Marathon Rotterdam
And the road to it
The Netherlands
How it started and the road to...
One morning I was texting with a friend, Ricardo, about sporting bucket list wishes. He told me he would like to do another marathon. Well, then you’ve come to the right place. Of course, such a challenge appeals to me. Normally I’m not a fan of organized running competitions and I prefer to run in the woods rather than on the asphalt anyway. But I thought this would be a great experience to do together, so I suggested we register for the Rotterdam Marathon. When registrations opened at the end of September, we immediately bought our starting tickets.
But now the preparation for it. 42.2 kilometers is of course not nothing, so to speak. I’ve been running for years, so the basics are there. Once before I ran a marathon in the woods on a Sunday morning. But that was already about 2 or 3 years ago. I immediately bought a pair of road running shoes and got to work. Because I don’t want to let my climbing skills get dusty, I can run a maximum of 2 times a week. A weekday evening and Sunday mornings. In the evening a distance of up to 21.1 kilometers on the road at a higher pace and on Sunday a long distance in the forest at a slightly slower pace. These distances on Sunday vary between 20 and 35 kilometers. They also have a fitness room in the bouldering hall so that I can work on my strength after bouldering. I believe that the body also has to be strong if you want to be able to run such a distance. This training consists of 3 different exercises for the leg muscles, 2 back exercises, 2 chest exercises, 1 shoulder, 1 triceps, 1 set of biceps and abdominal exercises to conclude. This way I should be well on my way to getting myself into the right shape.
But the most important training remains, unsurprisingly, running. My regular training area is in the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, about a 20-minute drive from home. This wooded nature reserve has, as the name suggests, hills. And hills are perfect for training for running. Due to the constant ascent and descent, you train different muscles than on the flat road. I also firmly believe that exercising in nature reduces stress and improves your state of mind. In addition, running takes you past beautiful locations.
Sunday the 14th of April, the day of.
The next morning at 7 o’clock I got in the car and drove to Ricardo. Our starting wave was at 10:20 am. But before it was that late, there was still a lot to be done. We drove to Rotterdam Alexander and parked the car at the station. We then took the train to Rotterdam center and picked up our shirt and starting number there. We then walked to the start and sat in a coffee shop there and got ready. In between, I quickly took my shirt to my in-laws. My nephew was going to run the 10km so I could shed my shirt. Let’s take a photo together and wish each other good luck and return to the starting line soon. Around 9:30 am we were in the starting area among the rest of the 16,998 people, what a crowd. It is a bit quieter in the forest. Just before 10 am Lee Towers sang ‘You’ll never walk alone’ for the last time, followed by a minute’s silence for Kelvin Kiptum, who died in a car accident. Impressive how it went from a party to a dead silence. And then we started at 10:20 am.
Thousands of people were cheering us on all along the road, music was playing, what an atmosphere. After a few kilometers we ended up on a narrow cycle path where it was very tight with all the runners. We ran through the grass to overtake others, walking at your own pace is very important. After this part we ended up back in the city and before we knew it the first 26 kilometers were already over. When you walk together, the miles fly by. Our names were often shouted by bystanders and we made a game of which name was shouted the most. You have to do some trotting during that. We both had a great pace, so we soon realized that we would finish in under 4 hours. After about 30 kilometers we crossed another bridge and I decided to cover the last part alone at a slightly higher pace. Having a bit of a good time started to get into my head. I arrived at the Kralingse Bos, which was said to be an annoying part because there is little public. Personally, I thought it wasn’t too bad and I easily covered the kilometers. After the forest back into the hustle and bustle it was only a few kilometers. During the last 5 kilometers they had placed a sign every kilometer to show how long it was and that was not very motivating for me. Some things are better not known. But after the 41km sign I realized that I was almost there. And after 3 hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds I crossed the finish line. Picked up my medal and waited for Ricardo, but unfortunately I didn’t see him finish, not surprising with all those runners of course. A little later we found each other and exchanged congratulations. Have a photo together and time to go home. We skipped the previously planned beer. Ricardo drove back with his family and I jumped on the train to the car. There was no stop between the locations on the way there, but there was on the way back. Suddenly I was at Rotterdam Noord station. Of course, things always have to go terribly wrong. After waiting half an hour, we boarded the train back to the car and went home. We had a great day and came home as proud as a peacock. Top performance delivered by Ricardo who managed to train himself to marathon form in six months. And now on to the next adventure!
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