2 nov. 20163 min läsning

Bridge The Gap Stockholm

Uppdaterat: 10 jan. 2019

It’s finally time to close chapter #BTGSTO for 2016. Wow, Wow.. Wow, what a project!

To give you an idea of what Bridge The Gap Stockholm means to me, I need to rewind to the beginning of 2014. I was running again after 5 or 6 years of doing not much physical activity, basically the same amount of time that I have been living in Stockholm, and was in the process of finding a way to more closely connect with people I was meeting during my work as the ‘front’ for Trädgården. I knew their faces, and I knew their names, but who were all of these people when they weren’t visiting the best summer club in Stockholm? There were many ideas for how to connect on a large ripped sheet of cardboard, one of them, “I’m Going For A Run On Tuesday” happened on Tuesday 15th April 2014. Week 1. A crew of 6, Week 2. A crew of 12, Week 3. A crew of 22, you get the idea. The special thing about week 3 was that the person who took our group photo also introduced me to NBRO Running and planted the seed of ‘Bridging the Gap’ with them by traveling to Copenhagen to run the #CPHHALF later in the year, thank you Signe! I was addicted to the idea of Bridge The Gap from this point on, searching hash tags and finding other crews who were doing something similar to Ssideline City, and HELL yes we made the trip to Copenhagen for our first #BTGCPH experience.

Fast forward to 2016 and hosting a Bridge The Gap event in Stockholm as part of the Stockholm Halvmarathon was on top of the list. I reached out to other crew founders and captains informing them of our intentions, with only positive vibes in their replies the opportunity to host was ours. I had a smile on my face and there was a buzz in Ssideline City, all we needed to do now was make it happen. I think we had 7 months to make a plan, form teams within the crew, tick boxes and exercise #crewlove or what I call it and have tattooed on my right arm, the ‘Politik Of Mutual Help’. On top of this comes the responsibility to educate and make sure that newer crew members understand what the Bridge The Gap experience is all about, or in other words convince them to travel with us all over the world to Run Party (Rakija) Repeat. During 2016 Ssideline City committed to travel to Belgrade-Serbia, London-England, Hamburg-Germany and Copenhagen-Denmark, although many caught the addiction, ventured further and were spotted in Barcelona-Spain, Amsterdam-Holland, Zagreb-Croatia, Milan-Italy, Berlin-Germany and Frankfurt-Germany (I hope I haven’t forgotten any). I should also mention that some of us traveled to Run Like Hell and some of us to Cheer Like Hell, to us, there is no difference.

With a plan well executed and a now very well ‘educated’ crew, Bridge The Gap Stockholm #BTGSTO was made possible and happened between 8-11 September 2016. 364 people from 26 international crews were a part of an experience I will never forget. If you missed it, there are some photos, a film and a book which all are now my precious memories. There are also some sketches for a new plan scheduled for 2017, not to be missed! 📷

I would like to thank the entire All Planet #BTGSTO family for their support and efforts with special shouts to the following people and sponsors: Amanda Dahllöf Anders Pemer Pilvi Muschitiello Berit Bretschneider Sofie Mattsson Robin Watts Oscar Israelsson Viktor Dahllöf Adam Corbett Andreas Ovefelt Benoit Derrier Maddy Savage Nikola Miljkovic Charlie Dark Chris Adu (Mr Trouble) Mattias Carlsson Martin Kling Daniel Hermansson Agneta Dahllöf Peak Performance Stockholm Marathon Gruppen Urbanears ACTIVE Happy Socks Trädgården