moved forward...I started the GPS/distance gizmo on my iPod nano...eventually I crossed the start line, people spread out a little, the race started and I settled into a good pace...(I hadn't trained at all, so I knew not to go as fast as would have felt okay at the begging of the race)...the course was lovely...half countryside, half city...I got to see fields of bright yellow flowers and a few small villages...everything was well marked, and there were people out cheering everywhere...I loved hearing my name, from people who didn't know me at all!!

Not surprisingly, the last few kilometers were tough...my legs weren't happy, but I still finished with a good kick...the finish was at one end of a bridge, so there is a nice straightaway that is great for trying to sprint the finish...it's also great for people gathered on each side of the street...lots of cheering...awesome...
I saw cloe, Bo, and victor at the beginning if the race, another time in the middle, and again at the finish line...awesome!! They held my bag during the race, and watched all the runners while drinking wine and eating cheese ( cloe is French, after all)...I grabbed treats at the finish line, as well as a couple bottles of water, then walked back to the marathon village with cloe, Bo, and victor...we walked slowly, but I made sure to keep moving the entire time, so my legs didn't tighten up...
After walking around a while, we got back in the car and drive back to Cloe's flat...Bo and I both fell asleep in the back seat, cloe was nice enough to document that with photos of us looking awful:)
After relaxing for a while back in the flat, Bo cooked dinner again...yum, of course...
The next morning cloe had to go back to teaching, Bo came with me to the hospital...I loved the efficiency of checkin and security, I was sad to leave...