Day 02

Keelung Marathon.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, the morning was as wet as a flatfish and the rain as incessant as the day before. But the miserable Keelung weather, (a factor perhaps in Keelung’s claim to Taiwan’s highest suicide rates [unverified factoid from friend]) did nothing to dampen the pomp and ceremony of the gathering at Chungcheng Park, kicking off day two, the Keelung Marathon, and celebrating the fishing town where Neil has been teaching English for the past year. Amongst brightly coloured raincoats and umbrellas, local school children, fellow foreigners (I think there are four: Kevin, Dave, Mark, Dawn) and well-wishers took part in a 4km run, headed by Neil and the Mayor of Keelung. Neil also so meets some people representing the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders, who he is running for.

During the expected lengthy preamble over, TV reporters interviewed the Mayor and led locals and pom-pom girls (yes, pom-pom girls) in chants of “We are ready!” Turning the tables, the minute foreign contingency of Keelung were made to say the same, in Chinese, much to the mirth of the locals.
Still a little unsure of what we are proclaiming to be ready for, (the imminent takeover of the world by Taiwan, perhaps?), Neil continued the rest of his day alone and in hideous conditions. The route passed through the town and straight down to Keelung beach, a refreshingly pleasant little cove which is sandy, framed by green mountains and particularly clean by the standards of the previous day. I would have liked to swim here, but couldn’t bear the thought of being soaked through… Oh yes, I already was.

From here, another 10km completed a circle back to the train station where, at a coffee shop, solace was sought from the pelting buckets of water that some joker poured from the sky. A newspaper and a panini were in order and Neil enjoyed some time revelling in his second favourite activity (after running ridiculously long distances): Koching up. I believe this to be, fundamentally, a relaxation of sorts. I’m somewhat annoyed that in spite of his high energy and athleticism, he still manages to “koch up” better than I, who never moves at more than a snail’s pace, even when a bus is coming.

Heading now in the opposite direction, a refuelled Neil runs along the harbour and another 8.5 coastal kilometres, past Heping Dao. I would like to make a brief aside here and tell you that somewhere along this road the rain stopped for almost three minutes. I managed again to make a wrong turn, luckily catching up with Neil with just 100 metres to spare before he was due to turn around and continue the route back towards Keelung. Today, he found this a source of amusement and I escaped a telling off, but I am dubious. Will I be veering off course every day this month? It’s not unlikely. Neil finishes the day at Keelung’s Stadium. I’m so in shock that Keelung has a stadium that I almost forget to take a picture.

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