The Mitsubishi Brüggen Ten Roadrace.

Introduction

Welcome from the Mitsubishi Brüggen 10 Team, we hope that you will find all the current and some past information regarding this long standing road race on the following pages, and if necessary you can feel free to contact us for more information or for queries. The Brüggen 10 continues to be a excellent event, and is still attracting over 800 adult runners and 200 – 300 children for the fun runs. It is an international road race with athletes competing from all over Europe, particularly Holland, Belgium, Germany and the UK. It is extremely pleasing to see so many current and former members of RAF Brüggen turning up year on year and continuing to support the event. Despite members of the current Elmpt Station being deployed on Operations, we are pleased to say that despite being unable to attend this year's event, they organized their own race in a variety of locations around the world. The funds raised by the race are used to support service and local charities and it provides an opportunity for individuals or teams to raise money for their own chosen charity or to simply achieve a goal. This 28th year of the race we are supporting Help For Heroes & The Army Benevolent Fund.

History

The Brüggen 10 was first held at RAF Brüggen on the 22 March 1980 with a field of 90 competitors taking part, this inaugural race was won by Gunther Schmitz, a guest German International Athlete coming home in a time of 50 minutes and 46 seconds. The event has always relied on local sponsorship and we are extremely grateful to our current major sponsor Mitsubishi Motors. There has always been a mixture of professional, semi professional and individuals out for a fun run taking part in this race. Since the start of the race and at the high point as many as 1500 competitors have taken part in rain, hail, snow and of course some sunshine with finishing times generally being around 50 minutes. Saturday 28th April 2001 saw the running of the last race organized by the RAF an Herr Gunter Schmitz of Geilenkirchen the first overall winner of the first event in attendance. To mark this event the RAF presented a ceremonial scroll to the then Commanding Officer of 7th Signal Regiment, Lt Col Jim Richardson and challenged him to organize the event in 2002 and thereafter. The scroll contains the words “upholding the values and traditions of the Brüggen 10”, which 7th Signal Regiment has continued to do, although this would not be as easy without the continued presence of Willy Luys on the committee, who continues to serve us well and compete each year. We are very grateful to Willy for his support.

The Course

The course is a 10 mile course, which is approximately 16km set around the current Elmpt Station, formally known as RAF Brüggen. The start of the race is on the former runway with competitors spending the first 2 miles running around the Station Housing estate, which is flat although there are several bends and turns to negotiate. This part of the race is well signed with marshals present on all the major junctions. From here the race continues out onto the former airfield road for approximately 6 miles which is relatively flat although the 7 mile point sees a slight incline. The final 2 miles brings the runners back through the Housing Estate for extra encouragement before proceeding back onto the runway to the finish and the appreciation of the spectators. Water stops are provided throughout the race and medical cover, should it be required is provided by the German Red Cross.