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The 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships could have been the best-ever edition of the championships in history, so far. I was lucky to have been there in person, and it is taking almost a month for me to digest everything that I saw and experienced there. It was simply amazing; an out-of-this-world experience.
Running on the new track at the Athletics Centre, using the same marathon course for the mass 10K race, visiting the Museum of World Athletics, watching Faith Kipyegon, Noah Lyles, and Sha’Carri Richardson run in person, and witnessing many other wonders in the stadium were some of the highlights of this exceptionally amazing trip that I had from Budapest.
From the statistical figures from the World Athletics report on the Championships, a record 2100 athletes from 195 countries competed in Budapest. More than 400,000 tickets were sold to spectators from 120 countries at the stadium.
Not only were the seats in the stadium sold out for most of the events but the internet was also jammed with athletic fans.
The World Athletics website’s live results platform got unprecedented internet visits, forcing it to go down in some instances. On day one, traffic on the website was more than double that of any previous event. At peak times, it received over 400,000 requests per minute, and up to 14 million per hour.
This could only happen with great input from the local organizers of the event, the government of Hungary, the sponsors and the volunteers.
Being an accredited Media, the sponsors that touched me in person include the iFlytek Information Technology Company, that were giving out free gadgets to the media. I got their iFlytek smart recorder pro, which costs about $420 in the market. Their revolutionary recorder can “effortlessly transcribe spoken words into text, capturing every moment with unmatched clarity and accuracy. Whether it’s a captivating lecture, a heartfelt interview, or a powerful speech, it adapts seamlessly to your needs.” I have been able to use it a few times now, and it is simply amazing!
Sony Company provided me with their Sony Alpha 1 camera and some powerful lenses to go with it. I could capture photos from anywhere in the stadium while seated at my table!
The city of Budapest also provided us with free use of the public transport systems there so we would use them -train, tram and buses- in case we were not using the official event shuttles. This came in handy a number of times, when one wanted to head over to their hotel ahead of the official shuttle times, or whenever they were left behind by the shuttles.
Of the three public transport options, I used the tram the most. That way, I was able to meet a number of Budapest residents heading over to the Athletics Centre as well and get to interact with them. As the tram passed through different points on their line, it kept announcing the stations in Hungarian language, then it would announce the stop, Kozvagohid H, near the Athletics Centre in English.
Not that it would have been possible for anyone to get lost here, given the flow of traffic heading to the stadium, and the large number of volunteers wearing orange T-shirts also alighting from the same vehicles and always ready to help.
One-in-a-life-time experiences from the Budapest World Championships
What better experience would one ask from a World Championships event after I got to run on the same track where the world’s best were using, in addition to also getting to run on the same Marathon course?
The media race, which was 800m on track, was on the morning of day 4. It was one of my moments to cherish from the Budapest World Championships. That morning, there were no competitions on the official timetable for the championships, but there were two starters from Kenya: David Rudisha, the two time Olympic and world Champion who holds the world record for the men’s 800m event, and yours truly running in lane four of heat 8. The only difference between Rudisha and me was that he had the starter gun, and I had the running shoes.
Rudisha must have been scanning around for any Kenyan media ready to race as he appeared excited to finally see me. “Lagat, where are the rest of the Kenyan media?” he wondered as we met briefly, wished me good luck and asked me to represent Kenya well. There were almost 200 participants from across the world entered into eleven heats.
Together with former British decathlete Daley Thompson and Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic, Rudisha was one of the ambassadors of the Budapest World Championships and it was a great moment for some journalists to take some pictures with him and ask a few questions during the media race.
There will be many memories to take home from the Budapest World Championships, and one memory will definitely be participating in the media race. I was surprised to see the tremendous talent within the media as a number of runners ran under 2 minutes. In a blanket finish, four runners dived across the finish line in 1:56 minutes in heat 9.
Well, now I know how runners feel in the last bend when they are leading in a race and a chasing pack is breathing down on their necks and threatening to overtake.
However, the main thing was to have fun. Young and old, the media got to feel not only the hot track that the athletes they are reporting about are using but the heat of running hard as well.
It was my first time participating in the unique race, but I could tell that performances from previous competitions have kept fueling media teams to prepare well in order to do better next time. The level of competition in future media races could go up, and hopefully, the fitness levels of the media too.
On the last day of the championships, on the 27th of August, I also got to run the 10K mass race and won a finisher’s medal and an Asics T-shirt to take home from the Budapest World Championships.
The mass race’s distance was reduced to around 6K due to the hot weather. Despite the heat, the experience was amazing. The fans and spectators along the course were wonderful and the water at the aid stations was well supplied by a good number of volunteers. From this experience, I also got something to learn as an online long distance running coach as well.
