Reunited with China acquaintances
In both 2009 and 2010, I was in China in the same group as Michael, and in 2010, we were together with John. He is the runner who lost a lot of weight I wrote an article about. The two of them were going to run the Amsterdam Marathon on 17th October and asked me, if I wanted to join them.
Lads’ trip
I certainly did want to run in the Netherlands capital and asked Steffen, if he would like to join us. He said he would like to go to Amsterdam, but had other ideas entirely. Together with two of his mates, he wanted to spend Friday and Saturday on the town drinking beer and all that went with it. Emil didn’t want to go but I insisted. The trip fitted in with the autumn half term, so he wouldn’t miss a school day the following Monday.
Doubts about running
When I signed up for the marathon three months before the event, I was in good shape and looking forward to the experience. But in the meantime, my period of dizziness in September had put me out of the running for a while, and I was in doubt as to whether I would be able to run in Amsterdam. But everything was bought and paid for, and I was looking forward to the trip with my sons and the others. I didn’t actually reach my final decision until a few days before the run. At that time, I had trained very little because of my involuntary break.
Full car
Michael and John couldn’t leave until late in the afternoon, while the rest of us wanted to travel in daylight and be in Amsterdam by evening. In the end, five of us were in my car. We had a good journey, though. We took turns sitting in various seats, so I didn’t have to drive the whole way, and we shared the middle of the back seat.
We left Roskilde at around midday on Friday 15th October and were through Germany in no time, only stopping at a motorway café on the way. We arrived in Amsterdam in the early evening and found the Hotel De Filosof, where we had booked rooms. Steffen and his pals were going to town that evening, while Emil and I went to bed relatively early. We hadn’t slept very long, though, before we were woken by Michael and John on their arrival.
Impressions of Amsterdam
We didn’t see much of Steffen and the two other young men on that trip. Their pub crawl on the Friday had lasted most of the night, so they spent most of Saturday asleep. The rest of us went to pick up our running numbers at an exhibition hall and spent the day discovering the city of many canals.
Red light district
We met up in the evening to have a meal together at a restaurant, after which we went for a walk and ended up in the red light district. Amsterdam’s red light district was different to anything else I had ever seen. Up and down the streets, there was one shop window after another with prostitutes posing for passers-by. Each business premises was very narrow and in the background could be seen a bed. Through many of the windows one could also see roles of kitchen paper, lubricating cream, massage oil and various kinds of sex toys. There were doors in the windows themselves, so that customers could get in and out. In some places the blinds were down, so it was obvious that there were customers.
The character of the streets varied. In one area, Thai women were posing who didn’t look particularly womanly. Well-filled knickers bore witness to the fact that these were shemales or ladyboys. In a couple of places we saw tourists taking pictures of the “wares”, but this was not popular. Women who otherwise had smiles on their faces were angry and threatened the persistent photographers.
Coffee shops
In some places, we caught wind of a very special scent emanating from the establishment. These turned out to be coffee shops, where the consumption of marijuana is permitted. We were neither going to visit the ladies of ill repute or coffee shops. The young men went off into the night, while the rest of us returned to the hotel so as to be fresh for the Sunday run.
Lost chip
When on the Sunday morning we were to depart for the start, I realised that I didn’t have my registered chip in my shoes. I had started using new shoes since my last marathon and had thoughtlessly thrown out the old shoes without taking off the chip. I now really had to hurry to get down to the exhibition hall where I could rent a chip for the day’s marathon. So I arrived at the start panting and stressed at the last moment.
Olympic Stadium
The first Amsterdam Marathon was held on 3rd May 1975 and is one of the world’s most popular. The marathon was run for the very first time on 5th August 1928, at which time it was an Olympic discipline, and the city was hosting the world’s biggest sports event.
Ideal route
Like the rest of the Netherlands, the route of this marathon was relatively flat. So by definition, it was not a tough run, and the weather was good. It was autumn and not particularly cold, although at one place along the route we were met by a cold wind, I could well have done without. But it didn’t rain, so in many ways it was the ideal day for the event.
The start and finish were at the Olympic Stadium, built for the great event 82 years earlier. As I had previously experienced in Stockholm, waiting to start at a venue where Olympic runners had done the same many years ago was a very special experience.
Totally shattered
In brief, the race was tough – very tough. The weather and the terrain were ideal, but my state of health was not. I really should have done myself a favour and skipped this race. It was far too soon, considering the warning I had been given in the form of dizziness. But it wasn’t until after my body had told me to stop that I actually understood the warning.
The final few kilometres were particularly tough going, in fact completing them was quite horrendous. My time was 5:30:29, which was very slow for a run of this calibre.
Detour on the way home
At the finish I almost didn’t have the strength to bend down and take the rented chip of my shoe when it was time to hand it in.
After the run, I also had to walk back to the hotel. Probably because I was so worn out, I took a wrong turn and ended up taking a long detour. That was not exactly what I needed at that point in time.
End of the season
Michael and John were sitting in the bar when I arrived back at the hotel, and the four young men had taken my car home earlier in the day. We had supper at a Belgian restaurant, although my appetite was rather limited.
On Monday morning, it was time to go home, and it suited me just fine that Michael wanted to drive all the way. I sat on the back seat glad not to have to do anything at all. The season had now come to an end, which it in fact probably should have done a month earlier.
Jamie’s sad farewell
The day after I came home, I visited Jamie for the last time on the Crown of Scandinavia. It was her last day on the boat as well as her birthday. When I got to the gangplank, Jamie stood there crying. “It’s not a good day” she sobbed. They had held a party for her the previous evening, and she had been given presents. Now a good time was over for her, and it was time to say goodbye. This hurt, because she now felt as though she were part of the Crown.
Jamie had little appetite at lunch and didn’t say much. When we said goodbye later on in the car park, she burst into tears. I gave her a hug and whispered: “Jamie, my Chinese daughter”. That sentence has been with us ever since.
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