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Cresting down the hill, I saw it. A hunter dragging a gutted deer to his car. Panic hit and my brain told my feet to go a little faster. My shoes stepped in blood, and I passed the hunter’s Volkswagen quickly to continue down the forest road towards the turn around point back to my house. The sight for me was a first. I had never been hunting, let alone seen a freshly killed deer. It was a story that I quickly recounted to my husband when I got home and it is still a memory burned into my brain.
This isn’t the only memorable running story I’ve gained from living in Germany. As a runner, I have many, but running here I’ve noticed there are a lot of things that are different than the States. Here are five of them.
Races are SUPER cheap
One of the first races I ran in Germany cost 10 euros, and that’s because I didn’t have my own timing chip. And I rarely ever pay for races above that amount, especially if it’s a small Lauf.
Most small, local races charge under 10 euros to run. This usually means there is no timing chip, minimal water stops, and you are out in what feels like the middle of nowhere Germany. But the races are fun and different than in the States. I’ve run around a muddy cross country course on my birthday, and up a mountain on Christmas Eve where received a present at the finish (by the way, the course was BRUTAL).
If you are looking to run longer races, marathons or half-marathons, the entry fee is usually less than 50 euros (though this is not true for some of the bigger races like Amsterdam or Berlin). For example, the Kaiserslautern half-marathon was 12 euros in 2016. The only one I’ve paid a lot for is Disneyland Paris — but that is because it is Disney.
You need your own timing chip
When timing chips first came available, one of the goals was that every runner would need them to run a race. However, technology changedand you can now have small trackers in your race bibs or looped on your shoes.
This isn’t a technology that Europe has seemed to embrace. If I had my own timing chip during that first race, the entry fee would have been 8 euros, not 10. At most races, you can pay a deposit for a timing chip, and when you get 2-5 euros back for you return it the company’s timing chip. However, I went ahead and spent 20 euros at Runner’s Point for my own chip, so that I would not have to worry about returning one at the end of the race.
You find history everywhere
One of the greatest things about running in the KMC (or Germany in general), is finding history on your runs. Like the Roman sacrificial pond in Landstuhl, or Word War II bunker in Kindsbach, or what looks to be old Schwimmbad between Landstuhl and Haupstuhl. This list for me is ever growing.
Just last week, I found the fountain at the beginning of Wildparke in Kaiserslautern. My first thought was why is this here, yet everyone I asked could not give me an answer.
Finding a restroom is 10 times harder
One of the best things about running the National Mall in D.C. is the number of bathrooms you have readily available on your run. I mean there’s the Jefferson, Lincoln, and Washington Monuments. All have bathrooms I’ve used at some point, and all are free and clean.
In Germany, it is 10 times harder to find a restroom when on a run. You don’t know if they are going to charge, and I don’t normally bring change with me to even use one. Though now writing this article, I might. And sometimes the gas station or restaurant you come across, you may need a key when you are already doing the watusi. Thankfully, this hasn’t been a problem. But I’m sure one day it could/will be.
Oh, the trails
Living in the DMV for 3 years caused me to run a lot of trails, whether it was Lake Accotink in Springfield or Great Falls park, I was always drove to one on the weekends. And it was a joy.
But here in Germany, I don’t have to drive. I can head out my door and within a mile be on dirt on the way to the castle in Landstuhl, or up to LRMC. I no longer need drive 30-45 minutes for a good trail to run on, it’s basically at my door.But if you want to drive, you can. There are trails everywhere for miles. Some of them aren’t easy and it’s going to be running rock stairs and almost vertical inclines, but to me that’s the fun in trail running.
