October 10th-14th 2024

Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary.  It is the 9th largest city in Europe and the second largest on the Danube River.  In a city that dates back to the stone age, it is widely known as the ‘city of spa’s’ due to its thermal springs, offering a touch of ancient Roman and Ottoman traditions.  With stunning architecture 🏨 , great food 🥘 and beautiful scenery, for many of that went the consensus was ‘we would love to come back’.

With everyone having chosen their own accommodation 🛌 and flights ✈️ to suit home life/family etc, from late Thursday (10th) evening it was a constant stream of Harriers arriving with Flick ⭐️, the last to arrive on Saturday evening.  With so much to offer in the city we all communicated our fabulous finds of bars 🍻, excursions ⛴️ , districts, meals and photographs 📸 by a trusty WhatsApp chat.  Some favoured the cherry beer 🍺 and goulash of an Irish bar ☘️ whilst others took a walking tour to find out the history of an amazing city.

But of course, the only way to truly see a city and its sights is to run 🏃🏽‍♀️ around it and run we did! 🏃🏻‍♂️ 🏃🏽 🏃🏽‍♀️

With many distances added to the marathon festival as the months grew nearer, there was a distance for everyone.  On the Saturday morning, kicking off the events for the weekend, Dee took on her first ever 10K, she smashed the miles finishing with a winning smile and a PB in an impressive 1:13:52

Next up were Alan 🍕, Ross 🙌 , Ads 🦈 , Tina ⚽️ , Tracy 🐶 , KT 🦆, Oli 💷, Becky 🌷, Lisa 🦵🏻, Tinks 🧚🏻, Fluffy 🐌, Graham 😂 and Wendy 🌼 who took part in the 5K – a leg stretcher (as Alan calls it) to shakeout them out pre-race on Sunday morning.  We were blessed with blue skies and sunshine ☀️ making it a relaxed, fun morning.  We all got very excited at the finish as we were handed a post-race goodie bag (by far the largest we have ever seen) and we even received an unexpected medal made of gold (not real) but very shiny 🥇

Claire Daws 🥰 was next up running with the Ledge 🖤❤️in the 2.5km race – she rounded the corner all smiles to a Harriers welcome home, receiving an identical goodie bag and gold bling.

After fuelling on pasta and pizza 🍕, many chose an evening river cruise 🚢 up the Danube, this was the ideal finalè to a great day before heading home for the obligatory flat-lay picture and rest 🛌 before the events of the morning.

Sunday morning arrived with more blue skies, a light breeze, sunshine and perfect temperatures for running.  The start atmosphere was electric ⚡️, even Cathy showed everyone her dancing moves 🕺🏽, and at 9am the horn sounded for the marathoners, the 14K-ers, and the relay marathoners.  Team black and red, were off and running 🖤❤️

45 minutes later across the river and slightly upstream, the horn sounded again as the start of the 30K runners🏃🏽‍♀️ joined the party with the relay runners eagerly awaiting their team mates to appear on the opposite side.

Each route took in a variety of notable sights including The Parliament Building, Margaret Island, The Chain Bridge, The Elizabeth Bridge, Buda Castle, House of Terror, Fisherman’s Bastion, the opera House and The Statue of Liberty, with all the races finishing together at City park to a loud and long funnel of cheers 🎉

Race Results:

14km: KT 🦆1:06:03 PB, Flick ⭐️ 1:15:02 PB, Shaun 🐘 1:20:08 PB, Nemo 🐠 1:28:06 PB

Marathon Relay: Cathy 🥿 and Louisa 🚁 4:32:47, Tinks 🧚🏻 & Fluffy 🐌 3:22:44

30km: Lisa Little Legs 🦵🏻 2:39:56, Tash 🍹 2:57:43 PB and Kirstie 🏊‍♀️ 3:33:16 PB

Marathon – Ads 🦈 3:23:18, Oli 💷3:26:36 PB, Matt 🏋🏼‍♀️ 3:36:22, Wendy 🌼3:33:45 PB, Graham 😂 3:43:12, Tina ⚽️ 3:49:51, Tracy 🐶 3:52:05, Ross 🙌4:04:26, Alan 🍕4:10:21, Gemma 💎 4:50:21 PB, Becks 🌹 4:48:22, The Ledge 🖤❤️4:54:54 and Annette 💚 4:54:54

After showers, food, rest and letting folks at home know finishing times and for many; personal bests, it was time to hit the ruin bars for celebratory beers 🍻 🍺 . For some it was all of the above, before heading to the airport for an evening’s flight back to London Gatwick ✈️

Monday morning saw blue skies and sunshine again, with many enjoying brekkies before heading to the airport ✈️ and others enjoying the local spa baths (lucky sausages) before an evening’s flight home.

Lucky Claire 🥰 and The Ledge 🖤❤️got to stay until Thursday, they spent the rest of their trip resting, relaxing, visiting the castle and enjoying the local chimney cakes 🍰

When summing up the weekend in one sentence, here’s what some had to say ⬇️

Alan 🍕‘Maybe just one more marathon’

Tash 🍹’Simply Fabulous’

Cathy 🥿‘Where else can you do a relay marathon’?

Oli 💷 ‘Turns out I might like marathons’

Tinks🧚🏻 ‘An epic weekend of sightseeing, laughing and drinking Cherry Beer, with a little bit of running thrown in.  Thank you Alan for bringing us all together … AGAIN! Can’t wait for the 2025 edition.

Graham 😂‘inSPARational running’

Becky H 🌹 ‘A beautiful city, late night shenanigans, making new friends, an amazing road marathon finished by celebrating everyone’s amazing achievements’

KT 🦆‘So many laughs and twatty moments with great friends, and of course running’

Wendy🌼 ‘The inclusiveness of such a wonderful club, so much laughing (not at mile 20), lots of poo talk and generally a completely feel-good weekend.  Already looking forward to next year’.

Louisa 🚁 ‘Emotional, Inspiring and proud’.

Fluffy 🐌‘A brilliant weekend, with great company and outstanding performances all round’

Nemo 🐠‘A fab weekend of fun, friends and frolics with the Harriers on Tour, topped off by some great running achievements’

Annette 💚’I highly recommend Alan’s HH running Tours and give them 5 stars’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Gem💎 ‘The highlight of my year, a fantastic weekend with fantastic people’

Ads🦈 ‘A European adventure that had it all’

Shaun 🐘 ‘I didn’t even have one burger’

Tracy 🐶 ‘So many good memories and what a beautiful city at night.  Loved the boat trip, my first marathon abroad with top company and support’

Huge shout out to our Harriers cheer squad and supporters; Paul 🍻, James 🛴 and Michelle 🍺

The plans are in progress for next years ‘Harriers on Tour’ so listen out folks.