Budapest Half Marathon - Sept 2005
THE Stubbington flag was flown in Hungary at the weekend where Andy James and Nick Davies took part in the Budapest Half Marathon.
The duo refused to allow themselves to get in a goulash at the popular 13-miler, despite hot conditions in the Hungarian capital.
The race attracted some 6,000 runners from all over Europe. "The weather for the race was cooler than on Saturday, but still over 20 degrees," said Andy. "It was a flat course, except for the bridge ramps, but very scenic."
From the start, competitors went over a chain bridge crossing the River Danube from Pest to Buda, running past the Parliament building, then heading on to the finish in the picturesque City Park.
The two Stubbington runners set off together, going through 7km in half an hour, and then Andy took a minute over the hour for 14km. He eventually clocked 1hr 32min 25sec for 525th overall from 5,447 finishers. "It was more or less as I expected," said Andy afterwards.
"I latched onto the German Festo team from 7km, and they were a big help. The race was well organised and worth doing. Budapest as a city is well worth visiting too."
Nick, who has yet to get into full training since competing in the Edinburgh Marathon earlier this summer - just weeks after completing the London Marathon - finished in a respectable 1:41.35. The race was won by local man Andras Juhasz in 1:05..57 beating two Kenyans to the finish line.
Joining Andy and Nick in Budapest was club member Maria Millican who is returning from injury, and who has only recently begun training. She had originally entered the race, but decided against competing as she slowly builds up fitness and instead watched the race from the sidelines.
She said: "It was interesting to see that for the half marathon there were not many fun runners, the field was mostly made up with club runners - although a family fun run was staged at the same time as the main race.
"All the runners received a goody bag which included a t-shirt. And for the finishers there was a medal, ice cream and a Snickers bar at the finish."
Twenty four hours earlier on the Saturday, Andy took part in a breakfast run along the banks of the River Danube. Advertised as a 5km run, it effectively turned out to be a 4km jog staged in sweltering conditions.
"There were about 1,200 runners, a lot of Dutch, and loads of fun runners," added Andy."I found myself right at the front with four to five elite runners all behind, boxed in with a narrow funnel.
"I blasted around the course in around 14min 40sec for eighth or ninth. There must have been some mistake, surely!"
The three Stubbington runners flew out from Gatwick, managing to get good value flights from EasyJet. "We managed to stay at an hotel very near to the start and the finish of the race," added Maria.
"We booked the flights and accommodation separately, as well as entry to the race, which could all be done through the internet. There is no need to go through a sports operator." Please click here for photos.