EF International is a Member of the Container Owners Association. At the Intermodal Europe Exhibition in Amsterdam in October, the EFI team attended the “Welcome to Amsterdam” Networking Reception, on the day before the exhibition, which was organised by the COA.
It was the first time that I had seen Patrick Hicks, the COA General Secretary, since November 2019. I noticed that Patrick had lost some weight since I had seen him four years before – and asked him how he had done it.
He told me that, when the Covid Pandemic began, he knew he would not be travelling for some months, so he saw an opportunity to improve his health. In May 2020, he said that he started to go for a 5km walk early every morning, which he then increased to 10km. After that, he began to do some slow running – he would run for 100 metres and then walk for 100 metres. Over the next few months, this gradually increased until he was able to run all the 10 km.
I asked him if he was still running these days – and he told me that he had In July 2021, he started to take part in ParkRun events (https://www.parkrun.com/), which are very popular in the United Kingdom, They are free 5km runs, organised every Saturday morning in the UK and even worldwide. I noticed that there are some ParkRun events in Japan. Patrick informed me that he had also run two half-marathons, which are 21km long.
During our discussion at the Welcome Reception, Patrick then surprised me, by saying that he had entered the full Amsterdam marathon, taking place on the Sunday immediately after the Intermodal exhibition. I was quite surprised, as it seems to me that 42km is a long way to run (and Patrick is not a young man any more). So I wished him good luck and – if he finished – I asked him to send a report of the race.
EF International Ltd.
Managing Director
Harumi Nakao
Letter from Mr Patrick Hicks
Dear Harry
Thank you for asking how the Amsterdam Marathon went. I’m pleased to confirm that I managed to finish it – without injury – although I did walk a little over the last few kilometers.
There were over 17,000 competitors in the race, which started and finished at the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium where the 1928 Olympics took place. An amazing place for the event.
During the summer, I had done some training. But about 6 weeks before the race, I injured my leg, which meant I had to stop my training.
On the morning of the Marathon, I realised it was possible that I might not finish the race, I was worried the injury might come back. But, fortunately it was OK. I took the first 21km fairly slowly – and the second half even slower! I hadn’t given myself a target time, I was more concerned about finishing. I came in at just over 5 hours – which I was very happy with, for the first marathon and recognising my age. The most important thing was that I enjoyed it and that I finished it and I didn’t get any injuries or blisters on the day.
It really was a fantastic experience – there were huge crowds on the side of the roads and in the stadium, cheering the runners, and encouraging us to keep going.
So, now that I’ve done my first marathon, I’ve now started training for my next one, which will be next year, in Lisbon.
Best regards
Patrick
About Patrick Hicks
Patrick Hicks studied at Cambridge University and has worked in the Container Shipping business since 1978, when he joined the P&O Shipping Company as a trainee. For many years, he published specialist magazines about cargo, containers, chemical distribution and railways, and he organised many conferences and exhibitions around the world. For the last 15 years, he has managed four international trade associations – the Container Owners Association (COA), the International Tank Container Organisation (ITCO), the Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS) and, more recently, the Container Self-Storage and Traders Association (CSTA).