Münster paints the blue line for the 20th time

As soon as a few test stripes of the light blue fluorescent paint have been laid down around the Schlossplatz about 8.30pm, the convoy of police escort, paint wagon and support vehicles gets under way at 9pm. Since 2003, when the blue line started being painted for the Münster Marathon, the former organiser Jürgen Sieme and the chairman of the Münster-Marathon e.V. charity Michael Brinkmann have taken part in the convoy on its four-hour journey through the city centre and the Gievenbeck, Nienberge and Roxel districts.

Some runners, and cyclists too, join in for part of the distance. “It’s for good luck,” say some of the hard core participants who are true believers in this ritual.

Four hours standing slightly bent over on a trailer, holding on with one hand and operating a paint spray with the other – is also a kind of marathon for the painters.

“Sometimes we pass people’s homes in the middle of the night and get applause from those sitting on the balcony,” says Jürgen Sieme. While the town centre is still quite lively between 9 and 11pm, later on out in the suburbs it can get dark and lonely. “It’s nice to be able to finish by 1am,” and then everyone is pleased to be able to go home. Only twice in twenty years has the work had to be stopped due to rain or a technical failure and continued the following night. “Once the paint dried up and got so hard that it wouldn’t come out of the nozzle – that time we didn’t finish until four the next morning,” recalls Michael Brinkmann. As a rule, though, the tour runs without problems.

Fans of the blue line or Münster Marathon are welcome to be present on Tuesday from 9pm, starting at the Schlossplatz car park.