On the one-year anniversary of my previous marathon, it was finally time for the magical 42.195 kilometers again. The involuntary long break is due to surgery and several injuries. The new experience of a lifetime was the “Lost City Marathon” in Mexico. It was a fantastic day, but also a hard day. We started at 7 o’clock where the first three kilometers took us through the archaeological part of Palenque. There were stairs so it was almost like being at “The Great Wall” in China. Then we came to a relatively flat section with gravel uneven roads. After 15 kilometers we came to the section of trail that was hilly and muddy. I found a stick I could lean on in the most difficult places, just as with it I could test whether I could safely put my feet in certain places or whether I would plant my shoes in mud. Four times we had to cross the river with water up to our ankles. It was five very difficult kilometers. After the trail section, we had to climb a long way up a steep and hilly area. At the top, we got a wristband, after which we had to go back down. Now there were 10 kilometers to go, but in the sun behin extremely hot sunshine and without shade. I cramped my thigh a bit and therefore decided to take care of myself. I had previously fallen in a relatively harmless place. It looked bad with a lot of blood, but it wasn’t so bad now. I was in good time in terms of getting to the finish line on time, so I chose to go at a brisk trot and never had any problems with the time. I only had my sights set on getting to the finish line before the magical 8 hours. I didn’t want to force anything, but I wanted to reach the finish line whole and happy. I did that too 10 minutes before the time limit. It was an eventful day in a cultural area with happy local people on the route and animals of various kinds. The route offered 1000 meters of ascent and about 30 degrees. It was my marathon number 79 in country number 24, spread over all continents.
