BRIDGE THE GAP BELGRADE
#BTGBGD The #BTGBGD is the Bridge the Gap organized by our friends BURT together with 442 CREW. It's held in Belgrade on 14 - 19 April 2016. First time met them at the BTGAMS in 2014. So stoked that they are now hosting their own BTGBGD and they've done a fantastic job.
- Thursday / BURT bus / KGB bar It all started on Thursday 14 April. Upon arrival at the airport we got picked up by a personal BURT bus shuttle service. First ever for a BTG, they dropped us off at our host. The hosts were true BURT ambassadors and made us feel at home immediately. We met up later at night at KGB bar for a shake out run. (Un)fortunately it start pouring rain so we started with pre party instead. Steadily more crewsaders arrived at the KGB bar and it was lit. Especially when Rakija a typical Serbian alcoholic drink came into play. It was a night well spend. - Friday / Shake out run / KENOZOIK pasta party Friday it was hard to get up. The crewsaders met up with BURT / 442 CREW for the postponed shake out run. We ran through the center of Belgrade and went to the Castle with a beautiful view of the city. At night we met up at the pasta party place KENZOIK, which looked like a previous abandoned factory place rebuild into a stylish party location. It had a cool vibe to it. The carbloading options was very good. You could choose from varied prepared pasta and meat. Also vegans got their pick. BURT / 442 CREW had already taken care of our BIB pick up and created a cool BTGBGD Nike event shirt. They've practically spared us the time of going to the expo and the hassle of BIB pick up. - Saturday / BTG tent group photo / Race and Cheer / DERBY / Monsun Club RUNDOWN BELGRADE Saturday was going to be an epic day with so many events action packed in one day. Early in the morning, the crewsaders met up at the BTG tent for group photo before heading out to the starting line. Few of the crewsaders ran the full marathon, big respect. Majority of the crewsaders opted for the half. In hindsight with the hot weather and the hilly course it was the most comfortable choice. The cheer section was on the Branko's bridge, which you passed 2 times. With the sheer amount of people cheering and the good vibes you were guaranteed to get a boost to run faster if you past that section. After finishing the half you joined up at the cheer section to cheer for the maratonians. After a well deserved rest and some food we went to a football derby between redstar versus partizan. It's a high risk game with riot police action guaranteed. This was certainly lit with fireworks and stadium demolition. Definitely an once in a lifetime experience. Thanks BURT / 442CREW for this unforgettable memory. Later in the night RUNDOWN Belgrade powered by Urbanears started in the Monsun Club. Nice tunes and free drinks got the party started. The awards ceremony was one of the highlights of the night and we cheered for them who earned their awards. - Sunday / BTG Park New to the BTG concept was the BTG PARK where every crew was represented by a planted tree and money was raised for a good cause. Also a plaque was revealed with Bridge the Gap and all the BTG trees that were represented to commemorate this day. After the ceremony and group picture we said goodbye to our old and new friends. And sadly for some of us this #BTGBGD has come to an end while others continued on the Monday and Tuesday. Luckily the pictures of this epic weekend kept still flowing in. - Epilogue / thank U note
Thanks BURT / 442 CREW for hosting #BTGBGD you've done a great job and introduced some innovative concepts to the BTG movement. The theme "to make a connection where there is a great difference" for BTGBGD is chosen well. You've definitely showed us crewlove and made a connection and truelly represented the theme. Thanks for this unforgettable experience and I would recommend any crewsaders to this experience or visit them in Belgrade for a run and follow @burt_btg @442crew on IG. Until we meet again. #crewlove
Thank You @cursorwan for sharing your #BTGBGD experience with valueofrunning.