Marathon du Medoc

Marathon du Medoc yuhuuuu! Thank goodness we arrived earlier, 'cos about 8000 peeps were arriving to Medoc and you can imagine the traffic jam. The marathon this year had a sci-fi theme, so almost everyone was wearing costumes and makeups like avatar, aliens, pirates, star wars, even dressed as chewbacca. SO funny that one, he kept roaring at the others. The Indonesia team are wearing a Pandawa costume based on a Hindu mythology from Indonesia. Dad was Yudhistira, the oldest and forgiving one. The weather was OK, but a bit chilly, and the wind was freezing. I didn't run, I just took pictures and cheered the runners.

The marathon started at maybe 9.30, and before it started the MC said something in French and the crowds all began clapping and cheering. There were 3 huge air ball in the sky, and all operated by dancers and professionals. When it finally started, all were jogging around us. So this is marathon. Because there was an elder with us, so we decided to take a shortcut, and we saw one of our Indonesian team who is Kenyan, competing with two other men in 20 km. They all ran so freaking fast, and the police motorbike in front of them were forced to open the way quicker. So we decided to go with the route while waiting our other team catch up.

We saw a lot of nationalities: French (why of course, every chateaus in Bordeaux all picked a team to run), German, British, American, Kenyan, and I also saw Asian like Japanese, Korean, Chinese Mainland, and also Taiwanese. I cheered for like 3 languages: in French which is "Aller! Aller! Aller!", in Mandarin "加油 Jiayo! Taiwan jiayo!" and also Japanese "Ganbatte!"

The people also cheered and clapped, and I don't know why, the scenes were very touching. It was like they all cheered the runners from their heart, suddenly I felt so warm at that time, and OMG I don't know why I'm tearing right now. The children's hands were ready to give them hi-fives. I also gave them hi-fives, and the runners' hands were so sweaty. Hahahaha. I love to cheer for the Taiwanese. I always feel like Taiwan is my second home, and every time I shouted "台灣加油 Taiwan JIAYOU!" they were all looked happy and pumped up, despite they still had a long way to go. I felt so grateful to be there, and when every runner replied a simple merci, thanks, arigatou, and Xiexie, I felt a surge to cry from happiness LOL.

Every chateau that was passed by the running route all provide a tent of food and drinks, including banana, bread, cheese, milk, water, and the most luxurious of all, wine and oyster. The locals were participated by handing the runners drink and food, but I think there should be more garbage bins, 'cos we saw lots of empty glasses and bottles beside the road and they wrecked the scenery. The locals must be exhausted by gathering all the litters.

So we waited at 25 km, near a corner to wait for our Indonesian team. I waited a long time and kept taking pictures, and finally I saw one person, wearing a black and silver costume, who is my Dad. And almost immediately I shouted, "PAPI! PAPI!" He looked surprised and happy to see us, and my camera clicked so many times. He also brought his camera so he took a picture with us. He has this hobby to run and click, taking pictures as he run with the other runners or locals. He said that the other team mates all behind him, but we didn't see them for a long time, so we head back to the finish line. Oh I forgot to explain the route. It was like the number 8, so the starting point and the finishing point were near.

We arrived at the finishing point, and I separated from them to wait for my dad. It was freezing that day, I only wore a dry-fit shirt and a short pants, and no jacket. My jacket was in the bus, and the girls were on the way from Bordeaux shopping. Damn. I cursed them in my heart, but still waiting. The clock in the finishing line showed almost 5 hours, but still no sign of him. I started to wonder, had he give up? But I didn't think he's a quitter, and at last, in 4 hours 59 minutes, he showed up with a smile on his face, and finally passed the finish line just 28 second before the time marked 5 hours. Later he said he got leg cram in kilometer 38 and walked a little, then ran again. But I was glad he's OK, and finished his marathon.