On Friday 14th July 2019, 14 Wreake Runners made an early start to East Midlands Airport to board the plane to Wroclaw, Poland. We arrived in Poland before lunch, we caught the bus from the airport into the city, dropped our bags off at the hotel, quickly changed into shorts and made our way to the restaurant where we had lunch booked. It was a beautiful 31 degrees which is lovely, however always at the back of my mind was the looming half marathon, I never run well in heat.
The afternoon was spent exploring the main square and surrounding market stalls and shops, inevitably we all ended up in one of the bars nicknamed “The Peanut Bar” by previous Wreake Runners, where we had a chance to sit and chat and get to know each other.
Later that evening we hopped onto a tram and made our way to the race village to pick up our numbers and race goody bag, this was a first for me as I have never picked up a race bag pre-race before. The race bag was really good it contained kabanosy (like a peparami) a vegan cereal bar, Polish crisps, 2 x non-alcoholic mini cans of lager, 2 x energy gels, a square of sponge that we all wondered at, and other items that I can’t now remember. We also picked up our race T-Shirt, I opened mine and immediately realised that it was going to be far too snug, a kind man from one of the Expo stalls took pity on me and went to ask the stern looking lady dishing out the T-shirts if they would swap it for me, she said no. The man was not going to take no for an answer and went over to the lady in charge whom he informed me was a friend of his, the next thing I know they both went back to the T-Shirt lady and a few minutes later he was marching over to me with a larger T-Shirt, I really couldn’t believe how lucky I was, I gave him a hug, but didn’t buy any trainers from his stall !
The next morning 5 of us made our way to parkrun (would be rude not too) the sun was already hot, which didn’t bode well for later. There were other parkrun tourists there so quite a few people to chat to, the Run Director also made a point of coming over to talk to us. There were quite a few people wearing the Wroclaw half marathon race T-Shirt, so lots of other runners as mad as us. 9 am came along and there was a mass warm up (I have only ever seen this at junior parkrun) and then we had a group photo taken, a lot more laid back than an English parkrun. The course itself is a straight out and back along a river pathway not particularly scenic but very flat, here were a few shaded areas under trees which helped keep the sun off us, definitely a great course for a PB. First Wreake Runner back was Steve Bates in 24.10, Richard Palmer was a true gent and let myself and Emma Machowska cross the finish before him, our times were 30.58, 30.59 and 31.00 respectively, Fiona Bates finished in 32.17. At the finish there was what I thought was a water dispenser, it was actually warm sweet black tea, which was surprisingly refreshing in the already sweltering heat.
The rest of the day before the race was spent with a bit more sightseeing, worrying about the weather and worrying about fuelling and trying to get some rest.
Our taxis picked us up from the hotel at 8.30pm to take us to the start, the taxi drivers were having trouble to get us there as there were lots of road closures due to the race. Eventually we came to a stop, some policemen were blocking the road and we got out to walk the last mile or so to the start. We all got split up into little groups as we were walking at different speeds, and all of a sudden it seemed dusk had turned into night, myself, Emma, Michelle and Irena made a quick dash to the bushes for a wee as time was ticking. We made our way towards the start area however we needed to go to the bag drop, none of us knew where it was, we seemed to be wading through hundreds of runners all heading in the opposite direction to us, after stopping a few people and asking them where it was we eventually found it, it was not signposted very well and there were no marshals around to ask anybody. Over the Tannoy I could hear that we had 3 & ½ minutes until the start, we said cheerio to Irena and started jogging to our start area, unfortunately we had to fight our way through 3 other start areas to get there. It was all a bit of a panic but eventually we got to the right zone and even managed to take a selfie before the start. Whilst we were waiting there were flashes of fork lightening in the distance and rumbles of thunder, then the rain started, and we were off.