“The Heroes’ Run was a fitting conclusion to the World Athletics Championships road races, a beautiful culmination of the power of a world competition to promote recreational sports. For this unforgettable experience, we extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who joined us at Heroes’ Square today and either ran, jogged, or walked the distance. We congratulate and are immensely proud of all the participants,” said Balázs Németh, CEO of Budapest 2023 organizing committee.
Another amazing experience was that of being one of the more than 38,000 people who visited the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) exhibition in the Etele Plaza in Budapest.
One needs to visit the place to see in person the amazing history of Athletics and find some surprising revelations from checking out the facts surrounding the past world’s top performances. I was fascinated by the sporting implements, the racing shoes and running singlets from the earlier generations.
I also got to meet the director of the World Athletics Heritage department, Christopher Turner, and got a little of his valuable time as he briefly showed me around the museum before getting to attend to other athletic fans who needed his attention as well.
He has great vision for this department and it will only get better and better going into the next World Championships. One thing I know for sure now is that I shall never miss to visit the MOWA exhibition in all my future travels to the world championship events.
The good things I noticed about the Budapest City
- The transport system in Budapest was the best
One day, after the morning session was over, we decided to take a short tour of the city with one colleague from Zambia. As we were just about to leave the stadium, we caught up with a media lady from Ukraine and she was more than happy to explore the city with us.
With the Go App, it was easy to connect transport lines via tram lines to any destination you wanted in the city. So, we took tram number 24 up to a certain point (Magdolna utca), alighted and took tram number 37 to our destination (Blaha Lujza ter M). Cramming those names and numbers was useful as I would later get detached from my two colleagues and had to find my way back to the Stadium alone.
Blaha is in the CBD of Budapest city and it was an interesting place to be.
So, this is how I got lost. We visited a supermarket, after taking some soft drinks –I can’t remember the name of the drinks- at a restaurant there.
The lady from Ukraine had picked up a basket to pick up some things at the supermarket, and, being a Kenyan man, I decided to give her some distance since I had no idea what she intended to buy. After a few minutes, I went towards the exit and I could not see any of my two colleagues. I waited for a while outside, then, decided to go back to the stadium on my own.
I arrived at the stadium ahead of them. They were happy to finally find me there.
“We searched everywhere for you for almost an hour,” the lady said. Well, who knows? The man might have been glad that I gave them some ample time together!
- The city of Budapest embraced the World Athletics event
From the driver who drove me to the airport on my last day in Budapest, to the billboards I saw in different parts of the city, to the branded buses and trams plying around the National Athletics Centre; the city of Budapest welcomed the event with open arms.
“Overall, the residents of the city are so happy about the world championships having taken place here. But, like the case with most government projects, there are people who always see the negative side of things and are concerned that a lot of money may have been used in organizing the event and building the stadium,” the driver opined.
- One meets nice people in Budapest.
With no events happening on the morning of the third day in Budapest, I took time to go out on a morning run, shop, explore Budapest, and learn a little about Hungary.
I had asked the receptionist at the hotel where I stayed, the Ibis Styles Budapest Citywest Hotel, to recommend a good route to go for a short jog. He gave me a direction and told me the area around was good and safe for doing a jog. Then as an afterthought, he asked, “How long would you like to take, and the distance?”
“Around 10K,” I answered, and he was a bit surprised. So, he gave me a totally different plan, and I ended up at Bikas Park in Kelenfold City Center.
The park was so impressive. It was spacious, with a tartan track for jogging, a few people walking their cute dogs around, and a few runners jogging.
Despite the language barrier, the general public in the Hungarian capital was always happy to guide and help. On the 20th, the bus left me from my hotel on the second day of the championships, and as I was walking about trying to figure out how to get to the stadium, a young man named Daniel, in the company of his sister, came alongside me. He greeted me and asked if I was headed to the Athletics Center. I said yes.
“Come with us; we are also headed there,” he said.
There was a huge traffic flow of people heading in that direction, so I could tell I was on the right track. I also had some information about the Tram number to take and the directions. Daniel gave me a lot of information about Hungary and a little history about the celebrations that were to happen in the evening.
Well, in the evening, there were fireworks to celebrate the Hungarian Independence Day, and I was lucky to witness it. Daniel told me it is one of the oldest celebrations in that country, dating back to almost 1,000 years ago. The 20th of August was first celebrated in 1092 when King Ladislaus declared it a sacred day and proposed the canonization of Stephen.
Daniel is a good representation of the general public here, as I have already met too many nice people within such a short time.
In just the third day of the championships, Budapest felt like home. I thought I was going to have a problem with shopping here, but everything was going as smoothly as it would at home. It is the people who make it homely.
I also got to meet some of my work colleagues there, but more importantly, after more than 5,000 articles and over twelve years, I finally got to meet my boss, Larry Eder.
The only thing I had a little difficulty trying to adjust to was the warm weather. It was mostly around 92 Fahrenheit at the stadium as I worked, a temperature I have never encountered since I was born! But, all in all, I had a great time in Budapest.
Yegon kipkurui