24. international airport race, hamburg
sunday was the 2nd run for the running cup (altogether 3 - 10k, 10 miles & 21 k) and it was held around the airport. weatherwise was perfect - started with 17 degrees and rising up to abt 20 degress celsius at the end. it was sunny all the way, with no clouds!
well, that was last year's weather (see airport race 2006) which fortunately also the same as this year!
the best thing about this year's race was that it coincide with the hamburg airport days, an exhibition of various kinds of airplanes, from the old passenger plane from 1935 to airbus a380. due to this, this year's route is slightly different from last year, which means that the participants would be running through the exhibition area.
we were greeted by the flying over of junkers ju 52 (aka tante ju - auntie ju) and other flight formation in the sky from the oldtimers before the beginning of the race. it was really great.
in the meantime, i met my (2nd) trainer and told him that i still had back pain from last week's race. he asked me to lie on the ground (thank goodness there were these red mats) and did a quick pressing/massage. so easy and quick yet so effective. my back/shoulder problem was temporary gone.
it was a tradition, that the warm-up/morning exercise for the participants was conducted by someone on the stage escorted with music. it was funny looking at those people trying to follow the movements, especially those who did it totally wrong.
as usual, the obligatory group picture was taken before the race. while the rest of my running mates went for a warm-up run, i went to deposit my bag. the queue for depositing bag was not as long as the queue for depositing .... (the toilet). after depositing the bag, my first thought was to join this toilet queue but i remained loyal to my habit - just find the damn bush somewhere out there!
it was crowded at the start. 120 min, 110 min, 100 min, 90 min and finally i found 80 min - the starting block. as usual i took my time to get into the block but before that i took more photos from the "scenery". most of the starters looked a little bit nervous but the whole bunch from my running mates were enjoying themselves as they wanted to take it slow and easy for this race.
at exactly 11 a.m. the race began. it was such a slow start, i swear that i could just take a morning stroll instead of running. boxing through the crowd, i managed to run "properly" and slowly finding my rhythm. but not for long as i started to take pictures :-).
we had to ran through a big gate to get into the airport facility and the first sight was the best. a380 in front of you. runners running between the barriers - we were part of the exhibition! i was so glad to see many airplanes around the area. took more shots from the airplanes exhibition.
the next highlight was running through the parkhouse. isn't that a bit weird? i find it really interesting. you're not running on the road all the time!
the parkhouse and all runners had to run up towards the viaduct
first airport racers must be wondering why the hell were we running in the parkhouse (i did have the same feeling last year!)
after the parkhouse, we ran through to the other side of the airport terminal, the main road. i had the opportunity to catch up with (and later overtook) my teammates, who were running really "slow". i took pictures of carstens (both of them) before one of the carsten offered his service to take my picture during running! not bad, huh? unfortunately, the camera was somehow adjusted to some weird stuff and it ended up with a black and white pictures! classic style i guess.
some of us were very lucky. somewhere between 5th and 6th km, an airbus a320 from lufthansa was making a landing into hamburg airport. the plane came from the right and flew directly above our heads. it was so close and such a beautiful sight. i loved it so much.
the first water station was shortly after the 6 km point. grabbed a cup and continued running without stopping to sip the water. then the first unfortunate event happened. i was running on the left side of the path (not road), to be exact on the grass, and trying to overtake a guy in front of me. about 50 meters ahead was some spectators standing at the side. i ran faster to avoid collision with the spectators and sprinted slightly next to the guy. he shoved me to the side and told me that i should wait while he's trying to overtake another guy. how long should i wait? there was so much space and if he were to continue running on his path or even slightly running to the left, that would be totally okay. i still could overtake him. but this shoving got onto my nerves. i told him that he was such an asshole and left him behind. my adrenaline rose up after this incident and made me running much faster. i wiped away the incident quickly from my head and enjoyed the running under the green canopy of the forest! finally shade above my head.
