A Highlight Of My Trip

Munich was easily one of my favorite places I visited in Europe. Not only because there was a lot to do, but also because the people were friendly and fun to be around. One experience in particular really speaks to the kind of people I met while in Munich.

My dad, who’d met up with me for the end of my travels through Europe, and I planned on going to a festival. The metro to get there was crammed full of people with racing bibs attached to the front of their shirts. Turns out they were about to run a 6k with 30,000 people.

When we got off the metro, there was loud music, thousands of people getting ready to run, and the weather couldn’t have been better. I reminded my dad of how much I love running and wished I was out there racing with everyone. I said, “If I’d known there was going to be a race, I would’ve worn my running shoes.” He responded, “Alright well if we see a booth with running shoes, we should get them.” I don’t think he thought I was serious.

Seconds later we saw an On Running Shoes booth. We walked up and my dad told one of the women working there, Kim, that I wanted to run the race but didn’t have shoes… (my Birkenstocks weren’t going to get me very far.) Before he said anything else, she said, “Alright well what’s your shoe size? Let’s get you some shoes that you can borrow to race in.”

Not buy. Borrow. I was so surprised. And all she did was ask me for my email. Not my ID, not money… just my email.

I asked Kim, “All you want is my email? How do you know I’ll bring these back?” She asked, “Well are you going to bring the shoes back?” I nodded yes, and she answered, “Well okay then, I trust you to bring them back.”

That would never happen in the States. At a race with 30,000 people and she’s willing to let a foreigner borrow shoes that cost ~$140? That’s a testament to the kind of people I met while in Germany.

As I put on the shoes, my dad walked over to a neighboring booth to buy a pair of CEP socks, and they offered to just let us borrow them. A new pair! Of course we ended up buying them because who wants to return a pair of sweaty socks? But they could’ve easily made us buy the socks.

And it gets better.

When I went to sign up for the race, the registrar told me it would be $50 cash, which I didn’t have. I swear they never use credit cards in Germany! I went back to the running booth to return the shoes, but Kim said “Really? Ok, let me try. Come with me.”

After speaking a lot of rapid German, the registrar handed me a racing bib. And just like that I was ready to go.