Be flexible. A phrase I would silently repeat hundreds of times as we headed overseas to Berlin, Germany. This is where my husband and I would run our first overseas marathon as a duo bike team. One of only five or fewer duo teams out of the 58,000 or so of our closest friends also running.
Speaking of friends, traveling with us to help us were our friends Andy and Michelle. Andy also was running the marathon, and we needed extra hands to help with traveling with the duo bike, plus a plethora of other things we need assistance with. I also had my wheelchair to travel with. They were our travel angels, anticipating every need we had even before we spoke it.
Not only was this our first overseas marathon, but it was my first time traveling overseas. There was a lot of anxiety for me heading into this trip. Saying “yes” to my husband when he asked me if I wanted to complete our fifth marathon together, our fourth world marathon majors, meant there would be a lot of trial and error. Things would not be easy for either of us.
I will spare you all the travel details and what it takes to get our giant bike, wheels, all of us and our luggage to Germany. The good news is, aside from a man who decided to recline in my lap the entire eight-hour flight there, things went exceptionally smoothly. We could not have asked for anything more. My wheelchair also survived all the flights, mostly unscathed. A big win!
If you have ever traveled somewhere where your primary language is not their primary language, you know you need a lot of patience. Most importantly, you must be flexible! Something we had to remind ourselves of as we headed to the expo the day after we arrived to pick up our race bibs. Let’s just say, we may have gotten a little lost on their amazing public transportation, which was free to use for those running the marathon. While it was somewhat accessible, I certainly could not have navigated any of the public transportation without help.
I told my husband that Berlin was not a place where I could live independently as a disabled person. There are too many curbs cutouts that are not smooth. Most have a little lip you must pop up over. Not ideal. Also, I have never appreciated smooth sidewalks more than I have after that trip. It was a bumpy few days.
We knew going into marathon morning that this time, it would be different. As much as we told them we wished it weren’t the case, the race organizers in Berlin did not have a separate start for the duo bikes from the masses of marathoners. That’s something they say they are working to change, and let me tell you, we are going to help push for this change for future duo bikers in Berlin. In all the other marathons we have run, they have started the duo bikes directly after the hand cyclists near the beginning. Doing anything else is downright dangerous for us and the other runners.
So, there we were, in corral C, among the masses. My stomach was in knots. My worst fear was that we would hit a runner with the front wheel of the bike. It would be VERY easy to do with that many runners. Instead of starting us in a safer spot up front, we were required to take out a $2 million insurance policy in the unfortunate event that we would hit someone.
You can imagine that was at the forefront of our minds as we started out. We had done our best to get to the front of our corral, placing ourselves where surely not even the tiniest running body could squeak in between our bike and the barrier separating the corrals. Oh, how we underestimated just how many bodies would somehow strategically place themselves around us to where all I could see were the behinds of the other runners. Let’s just say, I had a unique perspective. One I had never experienced.
Be flexible, I thought, silently cursing my keen sense of smell.
Amy found that her “backseat driving” skills came in handy when helping to direct her husband Jamie as they raced the Berlin Marathon. Be sure to read Part 2 of Amy’s column in next Thursday’s edition of the Hamilton County Reporter. (Photo provided by Amy Shinneman)
As soon as we started, it was clear this would not be a race of enjoyment for either of us. This would be a race that would require laser focus from both of us just to stay safe and keep the other runners from harm. It dawned on me that all those years of “backseat driving” were in fact going to be extremely useful during the next few hours. “Slow down,” “too close, too close,” “Jamie, Jamie, JAMIE!” among my most used phrases that day. Luckily, he appreciated the “backseat driving” more on the racecourse than he does on the highway.
We settled in for what would be a mentally-taxing few hours.
Until next time …
Amy Shinneman is a former National Ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, disability blogger, wife, and mom of two boys. You can find her blog at humblycourageous.com and reach her on Instagram @ashinneman.