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Long week-end in Schoorl

On the other hand, I love coming to Schoorl. The little town has a kind of old-fashioned sea-resort flair and we train here as often as we can. That's why we went to Schoorl Friday night already and enjoy a long week-end there. I spent Saturday doing EQE mock papers. It exhausted me but it went all right so I presume it also put me in a good mood.

Before the race

As usual, I woke up early on Sunday (5:30), had breakfast and enjoyed an easy morning. At 9:00 it started to snow. At 9:30 we had some hail and I honestly asked myself how much I wanted to run this race. But I thought about Lornah, about the foundation and of course, about my dear sponsors. I could let none of them down. And all of a sudden at 10:00 it stopped snowing and the sky started to clear up.

First step outside. Cold. freezing cold. And slippery. Can I go back inside? I took a look at my starting number, saw the header Lornah Kiplagat foundation and realized there was only one thing to do: run. Only 200m away from our rented house, on our way to the start, guess who we bumped into: Cees Pronk, president of the Lornah Kiplagat foundation (and organizer of the race). Big hug. We are happy to see each other. It has been a long time. This must be a promising sign. Each time I have met Cees, by pure coincidence, before a race, I ran well and improved my PB (Dam tot Dam 2007, Amsterdam 2007). Sunday, it gave me the last kick I needed to come into the race. From that moment on, I felt good, I wanted to run, enjoy the mild sun and do my best for the foundation.

The start

So here I stand, right before the start, Kristof by my side, the sun doing its best to warm us up. Gun shoot and off we go. As usual, at the beginning, there is always a little of walking and a lot of slaloming to overtake the crowd.

I don't really know in what kind of shape I am. I just know I slowly come out of the winter after a heavy autumn season. So the plan is to run at my last marathon pace (3:13 -> 4'34''/km). I would be happy if i could sustain this tempo here, under those conditions. Quick check on my watch at the 2km point: 8'50. That's too fast. But it is hard to slow down at that moment. Still many people to overtake before the route goes into the forest on narrow tracks. Once in the forest (after approx 5 km), I easy up the pace a little. But soon there is a long slight downhill. And I just can't resist the temptation of using that descent to speed up a little.

Mid point

By km 15, we are caught by the wind. I look for someone who could shield me from it. In vain. All right, I'll handle it on my own. At km 18, the routes of the half marathon and the 30 km split. In the wink of an eye, I loose all my sparing partners. Most of the runners seems to have chosen for the shorter version. And just as if it was done on purpose, the track becomes more muddy and slippery, and worse of all, goes up. OK, slightly up. But still. Up.


Well, let's face it, it's been hard between km 18 and 25. But it's only been 7 km in which there was this lovely passage on tree barks where we run when we train there. I so much like this passage, it recalls very good memories. All in all I managed to keep up the pace. It's just that my legs feel a bit empty. It is not a big surprise though. I have not ran at that intensity for such a distance for a long time. But apart from this little fatigue in my legs, I really feel fine. Breathing is till deep and calm. Stomach has not complained yet which is remarkable.

The finish

And some more good news is to come. I am still overtaking runners and I manage to maintain the pace. Step by step, I feel gradually better. At km 26, I know it is over. I stay focused on the last long uphill. Then comes the last downhill which I use to finish off strong.

I'm back in town already, enjoying the crowd and the music. I can now see the finish line and realize I can make it under 2:15. I am so happy, for me and also for the foundation because this is going to provide me some more financial support (I have performance related sponsors -_^). And because good news never comes alone, the speaker pronounces my name correctly when I cross the line in 2:13:17 (4'26''/km). Much better than I expected at that time of the year. And a personal record broken.

And the foundation

Thanks to your support, we did a very good job for the foundation. In the charity / business teams competition, Kristof finished first (in 2h08) and I came second right after him (OK, almost 5mn later -_^). A third fellow of the Lornah Kiplagat foundation completes the podium. Our team comes first. What a success!

Photos Album on Schoorl Dunes