Author: Hannah Stewart
Now that some time has passed and my legs and liver have finally recovered, I thought it was probably time for a race report!
A late afternoon flight made the day at work tick by very slowly, but come 3 o’clock, the first of the Tyne Bridge Harriers began to trickle into Newcastle airport, making a beeline for the bar and a cheeky afternoon pint before boarding. On a tiny plane, there was some trepidation as those of us with carry-on suitcases were scarily parted from our racing kit until landing, with smug looks from those with more compact packing skills! TBH accounted for almost a quarter of the flight so it is no surprise that most were clustered together, with chat turning to racing goals and racing excuses (my tired marathon legs were mine!).
Touchdown in Frankfurt saw relief at carbon-plated reunions and trepidation at the length of the queue for most of us unlucky enough not to have an EU passport! Finally through, there was some consternation as we hadn’t even been in Germany an hour and we had lost the Michaels!
After some flapping, relocation of the Michaels, and a rapid trip down the German Autobahn, we arrived at the quirky hotel and joined the intrepid explorers who had braved the train across Europe! A quick toast to the weekend ahead before we drifted off to bed with plans of Parkrun in the morning for some, a lie-in and breakfast for others!
Day one in Frankfurt dawned bright and sunny but chilly as the park runners took their first turn on the efficient German trains to arrive bright and early to a warm welcome at Nidda parkrun. Whilst some of us took a gentle turn about the course, Richard, who had come to watch, found himself persuaded into volunteering as chief photographer by a very friendly Welsh/German run director! Despite his tough northern exterior, it seems Richard is easily swayed by a pair of blue eyes and actually feels the cold despite his commitment to shorts.
The rumors of a purple-coated flasher in Nidda park are talked about in hushed tones!
Parkrun itself saw most of the TBH runners take on a relaxing shake-out run, yet nevertheless it was Michael Hedley who was first home (although rumour has it Tom beat him on the home straight segment) and Becky Blain took the win for the ladies. Even better than the Parkrun, there was tea, coffee, cake and chocolate at the end.
We all met up for a relaxed breakfast back at the hotel, including donuts, a strange gelatinous goop and bottles of spirits(!). The Parkrunners then enjoyed hot showers and warm clothes whilst the more culturally inclined took to the streets to explore Frankfurt and find the “old new” town –Frankfurt was heavily bombed during WWII and has been beautifully restored.
A fabulous idea to explore the city and save our racing legs/remove possible excuses led to a boat tour of the city from the River Main. As Eskimo Al can attest, it was really quite windy and chilly, but a great way to see some of the city, hear some of the history, and, if we’re honest, hear far too much information about some club member’s bowel movements!
As such a big group, restaurants and cafés were a challenge. After much traipsing around the old square (I’m sure that’s where I lost my 3 seconds!) we found a café big enough for us to enjoy hot chocolates, coffees and cake which provided the energy to make it back to the hotel in time for dinner. A lovely pizza restaurant offered carbs galore for the pre-race feast, with lots of nerves ahead of the big day.
An early night and an early start had a tinge of disappointment at not being able to fully take advantage of the amazing buffet breakfast – the spirits remained untouched! This was then followed by the usual chaos and carnage as we tried to get everyone out of the door in time for the tram – where exactly was Lucas?
Success saw all of us (including Lucas) squeeze onto a packed tram. We knew we must be going in the right direction given the number of runners! As we walked up to the packed stadium, butterflies started as we spotted the start line! A chaotic number collection and the usual queues for the pre-warm-up trip to the toilet – even the Germans don’t have enough toilets for a race! We felt like celebrities as we were invited to be photographed at the start line and Ian was introduced to the crowd as “the proud President of Tiny Bridge Harriers” as part of an interview!
Final warm-up and last toilet trips and it was behind the start line – excitingly a first elite start for a few of us! And then the gun went and so did we. It was a beautiful course from the bits I remember, taking an initial route down through some woodland and a long stretch along the river, over some of the bridges before finishing in the stadium – but if I’m honest I’m always so focused on running I miss a lot of the beautiful scenery, including a steam train apparently! What I do remember is it being very windy at various points and that the last mile seemed to go on forever!
I think I am safe in saying everyone had a great race – Michael Hedley achieved one of his main life goals – to beat Tom, although it has to be said, Tom made him work for it. The long-held, friendly rivalry saw the two TBH work together through the first 10 or so miles before Tom made a run for the front and led into the final kilometre before Michael, determined to hit his goal, took the lead in the final 500m.
I think Rob’s shot down the finishing straight says it all! However, Michael Illot outdid them both in terms of style, a cracking PB, and the energy to egg on the crowd as he hit the sprint finish!
On the women’s side, Becky quickly committed to a hard race, leaving me for the dust in the first mile! With both of us hitting marathon training hard in the preceding weeks, I think I can safely say we were both thrilled with a top 10 finish and to be a few seconds either side of PBs, although I have to say I wish mine had been on the right side! A cracking run from Zoe saw TBH women take the overall team victory!
The rest of the elite squad had great races, Gavin was just a few seconds from his PB, Richard was first V60, and Al managed to better the gap on his wife compared to Brass Monkey, phew!
The rest of the TBH team did brilliantly, seeing PBs for Justine, Ailsa, and Charlotte and a new club record for Gill. Yam had a fabulous comeback race after a year of injury with the excellent company of Chris, whilst Louise M overcame some half marathon gremlins and Louise L raced just 6 weeks after a broken arm (maybe don’t let your doctors see this race report!) with Alison’s lovely company. Sammy and Lucas both had great runs whilst John and Chris backed up Richard to what would no doubt have been a winning V60 team if they had age group teams!
Whilst we all took to the streets, Rob and Ian kindly dealt with bag drop and settled in for the long wait and Vicki headed out to the course to offer some much-needed encouragement! A huge thank you to Rob for all his wonderful finish line photos!
After the race, it took some time to regroup given the thousands of people milling around, which led to a very tight turnaround to get out for the celebrations – Yam and I were of course the last ones down, although at least not left behind as we were in Palma! Lunch was a fantastic German restaurant with plenty of Apfelwein (a sour German Cider) all around – with the size of the jugs impressing our ever-classy Club Chair!
Somewhat merrier, and certainly full of German stodge (or a large amount of eggs for some!), we went in hunt of the football, and after a few false starts in a variety of Irish Bars, we landed in O’Reillys, a home from home for the next few hours with its down pour of rain in the bar! There were some tense moments, claims of Liverpool favouritism by the referee, but the joy and the relief when the final whistle blew swept through the TBH crowd and heralded a night of celebrations.
Much German beer was consumed, pretzels were munched, friendships were forged and strengthened, others tested upon sharing a bedroom for a few days. But overall, it was a night I think we will all remember, although maybe not with perfect clarity!
The final morning dawned with some sore heads, unfortunately cold showers (although maybe it helped!) and a somewhat subdued breakfast – again, no-one touched the spirits. A wander along the river and back through the “new old” town left time for us to test everyone’s head for heights at the top of the Main Tower – beautiful views out across the city and the surrounding area for the bravest of the squad!
It was only once we were at the airport we realised the weekend had been so busy Ian had yet to demonstrate his newly improved magic skills! Unfortunately, he failed to magic us all back to Newcastle with a click of his fingers, so a much more subdued flight back left some tired but happy TBH back home for a well-earned rest.
As always it was a fantastic trip, and the key take-home is to never get between a man and his Fanta!
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