EPIC Marathon

Today I (Henrik) decided to run the Epic Crew Half-marathon in Palma. The route was not really marked out, but the directions was pretty easy: follow the bike trail, or the water, it's almost the same. First through the port, pass airport with airplanes flying over your head and then run alongside all the nice little beaches and all the way to the 'German beach', where supposedly there are only Germans residing (which was true judging by the numerous beer tents we passed). Anyway, after that there is a turning point where Steffen, the instrument tech from Blue Man Group, is waiting with the second water point (the first one was after 10km). When you have turned around, after the last 4km there will be a Norwegian cruise line tent which is the finish line.

I followed Andy (a blue man) a couple of kilometers, but after a while I was warm and feeling good so I took the lead. After the turning point I started to meet all the other runners going the other way which was very pleasant, and after 1h 39min I actually won the whole thing. Although we were only 12 people or so that ran it, but still. I had been training for several weeks though, starting at 10km going up to do 12 and even 16km some times.

Here's a photo of the 'medalists' (no actual medals though) with the Captain of the ship who had come to the finish line on his bike, going maybe half of what he usually does in every port. From the left: Inez/Shakira, me/Dolce, Sverre/Captain and Andy/Blue man. The flags are ours, Sofia and Bea literally just made it by the bus when I finished. Captain Sverre actually mentioned the marathon in his daily speech over the PA system to the guests at dinner time, we were dining and were very amused by this!

Sofia didn't run so she didn't finish, but she's Finish nevertheless!

/Henrik

You know you’re working on the Epic when…

…you use the term ‘how are you’ as you say Hi in Scandinavia.

…you do the laundry on a ‘sea day’ because everybody else is working those days.

…you forget to tip your steward this week too (he’ll get it all next week).

…you hurry to crew bar to get the last order at 1.30am.

…you wake up to the general emergency alarm every Tuesday at 10am – seven short blasts followed by one long, equivalent in length to the last note of Händel’s Hallalujah choir.

…you’re always too late for breakfast. A cup of coffee will have to do, pizza lunch is not too far away.

…1-2am seems like a perfectly normal time to practice.

…you spend a few hours on crew deck to work on your tan.

…you get off the ship just to get off the ship and be able to walk around on your own more than 300m.

…you realise you’ve just passed through the security checkpoint without noticing it – it’s second nature to you.

…you change clothes in order to go to the passanger buffet or restaurants.

…your hands smell like Sanbucca after you’ve sanatized them before eating.

…you order a spring roll for starter because it’s the best item on the menu.

…you forget your keycard in your cabin and have to wait for Security to come and open it – again.

…you realise you have played a whole set with your nametag on (you’re supposed to wear them at all times, except when you play)

…American guests request Led Zeppelin from the classical trio.

…guests gets up their camera as soon as you start to play Vivaldi’s Spring.

…you go down to crew mess in the breaks just to get away from the guests.

…you regard the last set of 45mins of music as almost done.

…you see dolphins jump in the water in the front of the ship in the sunset.

/Henrik