Darmstadt 10k

By Gerard Tyrrell

           My first independently planned trip in Germany was a 10k race in Darmstadt. Over the summer, a friend of mine from home who currently studies in Berlin had told me about the first time he ran this race, two years ago when he was living with a host family in Darmstadt. He wanted to run it again this year. Because I was going to be in Heidelberg, we made plans to meet up, stay with his old host family and make a weekend trip for the race. We’d arrive in Darmstadt on Friday, run the 10k on Saturday, and then on Sunday we could travel around the city and hang out. Everything seemed perfect: Darmstadt wasn’t too far from Heidelberg, we’d have a place to stay, we’d get to hang out for a weekend, and I’d be running my first official 10k in another country. As an avid runner, I was particularly excited by this opportunity, and in addition I hadn’t seen my friend much since he moved to Berlin so I was excited to be able to hang out and catch up.

            However, things did not go exactly as smoothly as planned. Shortly before arriving in Germany, I realized my study abroad program had three planned excursions the same weekend that I had planned to stay in Darmstadt for the 10k. As I looked through the semester calendar in disbelief at how many other open weekends we had, I was frustrated that the one weekend that I made plans for had not one, not two, but three excursions. However, I was determined to make this race work and I saw a small window of opportunity; we had our trip to Frankfurt on Friday and trips to Schwetzingen Palace and Speyer on Sunday, but Saturday, the actual day of the 10k, was still free. Frankfurt is not too far from Darmstadt, and I thought that maybe I could go on the excursion to Frankfurt, and afterwards go from there straight to Darmstadt. Then I’d travel back to Heidelberg Saturday night after the race so that I’d be able to make it to our 8:00 am departure to Schwetzingen Palace on Sunday morning. Sure, I’d be reducing my weekend in Darmstadt to only one day and cramming four trips into three days, but that was my best option.

            After a long day in Frankfurt, I split up from the group to go find the Frankfurt train station. As I grabbed my bag and got off the bus, I couldn’t help but question how much I wanted to do this. Here I was, fatigued and finding my way alone in an unfamiliar city to the train station, while everyone else got to relax on the bus and enjoy a peaceful ride back to Heidelberg. However, I knew it’d be well worth it the end, and so I took a deep breath and made my way to the train station. Eventually I met up with my friend, and he introduced me to his host family. I was instantly taken back by their warmth and kindness, which was well appreciated after a long day. I could tell that they were intent on making it a nice, albeit short stay for me: I was delighted to receive home cooked meals, and the family showed me around their city Saturday morning and afternoon before the race. It had a very interesting history, and I was surprised to learn that Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, the last Tsarina of Russia, was born in this little, unassuming city. I was so appreciative of their hospitality that the race seemed more like just another part of the trip rather than the main highlight.

            I learned a lot from this trip. First of all, I learned to stick with my plans and try to make them work even when circumstances aren’t exactly the most cooperative. Even though I was totally exhausted by the end of the weekend, I was still so glad to have had that experience. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I’m currently looking into running another 10k before I leave. I also really enjoyed meeting and spending time with the host family. Not only did this increase my knowledge of German culture, but provided a great opportunity for me to practice my German language skills, which is a huge goal of mine during while studying abroad.

Sources

Gelardi, Julia. (2005). Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria.             New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 5.