not long after that we had to do a downward roundabout and ran through a tunnel. not only there was plenty of light at the end of the tunnel but also a gradual slope combined with a 360 degrees turn at the end of the slope and running zigzag along the terrain. there was no longer asphalt or roadside, just the paths. it was like cross-country running with bushes and trees on one side and airplanes landing or taking off on the other side.
my next unlucky event was at about 14 km mark. shuttle buses carrying passengers for the airport days queued up to let the runners passed through. just at the moment when i was about to cross the road, the bus moved and i had to slow down and ran towards the end of the damn long bus (equivalent to tibs buses), before i could continue my run. i was quite pissed. this unfortunate moment drove my legs faster than usual but i refused to run faster and purposely slowed slightly cos i didn't want to break down at the end.
have you guys ever wonder during the run that almost at the end, the km mark sign seemed to be totally wrong? i got the feeling that it never ends after i ran passed the 15 km mark signboard. i didn't even realise that we were coming from the opposite direction of the starting point to reach the finish line. passing through the gate and with about 100 meters to go, i sprinted all the way but was caught up by yet another sprinter! it didn't matter cos i knew at the end, it was the nett time that was important.
after passing through the finish line and receiving my medal, i began to take more pictures of friends and running colleagues as well as chitchatting with other participants. thanks to the sponsor, we had a variety of flavoured drinks as well as the erdinger non-alcoholic beer - a favourite among runners. i got my beer from a colleague, cos i couldn't be bothered to wait in the long queue. took a shower and then had my cert printed out. looking at the result, i realised that i was merely less than 5 secs slower than last year.
waiting for the lucky draw while karin inspecting her main prize!
meanwhile at the stage, they were presenting prizes for the top runners. one of our colleague won the women overall title in 1:05 hrs for the 10 miles. she is 48 years old! after all this ceremony, the fun part began - a tombola (lucky draw). all participants could join in by giving their bib number into the tombola box.
i can't drink it all and i can't win any race but i'll be happy if i get this gigantic glass as souvenir!
the events repeated itself in this airport race. the weather, my running time and of course, i didn't win anything at the lucky draw :-(. nevertheless, it was one of the best race experience i've ever ran.
well, that was last year's weather (see airport race 2006) which fortunately also the same as this year!
the best thing about this year's race was that it coincide with the hamburg airport days, an exhibition of various kinds of airplanes, from the old passenger plane from 1935 to airbus a380. due to this, this year's route is slightly different from last year, which means that the participants would be running through the exhibition area.we were greeted by the flying over of junkers ju 52 (aka tante ju - auntie ju) and other flight formation in the sky from the oldtimers before the beginning of the race. it was really great.
in the meantime, i met my (2nd) trainer and told him that i still had back pain from last week's race. he asked me to lie on the ground (thank goodness there were these red mats) and did a quick pressing/massage. so easy and quick yet so effective. my back/shoulder problem was temporary gone.it was a tradition, that the warm-up/morning exercise for the participants was conducted by someone on the stage escorted with music. it was funny looking at those people trying to follow the movements, especially those who did it totally wrong.
as usual, the obligatory group picture was taken before the race. while the rest of my running mates went for a warm-up run, i went to deposit my bag. the queue for depositing bag was not as long as the queue for depositing .... (the toilet). after depositing the bag, my first thought was to join this toilet queue but i remained loyal to my habit - just find the damn bush somewhere out there!
it was crowded at the start. 120 min, 110 min, 100 min, 90 min and finally i found 80 min - the starting block. as usual i took my time to get into the block but before that i took more photos from the "scenery". most of the starters looked a little bit nervous but the whole bunch from my running mates were enjoying themselves as they wanted to take it slow and easy for this race.
at exactly 11 a.m. the race began. it was such a slow start, i swear that i could just take a morning stroll instead of running. boxing through the crowd, i managed to run "properly" and slowly finding my rhythm. but not for long as i started to take pictures :-).
