ING Marathon Luxembourg 2012

I know, I said that I was going to have a relaxing weekend at home... but then I ended up going out nevertheless. The annual ING Marathon was taking place in Luxembourg City and as it is the second largest street party in Lux (number one being National Day in June), I decided to go along. Not as a runner (sadly) but to cheer on the participants.

The event takes place in the evening and is therefore called the Night Run. Every year you can expect many people out in the streets, locals and from abroad. There are bands and samba musicians performing, you can find numerous food stands serving drinks, waffles, fries and hot dogs. 

Thousands of people had gathered on Kirchberg, the starting point for about ten thousand runners. At 7 pm sharp, the Luxembourg mayor, Xavier Bettel, gave the starting signal.

Below you see traditional food served at popular events in Luxembourg, the Luxembourgish version of the hot dog: Thüringer and Mettwurscht. They have to be eaten with a big layer of mustard.

Despite the good temperatures (20 degrees Celsius, 68 in F), it started raining a couple of hours after the start. Here and there we had to seek shelter. The turnout of people was noticeably lower compared to the previous years. As we realised later, the Champions League final was on (think of it as the equivalent of the Super Bowl in soccer), therefore many people would have stayed at home to watch this.

I had fun though and I'm already looking forward to next year's event. Again as part of the crowd, not as a runner.

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