Running on Rhodes

Granddaughter Nels ran a half marathon last weekend on the Greek island of Rhodes. 

She has been training for weeks, running up Poros hills and through Athens streets. 

A half marathon is a long trek of 21.097 kilometres and runners have 3 hours to finish. 

Rhodes

Coming into land

The course starts and ends in the centre of Rhodes Town and begins at 7.30 am. You have to be a serious athlete to start competing at this early hour. 

The weather was perfect for running. No April showers.  Blue skies all the way, along the coast and through the historic town

Running past ancient city walls

🎶,🎵 The leader of the pack 🎶🎵🎶

🧿🧿🧿

It did start raining unfortunately after the race and spoiled their celebrations.  

They didn't dance in the streets but eating lamb chops and sticky sweets at a taverna doesn't sound too bad. 

The day before they're told to eat lots of carbs, pizza and pasta to build up their stamina. 

A wonderful diet but the only problem is you have to run 20 kilometres to burn it all off. 

Nels was very happy with her first half marathon and finished in under 2 hours

Here she is on the left with the rest of her team after receiving her medal

She said it was terrific, an unbelievable experience. 

Her next goal of course is a complete marathon, 42.19 kilometres. 

Meantime at the beginning of May she'll be running a 10k race around Poros. She's run that before and I'm sure this time she will be leaving the rest behind to eat her dust. 

She and her sister Poppi participate in the yearly athletic happening Poros Sea.  Their mother and father and brother run the 5k race. 

I'll be there to cheer them on.  I was hoping one day to run 5ks with them. I can walk 5 Ks easy enough but run that far?  It might take a bit more energy than I can conjure up. 

But never say never! 

We could have a multinational family team. I have nephews and nieces in NZ and Australia who run for fun. And niece Niki who's goal is also to run a marathon. 

The island of Rhodes was the site of the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. 

Nowadays it's a popular tourist destination. It has beautiful beaches, many ancient ruins and the old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site.