“This trip was planned well in advance, and perfectly orchestrated by our Tour Guide ‘Artur Lasinski’
Wroclaw is a beautiful city, over the course of the weekend we ate, drank, sang, danced and ate some more, MUCH more in some cases.
The Wreakies bonded well and all seemed to have a great time, I myself really enjoyed spending some time with everyone and feel much more part of the club after this trip.
We made our way to the race village the day before the race to pick up our race packs, this included the great T-Shirt and VERY interesting snacks, most of which ended up in the nearest bin, the race village was ready for the event and seemed very professional, the finish line being inside the Olympic Stadium which was exciting!
On race day, we all abstained from alcohol and used the time productively……shopping, eating and sleeping.
We caught the tram to the race village around 9pm ahead of the 22:30 start, thankfully the rain had stopped meaning conditions for the race were pretty good, the tram was ‘interesting’ in that, there seemed to be no limits on how many people boarded, most (non Wreakies) on board apparently didn’t worry too much abour personal hygiene, some interesting odours!!
I spent the 30 minute journey wedged between a window and an armpit.
Once we arrived suited and booted for the race, we began our warm-ups and made our way to the start line, the atmosphere was brilliant, the late night start adding extra excitement, we wished each other luck and headed off.
My plan was to get 2 or 3 quick miles in and see how I felt, I was expecting to feel tired due to late start however, despite some argy-bargy at the start, I was still feeling quite strong after 5/6 miles, my pace was just under 7 min/mile meaning a PB was possible, I decided I would push on and hope fatigue didn’t set in.
I really enjoyed running around the city, parts of it were illuminated and there was occasional musical entertainment, The Wreakie support crew including Helen York, Zenon & Phillippa Kurys and Julie Finnemore encouraged us from the Main Bridge, the course itself was very flat and snaked around the City, there were a few cobbled areas but on the whole it was flat, fast tarmac, the local people were very supportive, the atmosphere was great.
To my own surprise, I was still on for a PB as I reached mile 10, the bright lights of the Olympic Stadium were now in view so I tried to push on, by mile 13 I was struggling a little but a quick glance at the watch told me I could afford to ease off as the PB was in the bag.
The approach to the finish line is my best moment as a runner so far, there were hundreds of supporters inside the stadium and the noise was very loud, as I crossed the line I held my arms out in ‘Victory’ – shocked I’d managed a PB.
My actual time was 1:33:25 which took 4 minutes of my previous best, I understand a few others grabbed a PB also, everyone did really well, it was a BRILLIANT race.
The post-race celebrations and remainder of the trip are stories for another day, I enjoyed the trip and the race very much, Thanks again to Artur and the rest of the lovely Wreakies”
David Jackson
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