October 1st is the 21st annual Marathon in Budapest, Hungary and my friend and fellow PCV Sara is going to be running in the 42 km event. Stuart, another PCV and I are going along to be her personal cheering squad (as well as be tourists).
We will depart from Skopje on Sept 29th, fly to Budapest, have a day of sightseeing and then it’ll be the day of the race. The next day, Oct 2nd, Sara and I will fly back to Macedonia. Stuart is going to continue traveling for a little bit before his return. (I wanted to spend another day sightseeing, as I've heard lots of good things about Budapest from those who have been there, but it didn't work out this time. Ce la vie!)
I can’t wait! Here is what they say at the official Budapest Marathon website:
Budapest, the 'daughter of the Danube' makes you think of the quays of Paris, of Prague's old cobble stone streets, and multi-coloured houses, of Vienna's imperial and art nouveau architecture, of Barcelone's alleys, of London's Parliament and of Lissabon's hills, small winding roads and yellow tramways.
Budapest, the seven bridges and three hills have already won the hearts of the foreign runners. In 2002 more than 2000 foreigners of 41 countries came to discover this charming and mysterious capital.
The contest starts at the imposing Hõsök tere (Heros' Square), which is usually the main meeting-place for skaters and skateboarders, but for a few days in the end of summer thousands of two-legged reconquer the square and admire the 24 sculptures representing important actors of Hungarian history. It's not a coincidence that also Fred Lebow - a Hungarian by origin - wanted the Budapest-Marathon to start here.
The competition is specially attractive because of the city's fascinating beauty - e.g. the Andrássy avenue (part of the Unesco World Heritage), the art-nouveau-style Gresham Hotel, the good old Chainbridge, the Buda Castle (also part of the Unesco World Heritage), the idyllic Margareth Island, the monumental Parlament - all these can be admired by the runners, which really eases the pain on this long distance.
After the contest, the competing can relax their numbed feet in one of the 22 pools of the Széchenyi thermal bath, the most famous spa in Budapest.
The companions can visit the whirling fair next to the start, where they will find a 'sports- and lifestyle' information, showmen, concerts and other various programs. In the evening, a fascinating firework closes the running-festival.
http://www.budapestmarathon.com/eng/marathon/info
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