CLUB RACES
Gibraltar Marathon, Gibraltar - Dec 02, 2017
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The 4th Country Club marathon was organized by the race director Jürgen Sinthofen in Gibraltar since there is no official marathon in Gibraltar.
The race was limited to 40 participants and was sold out within a few days after announcement. Three more runners on the waiting list were also allowed to participate. Unfortunately, two runners couldn’t participate and therefore 41 marathon and 2 half marathon runners arrived in the AC La Linea Hotel in the Spanish city La Linea de la Conception opposite of Gibraltar.
Some members arrived early on Thursday, and we went for a dinner in a Spanish restaurant which we visited again on Saturday evening for the awards party.
On Friday the official race package pick-up in the hotel commenced at 14.15, and at 17.30 Jürgen made a mandatory race briefing.
Following packet pick-up, a CC meeting was held lasting about one hour. The results of this meeting will be distributed in due course.
After the briefing of the race volunteers, the whole party walked to the Don Giovanni for the pasta party.
Saturday, race day. The management of the hotel arranged for an early breakfast at 6 am, and at 7.15 we all left to walk to Gibraltar for the race start.
It was still dark, crossing the border was no problem and behind the famous airfield at the war memorial was the start line.
Several pictures where made which delayed the start by 22 minutes.
At 8.22am we set off towards the east side of the rock following Tower Road and Sir Miles Road approx. 30 altitude meters up to the entrance of the tunnel where the turn point was reached after 3.2km. The beautiful sunrise illuminated the rock in all colours, and the sea below us was sparkling.
As we reached the starting point again we turned right to cross the air field, and then reached the border and customs. All participants went through the controls within a minute.
To avoid road crossings we had to run through a parking before we reached the wide boulevard at the Avenida de Espagna. After 9km we passed the control point with the lap counting which would be the finish line as well and the water point.
Paul and his volunteers, the wives or friends of some runners, served water, coke, bananas, salty nuts and crackers to the passing runners.
To avoid littering every participant had a plastic cup on the water table with his race number written on. The system worked very well as the volunteers filled up the cups after each stop with what the runner desired.
Ann-Marie and Sylvie ran the lap counting, and the time keeping very well. All went without any problems.
After this point another approx. 900m had to be run to the turn point. Running down to the third turn point near to Gibraltar gave us approx 2.1km so that each full lap counted for 4.2km.
The views to the Mediterranean, the yacht harbour and the west side of Gibraltar, first against the sun, where magnificent.
Running was completely flat, toilets at the yacht club were available and we were not disturbed by many other pedestrians or cyclists – just perfect.
It was sunny, approx. 18°C with a fairly strong head wind.
After passing the water table 17 times, we all finally finished the race. As the finish line was directly opposite the hotel the showers were very close.
All participants met at 18.00 in the hotel foyer, and we went to the La Parada restaurant for the after race dinner.
Jürgen presented all finishers a well-earned finisher medal. The race winners, Tamas Fazekas in 3:26:10 and Edit Kis 4:00:14, received a small trophy.
Results have been posted @
http://onlineraceresults.com/event/view_event.php?event_id=18859
After a casual breakfast on Sunday all participants started their trips home whereas Jürgen had to cover 2,700km with his mobile home.
Photos of the race and events can be viewed @ https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eX94JdrnimKV_ST4FWTrPCpoL0i2ttMx
Thanks to Jurgen for the photos.
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San Marino Marathon, San Marino – Sep 17, 2016
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The Club race was a huge success thanks to the work and efforts of the Race Director, Jurgen Sinthofen.
There were 38 runners registered from 11 countries, 33 members in the marathon, and one runner in the Half. 37 runners started and finished the race!
The course was a figure-8 loop, slightly longer than 3Km, so each runner in the marathon had to complete 14 laps. The course provided members an opportunity to meet, and cheer each other many times during the race, and was an excellent way to build camaraderie among members. The course was a dirt recreational trail located in Faetano Castle along the Marano River/Creek. Italy was on the other side of the creek. Although members complained about the ‘hills’ by the end of the race, this was the flattest area of the country!
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The cut-off time was 2:30pm so we allowed two starts: an early start at 8am to allow 6 1/2 hours and a late start at 9am for 5 1/2 hours. That was convenient for runners but confusing for timers and lap counters so in the future we will only have one start! The weather was pleasant: sunny and cool at the start but temps climbed into the mid-70s F (mid-20s C) by late morning and the sun was hot!
Two members, Mario Sagasser and Gertjan Lahuis tied for 1st place Male in 3:43:06, and Mario graciously agreed to award the prize to Gertjan since he already had a prize from the previous Club race. Edit Kiss won 1st place Female in 4:05:13. Mea Kriek was the only runner in the Half finishing in 2:16:48. Jurgen presented the awards, and finisher medals, to all finishers.
Many thanks to the four spouses (and Club President) who volunteered to count laps and manage the water table. Without their support the race could would not have been such a success.
Race results have already been emailed to all participants, and posted to www.onlineraceresults.com . ‘Finisher Certificates’ will be emailed to all finishers by the end of October.
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Photos of San Marino and the marathon/events can be viewed in an album titled 'San Marino 2016' @ https://maddog.smugmug.com/Marathons/San-Marino-2016/.
A trip report written by Jurgen Sinthofen is available at http://laufspass.com/laufberichte/2016/san-marino-marathon-2016.htm
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The race was preceded by an annual Club meeting on Friday, Sep 16, 2016. Minutes of that meeting will be sent to all members. A pasta dinner was held Friday evening in a lovely restaurant on the top of Mt Titano, and was attended by most members and participants. A post-race party/dinner was held at the same restaurant.