we had to ran through a big gate to get into the airport facility and the first sight was the best. a380 in front of you. runners running between the barriers - we were part of the exhibition! i was so glad to see many airplanes around the area. took more shots from the airplanes exhibition.
the next highlight was running through the parkhouse. isn't that a bit weird? i find it really interesting. you're not running on the road all the time!
the parkhouse and all runners had to run up towards the viaduct
first airport racers must be wondering why the hell were we running in the parkhouse (i did have the same feeling last year!)
after the parkhouse, we ran through to the other side of the airport terminal, the main road. i had the opportunity to catch up with (and later overtook) my teammates, who were running really "slow". i took pictures of carstens (both of them) before one of the carsten offered his service to take my picture during running! not bad, huh? unfortunately, the camera was somehow adjusted to some weird stuff and it ended up with a black and white pictures! classic style i guess.
some of us were very lucky. somewhere between 5th and 6th km, an airbus a320 from lufthansa was making a landing into hamburg airport. the plane came from the right and flew directly above our heads. it was so close and such a beautiful sight. i loved it so much.
the first water station was shortly after the 6 km point. grabbed a cup and continued running without stopping to sip the water. then the first unfortunate event happened. i was running on the left side of the path (not road), to be exact on the grass, and trying to overtake a guy in front of me. about 50 meters ahead was some spectators standing at the side. i ran faster to avoid collision with the spectators and sprinted slightly next to the guy. he shoved me to the side and told me that i should wait while he's trying to overtake another guy. how long should i wait? there was so much space and if he were to continue running on his path or even slightly running to the left, that would be totally okay. i still could overtake him. but this shoving got onto my nerves. i told him that he was such an asshole and left him behind. my adrenaline rose up after this incident and made me running much faster. i wiped away the incident quickly from my head and enjoyed the running under the green canopy of the forest! finally shade above my head.
not long after that we had to do a downward roundabout and ran through a tunnel. not only there was plenty of light at the end of the tunnel but also a gradual slope combined with a 360 degrees turn at the end of the slope and running zigzag along the terrain. there was no longer asphalt or roadside, just the paths. it was like cross-country running with bushes and trees on one side and airplanes landing or taking off on the other side.
my next unlucky event was at about 14 km mark. shuttle buses carrying passengers for the airport days queued up to let the runners passed through. just at the moment when i was about to cross the road, the bus moved and i had to slow down and ran towards the end of the damn long bus (equivalent to tibs buses), before i could continue my run. i was quite pissed. this unfortunate moment drove my legs faster than usual but i refused to run faster and purposely slowed slightly cos i didn't want to break down at the end. have you guys ever wonder during the run that almost at the end, the km mark sign seemed to be totally wrong? i got the feeling that it never ends after i ran passed the 15 km mark signboard. i didn't even realise that we were coming from the opposite direction of the starting point to reach the finish line. passing through the gate and with about 100 meters to go, i sprinted all the way but was caught up by yet another sprinter! it didn't matter cos i knew at the end, it was the nett time that was important.
after passing through the finish line and receiving my medal, i began to take more pictures of friends and running colleagues as well as chitchatting with other participants. thanks to the sponsor, we had a variety of flavoured drinks as well as the erdinger non-alcoholic beer - a favourite among runners. i got my beer from a colleague, cos i couldn't be bothered to wait in the long queue. took a shower and then had my cert printed out. looking at the result, i realised that i was merely less than 5 secs slower than last year.
waiting for the lucky draw while karin inspecting her main prize!
meanwhile at the stage, they were presenting prizes for the top runners. one of our colleague won the women overall title in 1:05 hrs for the 10 miles. she is 48 years old! after all this ceremony, the fun part began - a tombola (lucky draw). all participants could join in by giving their bib number into the tombola box.
i can't drink it all and i can't win any race but i'll be happy if i get this gigantic glass as souvenir!
the events repeated itself in this airport race. the weather, my running time and of course, i didn't win anything at the lucky draw :-(. nevertheless, it was one of the best race experience i've ever ran.
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