Ein besonderer Blick auf den Rheinmarathon

Der Düsseldorfer Rheinmarathon lebt nicht nur von sportlichen Leistungen und schnellen Zeiten, sondern auch von den Menschen, die aus ganz Europa zu uns kommen und gemeinsam ein außergewöhnliches Rudererlebnis teilen. Wie unsere internationalen Gäste den Marathon erleben, macht den besonderen Charakter unserer Veranstaltung aus.

Monica, Kat, Linda und Mandy reisten aus Großbritannien an, um sich als neu zusammengestellte Mannschaft ihrer ersten Ruder-Marathon-Herausforderung zu stellen. In ihrem persönlichen Bericht erzählen sie von Aufregung, Anstrengung und Begeisterung – und davon, was den 55. Düsseldorfer Rheinmarathon für sie zu einem unvergesslichen Erlebnis gemacht hat.

Wir freuen uns, ihre Eindrücke mit euch teilen zu dürfen.

- Long, Hard and Legendary – Our First Düsseldorf Rhein Marathon

We arrived form the UK a couple of days before to acclimatise and spend some time together as a crew. We thought that would be wise since essentially we were a scratch crew training separately in Scotland and St Ives, England. None of us had done a rowing marathon before so we were all excited and a little daunted too. And this is a proper one, already in its 55th year and well established, the Düsseldorf Rhein Marathon is a 42.8km yearly rowing event popular by rowers from Germany and abroad looking to compete over a longer distance.

Referred to by the organisers as ‘long, hard, and legendary’, its really not for the faint hearted, weather conditions have varied greatly from year to year and water levels too. This year’s challenge was an unusually low water level, which required us to row closer to the middle and potentially closer to larger vessels passing us. However, we were in safe hands. Allocated a licensed cox for the event, we were lucky to have Arno Ehlting steering our boat with much calm and encouragement. 

On the day of the race we were all excited and attempting to stay calm bearing in mind that that was our first rowing marathon ever. However, there was absolutely no need to be worried. The whole event is so well organised and each boat supported by friendly volunteers. Shuttle buses took us in the morning at 7am from Düsseldorf to the start in Leverkusen. There, the boats were all waiting for us and each crew prepared theirs, rigging it, adding seats and adjusting footplates. Oh, and the traditional plastic tape added to the sides of the boat to prevent too much water entering. Luckily that wasn’t an issue this time round since the sky was blue and the Rhine calm and not choppy.    

As for the race, wow what an experience, an unfamiliar river, not knowing exactly how our bodies would deal with that distance of rowing, how to remain focused with each stroke as we got more tired. It was a challenge, but then, that was expected, and after 3 hours and 17minutes we arrived at the finish, relieved and happy and proud of our achievement as first-timers. Luckily, a handful of lovely volunteers carried our boat up the hill and we only had to drag ourselves up. A refreshing tasty cold local beer handed to each of us by our wonderful cox Arno rounded off this most amazing experience. 

Hats off to Ruderclub Germania Düsseldorf 1904 and all their volunteers for pulling this off so smoothly each year. Can’t wait for the next one. 
Monica (Clyde ARC), Kat (Hornets), Linda (Chesterton RC) and Mandy (Clyde ARC)   

Article prepared by Monica Griesbaum - Oct 26