The good news is that the Country Club decided to continue with this format for future Club races and annual meetings. The next Club race/annual meeting will be held in Aruba in 2017.
Durres Marathon, Albania, November 28, 2015
Race report by Jurgen Sinthofen
About 15 members of the CC had made travel arrangements to participate in the first “Via Egnatia Marathon” promoted by an Italian organizer for the 28. November 2015 in Durres.
As this marathon was cancelled on 23.October 2015 by the organizer, Jürgen Sinthofen agreed to organize a race on behalf of the CC on a short notice basis as many of the CC runners could have only cancelled their travel arrangements with substantial monetary losses.
Nearly all but 3 runners who had planned to run the Via Egnatia followed Jürgen’s offer so that there were 14 definite runners on the participation list.
On Friday evening everybody arrived in Durres and most people stayed at the Hotel Kristal which was ideally situated at the seafront promenade of Durres.
Unfortunately Yen and Peter from Houston couldn't make it due to an aircraft defect.
In the evening Mario and Jürgen measured a course of 1.906m length with a “Clay Jones Counter” Mario brought along.
An out-and-back course was laid out directly on the waterfront on a pedestrian boulevard.
Also the Coke, water, bananas and brezeln had been bought in a nearby shop.
The organization went smoothly and the starter packages, including start numbers designed by Mario showing which country number the Durres marathon would be for the respective runner, were distributed by about 6.30pm. After a pre-race briefing was finished we all met in a nice restaurant for a pre-race dinner.
The owners of the hotel were very cooperative giving us there terrace which was situated in the middle of the course as a water point and for time keeping. Here was also the start / end of the lap and the finish line. This terrace was covered and therefore perfect as during the race it was raining quite hard for a few times and our time-keeping ladies Mea and Silke (who we met at the airport) were protected.
The race started at 8.15 for the slower runners, all others started at 9.15.
The day had proven that the running course was selected perfectly. Any course on an unpaved road would have been a real dirt track due to all the rain and as the race was not registered with the authorities it was not possible to run on paved roads.
Also the runners had all conveniences in the hotel and all runners appreciated it very much to see all others runners every 2km giving a lot of moral help to finish the not easy race in about 9 to 13°C, some rain and wind.
After 3.29.36 Mario crossed the finish line first, the first lady was Outi Ojala in 4.20,36.
All the other 10 marathon runners conquered the finish line well within the cut-off time of 7 hours.
Mea and Silke had run a 10km race.
After the race everybody relaxed and at 6 o'clock all participants met for a nice dinner again.
Before the dinner Jürgen congratulated all runners on their achievement and presented a finisher’s t-shirt and a medal to all finishers and a little trophy to the male and female winners.
After a lot of talks in a very good spirit of comradery the evening ended for the group at about 9.30 pm and everybody expressed that they had really enjoyed the event and that it was a great success.
Note:
Jurgen will also post the race report and photos to:
http://laufspass.com/laufberichte/2015/durres-marathon-2015.htm
Race results have been posted to www.onlineraceresults.com
Kosovo Marathon, Prishtina, Kosovo - May 25, 2014
The Kosovo Marathon was a great success due to the hard work of our local Race Director, Maury Wray-Bridges and her husband Andrew. The course was changed at the last minute due to muddy conditions on the farm roads and became a 4.4 mile route on paved roads that started in Gracanica just south of Pristina. Runners ran three out-and-back loops on the hilly course. Eighteen runners started including 11 CC members, one local runner and a Finnish expat who lives in Kosovo. Fourteen runners finished. We were well supported by more than 20 volunteers who enjoyed the sunny, hot day more than the runners.
Jeurgen Sinthofen and Martin Noci, the runner from Kosovo, competed throughout the entire race for 1st place overall and Jeurgen prevailed in 3:46:42. Two female runners registered for the marathon but Roza Mukambetova withdrew due to an injury and Yen Nguyen missed the race due to a flight cancellation. Mea Kriek ran a Half marathon in 2:11:23 and we awarded the 1st place (female) trophy to her. Official race results have been emailed to all runners and posted to www.onlineraceresults.com.
Photos of the race were taken by a professional photographer and are available at http://cmp.pass.us/kosovamarathon.
The 1st Country Club reunion was attended by 11 members including 2 new members; Giuseppe Raguso and Gordon Bennett who qualified by completing his 30th country in Kosovo. We were joined at the pasta dinner by many volunteers and
Ms. Jennifer Bachus, Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy
Fatlum Grajevci, a director of the Kosovo Sports Federation, attended all the race activities and supported the marathon. He expressed an interest in continuing the marathon next year. Let's hope so. The local press wrote an nice article on the race and the Country Club that will be forwarded to all members of the club.
Thanks to all members who participated in making the reunion and marathon a huge successs. The Executive Committee of the Country Club invited Maury and her family to a pleasant and quiet dinner after the race to thank them for the efforts and support. The marathon could not have happened without their help. And can you believe it - an inagural marathon without one problem during the race?
UPDATE for 2015:
The Country Club received disappointing - but not surprising/unexpected - news about any future editions of a Kosovo Marathon. The Kosovo Sports Federation is no longer interested in continuing the successful inaugural marathon organized by our Country Club nor will they add a marathon distance to their annual Half Marathon race. Thus any future marathons will have to be organized by a Club outside the country?