Re-Running the Marathon

Today was another scorcher, but I couldn’t see keeping the kids cooped up in the apartment for another day, as tempting as the air-conditioning is! So we headed out early in the hopes of getting a little fun in before it got too warm. We decided to take the bus from Beach Gate to the International Exhibition Center – we could explore a new stretch of waterfront and see the life-size statues of runners from the Xiamen marathon (we watched the marathon back in March, and had seen the statues along the Island Ring Road when we took Mimi to the airport).

My hopes for sea breezes to cool us down were not realized; there was nary a ripple on the water. We saw, though, that there were kiosks renting bicycles, even bicycles built for 3! Despite much pleading from the girls, I resisted. Maybe we'll do it another time . . . .

Still, the girls enjoyed the statues of marathoners and had to re-enact the event.

Running . . . See, they're neck and neck with the leader! Those other runners don't stand a chance -- after all, it's a little hard to compete when you're carrying an umbrella!

Helping out at the water stop . . . After all, they are so far in the lead they can afford to help out (I hope it doesn't turn out to be one of those tortoise-and-the-hare things!)

Even photographing the winners . . . Wait a minute, how will Zoe photograph herself winning the marathon?!

Here's the solution -- Zoe suggested we take one more picture “in front of the flowers for Mimi!” So I guess this is the girls in the “winner’s circle,” having won the Xiamen International Marathon!

That was enough fun in the sun for all of us, so we hopped a bus back to Beach Gate. We stopped at the market for some fruit, went to the store for some baked goods for breakfast tomorrow, and then jiggedy-jigged home to blessed air-conditioning! Ahhhhhh!