What do you call a 10 kilometer race through a park in Berlin at night with over 3,500 other people in 45 degree Fahrenheit weather? A rough experience? No, it's called my Friday night.
The Nike 10K "
We Own The Night" race was certainly an experience, one I (nor my muscles) will never forget. Throughout the race, the German military gave us water and cheered us on. This was the first 10K, about 6.22 mile, race I have ever ran. And the fact that I ran it in Berlin, Germany, is definitely a cool thing to be able to say.
I am so happy to have been able to run it with 3 of my great friends, Sarah, Katie, and Meredith. Sarah even came in 6th place overall. UF doesn't pick just anyone to be on their track team, you know.
Despite the freezing cold weather and soreness from the race, I still found a casual walk through a nearby park with our teaching assistant Andrew and Katie enjoyable. We found cool architecture and got to climb to the top of an old German fortress. There was something about this night time walk that eased my mind. I'm not sure if it was the chill atmosphere, the beauty and stillness of the nature around us, or just simply it being a time to clear my thoughts, but that stroll made me feel much better.
The craziness and activity was not gone for long, however. One does not know crazy, in fact, until he or she watches the Champions League final match between 2 German teams in an Irish pub in Berlin. Yes, that is exactly what we did.
I was never really into soccer, but I was really into the environment of the pub, called
Oscar Wilde, on this particular game day. People were comparing this match to the NFL SuperBowl. Me being a football fanatic, I could completely relate to the intensity and importance of this game. Being with about half our study abroad group and just enjoying watching others scream, yell, and cheer was a lot of fun. Oh, and Bayern won!
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