How I suddenly wore a start number as a sports muffle
My short marathon career was over ten years ago, but the memory is still deep in my bones. To be in the middle of it instead of just there, everything changes. Especially when you are as unsportsmanlike as I am.
I got into it at the time. The editorial team of the « Luxemburger Word » had enrolled for the Run team – but somehow a runner was missing. I was young and let myself be chatted.
Why my cell phone lives abroad all the time
No sooner said than done. The distance at the time was about ten kilometers. I had never run that far before, but I regularly managed eight kilometers. Nobody had told me that a big event like this is a good kilometer with the mass until it goes over the starting line.
No question, I had to show up to hand over the relay.
Even the huge thunderstorm, which went over us almost ten minutes after the start, had never been mentioned, nor was the subtle but not to be underestimated on the first kilometers over the Kirchberg plateau. And then there was this extreme frustration that you feel when the professionals are already in the other direction.
Long story, short sense: I suffered. But there were two reasons why I didn’t give up. The first was the poor, second relay runner who patiently waited for me at the Victor Hugo Hall. No question – I had to show up there, otherwise I could never let myself be seen again in the editorial team. The second was my dear cousin – big « Merci » at this point – that ran the same stage as I was on to Limpertsberg and thus kept me from the big embarrassment.
Red like a tomato, but a little proud, I somehow made it. And swore to me: never again. And so I’m just watching this weekend. With the lowest respect for all runners, especially the relay runners. And with a good portion of compassion.
From the life of the LW journalists
The “gazettchen” is an informal column in which the authors legally tell about their everyday experiences or even give an insight into their thoughts. This has a long tradition: On December 3, 1946, an opinion with the title « Today » appears for the first time at the top of the side left on the first local side in the « Luxemburger Word ». On January 13, 1971, the « Gazettchen », which has been extremely popular with readers, then became the « gazette », which has kept its Premium-Platz in Luxembourg’s top-class daily newspaper to this day and across all layout.
