HPH – AMSTERDAM 2016

It’s home to Amsterdam’s most expensive hotel room at £8,000 a night, a members-only club, €15 gin and tonics, and panoramic views of the city.  Last Sunday, Hyde Park Harriers introduced Leeds (1am Sunday morning) to the exclusive Amsterdam Tower bar.

As the last HPH glass smashed on the exquisite dance floor, and the finger sucking moneyed classes of the City shuffled quickly away to the plush seating deck, it was a chance for the Harriers to look out over the brightly lit City Centre, and reflect on a great weekend of running and Dutch culture…

HPH On-Tour

To celebrate 10 years of Hyde Park Harriers, Rebecca put together an amazing trip for 24 runners and supporters of the club, based around 3 Amsterdam races.

We arrived on Friday at the clinknoord hostel, and immediately began carb loading in preparation for the racing on Sunday.  The marathon runners (requiring more carbs than other runners), focused on beer-pong before heading out into Amsterdam to negotiate entry into clubs requiring dinner jackets, and then some standing-up corridor sleeping (Paul) to strengthen lower abdominal muscles and hamstrings.

Saturday was a rest day for everyone.  After a trip to the marathon expo we split into smaller groups to explore Amsterdam on foot.  Whilst some members of the club were inspired by Rembrandt, Van Gough, and the impact of the Dutch Golden Age on Amsterdam’s canal development, others preferred to browse Amsterdam’s long tradition of tolerance with an exploratory trip to the rosse buurt.

The HPH support crew, plus marathon and 8km runners were up early on the Sunday morning.  Knak Worst, the very latest in ergogenic aids, were cooked up Liz for Tom Mason in the hostel kitchen.  The team then set off to the Olympic Stadium, whilst the Half Marathon runners focused on the mental aspect of the day ahead, sleeping in until 8:30 (sorry Jaz!)

The marathon started and finished in the Olympic stadium, following the River Amstel south, before turning back for a quick tour of the City via the Rijksmuseum.  Tom was first back, smashing out a superb pb of 03:22:41, whilst Farhad also grabbed a pb, just a week after the Yorkshire marathon.  Chris finished, gliding around the course with an on-schedule, good for age marathon time, of 03:41:46.  Matty, who had been marathon tapering successfully for over a month, ran into the Olympic Stadium in just under 6 hours, supported by a HPH support crew that picked him up at multiple locations around the route.

TCS Amsterdam Marathon Results
		Time	Cat	Club	Pos Overall	Cat Pos
Daniel	Wanjiru	02:05:20	MSEN	Kenya	1/12186	1/2767
Tom	Mason	03:22:41	MSEN	Hyde Park Harriers	2343/12186	711/2767
Fahad	Hamed	03:28:11	M35	Hyde Park Harriers	2807/12186	451/1382
Chris	Jones	03:41:46	M60	Hyde Park Harriers	4300/12186	56/236
John	King	04:46:07	MSEN		10724/12186	2545/2767
Matt	Gray	05:50:34	MSEN	Hyde Park Harriers	12073/12186	2747/2767

The 8km runners set off just after the marathon start, and completed a flat loop of the City, with a fast finish through Vondelpark.  Jonny completed a Mason double, by finishing as top Harrier in this event.  Laura, was just behind- finishing in a brilliant 53^rd out of 2499 in her category.  9 Harriers completed the run into the Stadium, before setting up to support the Half Marathon and Marathon runners.

TCS Amsterdam 8 Kilometer Results
		Time	Cat	Club	Pos Overall	Cat Pos
Jonny	Mason	00:36:41	MRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	226/4647	200/2147
Laura	Cummings	00:37:58	VRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	328/4647	53/2499
Clare	Evans	00:42:22	VRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	813/647	207/2499
Mick	Mason	00:48:46	MRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	2158/4647	1196/2147
Ciara	Crossan	00:48:46	VRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	2161/4647	965/2499
Jaz	Bangerh	00:52:35	VRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	3094/4647	1561/2499
Clare	Mason	00:54:43	VRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	3500/4647	1837/2499
Liz	Jones	00:55:55	VRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	3665/4647	1936/2499
Sara	Scholes	00:56:10	VRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	3695/4647	1953/2499
Tana	Briggs	00:56:10	VRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	3696/4647	1954/2499

As the afternoon heat rose above 20 degrees, the Half Marathon runners prepared for their 1:20pm start.  Whilst George sprinted ahead to complete an excellent 80-minute half, Mike, Colin, Paul, and Matt battled to keep up.  The polite applause from the locals was drowned out by the HPH spectators on the route, as Amsterdam was shaken awake by our own brand of Yorkshire-style vocal support.  Great running, and fantastic Hyde Park Harrier support all-round.

Mizuno Amsterdam Half Marathon Results
		Time	Cat	Club	Pos Overall	Cat Pos
George	Anderson	01:20:15	MRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	49/14837	48/8837
Mike	Gallagher	01:25:16	MRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	161/14837	152/8837
Colin	Tranter	01:30:35	MRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	398/14837	367/8837
Paul	Sawyer	01:36:35	MRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	910/14837	831/8837
Matt	Wood	01:45:22	MRECR	Hyde Park Harriers	2369/14837	2094/8837

We then retired to a great restaurant overlooking the noordzeekanaal that Robin (s) very kindly booked.  Undeterred by the 12 bottle of wine, 3 bottles of prosecco, and 20 pints of Dutch lager – we left the restaurant and pushed on past the Amsterdam Tower security team, to complete the traditional Kenyan post-race drink of 3 tequilas and a gin and tonic.

Thanks to the Dutch Police for allowing Paul Sawyer to go free (without charge), special thanks to Becky for organizing- and thank-you to all the Harriers that contributed to such a brilliant weekend.  See you next year!