27TH BUDAPEST INTERNATIONAL HALF MARATHON
The City of Bridges
Julia Armstrong joins 7,000 runners, meets up with some old running friends and gives one runner great advice…
him, but he didn’t respond and I wondered if I was mistaken. Arriving in Budapest to a summery 30
A
degrees, I was quickly through baggage reclaim and spotted Malcolm of Running Crazy in his bright green T-shirt waiting for me. Tamryn from Cambridge was there too, on the trip because she had won it. ‘We’re waiting for Kio’, Malcolm said – instantly I knew that he was the gentleman in departures. We had both been to Barcelona to run the 10K nearly 2 years ago and exchanged some words at dinner the night before the race. I made myself go for a jog after checking in at the hotel - I hadn’t run that day and after travelling I find that a run can ease my body, release the travel and allow my spirit to catch up a bit – and it is also a way to get a feel for my new environment.
Malcolm had pointed me in the direction of the park, and soon I was
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t the airport, waiting for my flight to Budapest, I spotted a gentleman in the queue I recognised. I half smiled at
running beside a lake and over the road, near the famous Heroes Square with statues rising magnificently all around, one of the most spectacular venues of Budapest. The three main sites of the square include the Art Hall, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Millenium Monument. The speed of transition from Eastbourne to another world never fails to give me a sense of magic and possibility.
Old friends
Malcolm looks after us so well on his Running Crazy trips, with a comprehensive itinerary, which we rarely read! He had said he would be going to dinner at 8.30pm that night, so I wandered down to reception and met a couple I instantly recognised. “Which country did we meet in?” I asked - the challenge of racing abroad a lot! “Niagara Falls”, they replied. I was instantly transported back to travelling to the race start in a coach chatting with Colin as we sped along the River Niagara that we were to run back along! Malcolm appeared with Colin, his
wife Fiona, and I made our way to the restaurant across the road and we were joined by some other crazy runners and enjoyed a fun relaxed evening. The next day I started with a run in the park again and found the race start, where the fun breakfast run was in action. Very inspiring. I love seeing runners running and still wonder and am delighted by my sport becoming so popular! Malcolm always organises a
restaurant to eat a pasta meal the night before the race. It was fun, a lot of laughter and not much evidence of pre-race nerves, although of course there was a lot of wondering how we can run in that heat.
Great advice
I sat opposite Tamryn, who I had met at the airport. She was anxious about how she would manage 13 miles having not run further than 8 miles and with tight adductor muscles having limited her
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