Back Home Again

The end of summer vacation came about all too quickly.  This was my first one in several years and although I really enjoyed the time off, it left me wanting more.  Martina and Karl drove up to our place in Edmonton after dropping off their rental motorhome.  They stayed with us for a week and we really enjoyed their company once again.  In some ways it felt like we had just seen them a short time ago... both when they were here in Canada several years ago, and again when we visited Austria at Christmas in 2007.  We cooked great meals together and went out for dinner a couple of times.  I was back to work through this entire week, but Margarit and the girls were able to spend the days and the evenings with them.  On Sunday the 19th of August Karl was running in the Edmonton marathon.  Martina and I got up really early that morning and drove Karl to the starting line at Northlands Park.  We were down there by about 6:00AM, with the race starting at 7:00AM.  The 42km course wound through downtown Edmonton, over through the Glenora neighborhood, down through Valleyview, back through downtown, east to Rundle Park, and then finishing back at Northlands.  It was nice and cool in the morning but the forecast was for it to be quite warm by afternoon.  I think Karl was grateful for the early start.  After the race got started, Martina and I drove over to St. Georges Crescent and waited for the runners to come by.  There were several thousand participants in three categories... full marathon, half marathon, and walking marathon.  Karl was running the full race.  All sorts of people taking part in this one, even a guy in a gorilla suit.  After Karl passed us on St. Georges Crescent, we drove home and picked up the girls.  Then we all headed back over to Northlands to try and catch the finish.  Martina, Hailey and I walked a few blocks into the course to cheer Karl on as he neared the end.  Margarit and the two younger girls waited near the finish line.  Karl struggled with some cramping and sore knees, not really thrilled with his time of just over 4-1/2 hours.  The rest of us were all really impressed that he managed to finish the race.  Too much beer and little opportunity for training over the past few weeks probably didn't help the cause.  

A couple days later we had to sadly say our goodbyes as we saw Karl and Martina off on their return trip home to Austria.  It was so nice to see them again and they are so comfortable to be around.  We look forward to a time when we can visit them in Austria... but we want to wait a couple years until the girls are just a little older and can get a bit more out of the trip.  Karl and Martina are planning to return for another visit in two or three years...   We can hardly wait...