Long faces were not the only ones to be seen yesterday, the day of the Euro 2008 final. On the contrary, lots of people were in particularly high spirits. And I'm not talking about the Spanish, who celebrated their team's victory long into the night. No, I'm talking about – me, for instance. And a good 1,800 other runners for whom yesterday meant not just the Euro final, but also the 3rd AirportRun.

It was a complete success. Altogether more than 4,000 guests came along to the run. The temperatures were ideal. The mood was brilliant. The sideline programme super. And the field at least as international as the European Football Championship. In addition to entrants from all over Germany, there were running enthusiasts from Portugal, Spain, France, Scandinavia, the USA, England, Poland and lots more countries besides.

Precisely 1,655 runners and power walkers took part in the half-marathon, 150 in the 10k run. I freely admit I wasn't quite up to scratch for first place. But at least the winners were locals. The women's winner was Katja Neumann from Neuenhagen (1:25:13h), the men's, Karlheinz Wild from Blankenfelde (1:16:50h). Congratulations!

Berlin Airports CEO Dr Rainer Schwarz also joined in the run, and although he was a bit out of puff crossing the finishing line, he was still full of energy and enthusiasm. “The AirportRun has become a fixture in the Berlin race calendar,” he said, and also, “Over the coming years, we will continue to give all running fans the opportunity to see for themselves how we are progressing on the BBI construction site.”

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