Good to the Last Drop

So with parenthood and all its sacrifices and responsibilities looming we've enjoyed the last few days of going out to especially take advantage of this last bit of pre-baby time. Yesterday evening we visited good friends Rick and Kara at their new apartment in a neighbouring town to Dresden. It just so happened to be the day that a crazy type of marathon was going on, and it was taking place along a small stretch of hill and stairs a mere two minute walk from their apartment, so we had to check it out. It turns out that the 250 meter course, when run 100 times, equals the altitude change and distance of climbing Mt. Everest-! Now who decided to figure that out is my biggest question! But then my second biggest question is what would drive these (mostly) men to run this course, comprised of mostly stairs, 100 TIMES! They started yesterday afternoon at 4pm and we heard that the record holder completed it last year in something like 14 hours--which means yes, they run straight through the night! Another thing I was pondering, I mean, why don't they just start at 6 or 7am instead of having to spend so much of the race in the dark? Hmm. The four of us North Americans stood cheering amongst the otherwise silent spectators, which got plenty of smiles from the runners and a few from the quiet bystanders. We later hopped in the car and drove to the top of the course, continuing to cheer and encourage, which got surprised reactions from many of the runners who obviously recognized we were the same loud people from the bottom of the course. After passing the refreshment table, one runner even gave me a small candy as he ran by as if to thank us for our support! The course is pretty short--the race is all about repetitions (I mean 100 times, come on!)--so we started to find our favorite runners who would always smile or joke with us in some way everytime they passed. Anyway, it was truly a random and fun way to spend part of our evening last night and I'm so glad we have this last bit of time to soak in being a "couple" before parenthood and family life is upon us. And when we had first arrived at the top of the course to continue cheering we also had the awesome chance to lookout over the lights of Dresden and even see some fireworks off in the distance--plus, the stars were so brilliant and we even spotted a couple satellites! Thank you God for giving us such wonderful opportunities!