On April 28, just eight days before leaving for the World War II study abroad program, I ran the Glass City Marathon as my second marathon ever. When I left I knew that it would take me a week or two for my body to recover from the Glass City Marathon, but I also knew I wanted to try and run at least once in every country we visited in the free time we had on our itinerary. At the time it felt like a tragedy when I realized I had left my AirPods in my mom’s car when she dropped me off at Detroit International Airport. Adjusting to the five hour time difference and still dealing with incredibly sore feet prevented me from going on my first run until our last day in London, but it was still an unforgettable experience. Only a quarter mile run from our hotel was Kensington Park containing Kensington Palace, the former residence of Princess Diana. The park had small dirt running trails, which are much softer to run on, that accompanied all of the concrete walk ways and even veered off on their own at points which created an amazing experience, especially for my legs that were still a little torn up.
Photo of Kensington Palace I took on my run through Kensington Park.
After London, we went to Bayeux, which in comparison to the other four cities on our itinerary is an incredibly small town with 12,000 residents, which reminded me of small hometown. At home, I frequently run the same four and half mile loop around my entire town running on a bike path and the sidewalks I was able to do the same in Bayeux, which really speaks to the small size of the town. I woke up at 6:30am permitting experience the city entirely to myself, except for a duo of trash workers, in a way that felt much more personal than any of the other cities. I took pictures of the towns stunning Bayeux Cathedral to share with my mom without having to worry about someone else getting into my picture. From Bayeux we bussed to Paris; my least favorite of the five cities to run in because we were some distance from any of park that I could run in. What made up for the lack of greenery, was the amazing architecture that existed everywhere. It seemed like I ran by breathtaking buildings, especially churches, everywhere I went. I was also stunned by the amount of extremely well done and creative street art that dotted what seemed to be everywhere. Paris might be the city of love, but for me it is the city of art, especially street art.
Graffiti I found that caught my eye while on a run since it is physically popping out from the wall.
Right next to our hotel was the Old Town Center which is entirely circled by Planty Park. The park was only around 2.5 miles around and not very wide, but was an experience I wish I could experience again in the States. During entire route I was stunned by the beauty of the park, and was able to see dozens of buildings with stunning architecture, and even unexpectingly took me by the beautiful Wawel Castle. We again coached to Berlin, where I searched on Apple Maps trying to find landmarks near our hotel and I saw the May 10, 1933 Nazi Book Burning Memorial was within running distance. This memorial was very impactful for me and since I ran there on my own I was able to stop and have a personal moment of reflection.
Nearby a plaque reads “Where they burn books, they eventually burn people.”
– Heinrich Heine 1820-21
In memory of where Nazi university students burned 20,000 books by Jewish authors including Heinrich Heine’s works.
On the way back I experienced beautiful views of the Berlin Cathedral, the Berlin TV Tower, and the river Spree. Overall, I am eternally grateful that I left my AirPods in my mom’s car at the Detroit Airport because it allowed me to experience these cities without the distraction of a podcast spewing out information or music blasting in my ears, allowing me to take in the noise of the environment around me and feel grounded. The opportunity to run in these five cities has allowed me to just experience the city better and gave me a deeper appreciation for what it is like to actually live my life abroad, not just visit.
By: Mat Jackson