The 4th Company Challenge Run on September 16th, 2010 took place in the Rheinaue. The AIB also participated in this event: Nine highly motivated and well trained AIB employees went to complete a 5,7km track across the Rheinaue park. The head of team was Ture, who already handled the registration of the team and who could, as a marathon runner, set a sportive example for the rest of us. A part of the registration fees as well as some separate donations were used as charitable gifts. Altogether, 12.672€ were given to the Mukoviszidose e.V. and the Care Deutschland-Luxembourg e.V.
On a meadow in the Rheinaue, the City of Bonn had arranged a stage and tents which housed some of the participating companies. Since 4pm, a program with moderation and music was organized for the runners. When we arrived at 5.45pm, the meadow was already full of runners.
Even though the weather wasn't that kind to us (it was rainy and windy), we didn't freeze. Thanks to a collective Warm-Up half an hour before the start, our muscles were perfectly prepared for the run. We already started sweating before the start of the run!
At 6.30pm, we heard the kick off signal and more than 6.000 peoples, young and old, men and women, started to move at the same time. Some of them were dressed in special outfits, with screaming colors, jingling waist belts and funny slogans on their shirts, to draw more attention to their company and to win the prize for the best outfit afterwards. The AIB didn't think that big: First of all, we wanted to act as a group and manage the 5,7km without any unforeseen occurrences... And even without special effects, our beloved white AIB shirts still stood out in the crowd.
For the most time, we run on flat roads, but there were also two aclivities which were a real challenge. You can't imagine how high the hills in the Rheinaue can be after 20 minutes running!
However – we did it without short cuts or extra breaks. Our goal to finish the track under 30 minutes as a group was met – it only took us 27minutes and 10 seconds to make our way to the finish line through the masses of people. Before we went back home, we stopped for a drink at one of the tents. Exhausted and with red heads, but also satisfied with our success, we came back to the AIB and hoped to wake up the next morning without any muscles aching!
In all, the run was a complete success! Everything went smoothly and resulted in good spirits for the whole team. To be a part of that gigantic crowd of runners was a great experience for us. It also was a nice change of the daily office life. Next Summer, we hope to involve more students and their host-families in this great running event so that we can all represent our AIB together. Perhaps we will also win the prize for the best outfit then! :-)
For pictures and videos head over to the Company Challenge Run website or take a look at our Facebook page!
