Only 3 weeks away – time to book my flight to Russia. About time, don’t ya think?
Registered for the Moscow Marathon last February, applied for my Visa in April. However because of recent health issues, kinda drug my feet committing to travel plans. Crazy far away – so very foreign.
No worries. All in now, 100% – flights booked, hotel near Red Square. Trip’s gonna be AMAZING! #noregretlife
The Promsvyazbank Moscow Marathon route offers a spectacular tour of Russia’s capital, from the embankment of the Moskva River by Moscow City, to the Garden Ring, across Krymsky Bridge, along the Boulevard Ring and on Tverskaya Street, through Teatralny Passage and under the walls of the Kremlin before finally reaching the finish line at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex.
…participants will be able to see more than 30 world-famous attractions, including the Kremlin, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow City, and four of the Seven Sisters skyscrapers.
Denver ⇨New York ⇨Milan ⇨Moscow
Moscow ⇨Amsterdam ⇨New York ⇨Atlanta ⇨Denver
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- former workmate’s been training all summer
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- Anastasia Myskina, 2004 French Open champion
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- just posted a 1:40 Half — WOW!
Not marathoning Moscow ‘til September – but was forewarned to apply for my Russian travel visa far well in advance. Aside from needing a passport in June (to race in Canada), politics can play a role in how fast & how many visas are processed by both the US & Russia. Similar to the US – people are people, but government is its own separate animal.
Went online & attempted to complete my application thru the Russian Consulate. Pages & pages of questions – family history, employment resume, university & degrees, medical history & insurance. Seriously – not so easy. Ultimately, paid a service to assist. FedEx’d my application & passport to the Houston consulate. BAM, 8 days later…comrade I’m travelling to Russia 🙂
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- all official — Cyrillic alphabet & everything
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- pages of bureaucracy
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- only getting stronger – Dima just ran a 1:43 Half
Keenan • February 5 at 8:49am •
It’s official — signed up for the Moscow Marathon on September 25th. SUPER excited! Dmitriy Cherkovskiy – Sign up!
K R Haga
Поздравляем, вы зарегистрированы на Moscow Marathon 2016 на дистанцию 42,2 km.
Ваш беговой номер 1809.
Старт состоится 25.September.2016.
Мы вышлем вам напоминание за несколько дней до забега.Удачных тренировок и до встречи на старте!
NewRunners
Haga K R
Thank you for registering for the Moscow Marathon 2016, distance 42,2 km.
Your race number: 1809
Start on 25.September.2016We’re looking forward to your participation. We’ll send you a reminder before the day of the race. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@newrunners.ru
Good Luck with your training. See you on race day!
NewRunners
—– Moscow, 1998 —–
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- Lenin
Dmitriy Cherkovskiy, 2015
I worked in Russia 1996-1999, a lifetime ago. 4 years out of university, I lucked into a ‘6-month’ position which provided opportunity to live overseas & manage employees for the first time – three young guys in particular, Dima [dee-mah], Vlad & Dima (Dyomin, the other Dima).
On the K* timeline, this experience intrinsically shaped who I am today. The people I met, being immersed in a foreign land – Russian language & customs – invaluable, absolutely life-changing.
St Petersburg, 1998
Initially a fish-out-of-water, sooooo far out of my conservative comfort zone. Russia taught me to live, to take risks (not everything in life can be carefully planned) & be thankful. I’ve never gone hungry. I’ve always had a roof over my head.
I know one can never recapture a time & place – if I could, it would be 1998. Comfortable in my Moscow life, I invited a group of friends & family to Russia, the Baltics & Scandinavia. Memory I’ll never ever forget.
3 years ago on FaceBook, reconnected with Dmitriy Cherkovskiy (Dima). This fall we run the Moscow Marathon. Слава Богу [Slava Bogu] – thanks to God!
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- Corporate K* – young gun sporting suspenders & a tie
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- office vodka — that’s how we worked in the 90’s
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- Dima Cherkovskiy, 1997
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- Dima Cherkovskiy, 1997
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- office football: lucky to be included, I never mastered soccer
Truth: Past tense is by far the easiest Russian verb conjugation. 2 years of lessons from Tatiana (weekdays 7:30-9am) – I took the Metro, bought groceries, interacted at work (as Director of Finance)…but sadly, often only spoke in the past. “I just went to lunch” (as I’m leaving the office), “hope you had a good weekend” (as folks departed Friday). Fun memory — LOL>