The start has you running through the speedway arena where there were hundreds of people spectating in the seating area, there is music playing and a cheery bloke on the loudspeaker revving everyone up. The first mile was really congested, at some points I had to slow down to a walk, and this was my slowest mile, the humidity was also oppressive, my limbs felt lead like and I was literally dripping with sweat off my chin (something that doesn’t happen to me usually until I stop running) the rain was also washing the sweat into my eyes so they were stinging. I did manage to see Steve Bates and Philippa Kurys as they gave me a shout out.
The next few miles ticked over and my pace improved a bit and I re-assessed my race plan, thoughts of a PB went out the window and the strategy was now to keep ticking the miles over as consistently as I could for as long as I could, and still the rain kept coming, I was dressed in a vest and short shorts and I was still hot, very bizarre.
Like a true Brit I was hugging the left-hand side of the road, however the water stations were on the right, I had gone past the first one before I had realised. I noticed some white cubes set out on the tables that I later realised were sugar cubes! Each water station was set out the same, sugar cubes, bowls of water (for dipping your sponge in) bright blue energy drink, then water, all in plastic cups.
There didn’t seem to be many Marshalls out on the course, I did notice there to be a Police presence. There were more spectators than I was expecting lining the route huddled under umbrellas and lots of encouragement being given to the runners. We ran past a group of what seemed to me to be inebriated people singing “we will, we will rock you” at the tops of their voices, and a group of 4 priests handing out high 5’s (only in Poland!)
I found it strange to run in a race where I didn’t recognise any club vests, however I enjoyed reading the Polish slogans on the vests people were wearing. The course was very flat, and we spent miles and miles running over cobbles and tram lines, you really needed to keep your eye on the road in front of you. The rain had not eased up at all, however it had got cooler and I felt more comfortable, it did make the road very slippery and I saw two people slip over. Every time I asked someone to “excuse me” they seemed to love hearing my English voice and I got lots of nice encouragement.
The final mile was quite dark and there was a bright light shining in my face as I neared the finish, I tried to focus on this light, wishing it all to be over. I could hear the commentator again, and the roar of the crowd and the music blaring out. Once I entered the stadium the ground became soft underfoot from the hundreds of runners that had finished in front on me and had churned up the speedway track. I managed a bit of a sprint finish and was pleased it was done, it was a great atmosphere in the stadium with people cheering you across the line.
I followed the people in front of me to collect my really cool “Gnome” medal (it’s a Wroclaw thing) which doubles up as a bottle opener. I then collected my bottle of water and energy drink and made my way to the exit of the arena, once out of the arena we were handed a gold space blanket which I wrapped around me as I was starting to get cold pretty quickly because of my sopping wet clothes, I followed the crowd and found myself in an area where they were handing out hot soups, I really couldn’t stomach this so turned around and made my way to the bag drop.
On the way there I bumped into Artur, Ian and Rhiannon and we had a quick chat about the race, everyone was disappointed with their times and had run slower than expected, the humidity and rain had taken its toll on all of us.
I waited patiently at our meeting point for everyone to make their way over, I hadn’t even noticed that the rain had stopped.
The first finisher for Wreake was Rhiannon in 1.31.57 and 13th lady, Ian Hiller was next with 1.36.57 then Artur Lasinski with 1.42.32, Gosia Garner was next in 1.52.01 then Richard Palmer in 1.58.56, Emma Machowska finished in 2.07.21 and Michelle Lattimore 2.07.22, Zenon Kurys finished in 2.24.45, Fiona Bates finished in 2.25.28 and Irena Cox in 2.28.31 .
Hats off to Philippa Kurys and Steve Bates who were standing around in the rain waiting for us all to finish, they must have been frozen, we didn’t feel the cold whilst running.
I can’t speak for the rest of the group as we all had different opinions of the race, however I absolutely loved it, I enjoyed how it was different to the other half’s I have done, yet still a familiar format, a whole new racing experience for me (I have done quite a few). I would not hesitate in booking to do it again or another one in a different Polish city.
I would like to thank Artur for organising the trip he did a great job, and for how welcoming all the Wreake Runners were as I am relatively new to the club.
After the race we had showers and went out for a few drinks, it was then a race to see who had the endurance to be “the last man standing” ……………..
Gosia Garner
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