Eagerly awaited throughout months of preparation and every stage carefully planned. At last, the big day arrived, the day of the AirportRun. Everything went like clockwork. My beloved Antonia was there to support me and the weather played along, too. And not only did I look fantastic, I was perfectly equipped, too, standing there in my sweatband instead of safety helmet, my comfy running shoes instead of wellingtons and my running kit in place of my boiler suit alongside more than 1,700 runners at the starting line. The atmosphere was electric and I was not the only person to be nervous on the day. Everyone wanted to grab a position as close to the starting line as possible. We set off at 6pm on the dot in Bohnsdorf. Our starter, Schoenefeld's mayor, Udo Haase, had us in suspense for what seemed like endless seconds: “On your marks …”, (deep breaths all round) “get set …”, (concentration) “… go!” Bang! And off we set like a great tidal wave. Puffing and panting, I jostled and jogged my way kilometre after kilometre between perspiring bodies slathered in creams and oils, past the runways, right across the BBI construction site and all the way to the finishing line at the Schoenefeld administration building. The reception awaiting us could not have been better: relaxed party atmosphere, live music from the Roccopyrats and a simply gorgeous Brandenburg summer evening. I did not end up holding the victor's trophy, but there were certainly no losers there that evening – and quite definitely not me. You see, I covered the no less than 21.0975 kilometres in 1:58:07h – my own personal world record!

Wersja drukowana berlin-airport.de (Copyright Berliner Flughäfen)