Picture of a runner

Googling for an image of a runner I came accros this image from the blog of a photographer:

The blur is intentional. The soft light of the later afternnoon sun gives the runner a nice colour in contrast with the bleu sky.

Trail running

Spring is there on the northern hemisphere. A good time to leave the beaten tracks or pavement of the city parks behind en hit some trails outside the city limits. As it differs from your regular running you should be aware of the tips given on About Running.

• Choose Trails Wisely: Run on trails that are appropriate for fitness level. Flat trails are recommended if you're a beginner, while more experienced runners can choose hilly, challenging trails.
• Get the Right Gear: Wear trail-running shoes, and dress in synthetic fabric running clothes that are appropriate for the weather conditions.
• Buddy Up: If possible, get a friend to run with you. If you're running alone, always make sure you tell someone which trail you'll be running on.
• Slow It Down: Trail running is usually harder on the body than road running, so plan to run fewer miles at a slower pace on trails than you do on the roads.
• Pay Attention: Keep your head up and your eyes on the trail ahead. Try not to look down at your feet, so you can watch ahead for obstacles such as rocks, roots, logs and branches.
• Careful on the Downhills: Don't get out of control on steep downhills. Control your speed and keep your head up, so you can avoid obstacles.

In the Netherlands large stretches of unspoiled nature are far en few between. Advantage is that most 'nature' has plenty of footpaths with walking trails, cyclepaths with routes of various lengths etc. This enbales you as a runner to pick your own route as you go. If you run without a buddy it is wise to take along your cellphone for safety. As the country has full coverage you are always able to give some one a ring in case of emergency.

When going for a run on a trail as refered to in the article on About Running it might even be a good idea to take your cell phone. As trails won't be to far away from inhabited areas it is very likely that there is some coverage. Better be safe than sorry. It is no fun to be on your own without any means of communication if you sprain your foot on a tree stub or take a tumble on a downhill (in spite of the last tip).

Second life for old shoes

In january I posted over the Nike programm in which they collect old shoes to reuse the material for surfacing playcourts. On About Running there are two more possible destinations for your old runningshoes. These are the Shoebank and Sole Responsebility.

Multi Cultural The Hague

This posting has little to do with running. But I want to illustratie how a multi cultural society enriches your environment. For example a muslim in traditional clothing in contrast with this busstop advertisement of swimming wear....

Funny Toyota Add

EVery now and then you see a car add that is funny and not just boosting horsepowers. When it has a link with running it is worth a post on the blog:


Another add for the same car with the same sense of humor:

Special events: VUmc run

In my mailbox I received an e-mail with the notification for a very nice event. The 'VUmc gebouwenloop', best translated as the Free University Medical Center indoorrun. A run taking you trough the buildings of the hospital of the university, over stairs, trough hallways and corridors. For kids there is a run of 1,2 km but as an adult you can choose: either 5 or 10k! A nice fartlek training.
One euro of the six euro subscription fee is for the Alzheimer research centre of the university. A very good cause.
For more information and images I refer tot the site of the VUmc which is, of course in Dutch but you can translate it using babelfish (see underneath) or other translators

Translate this the VU mc site

Dutch to English Dutch to French

Thanks to Babelfish

Relive your race!!

On the site of the Rotterdam Marathon is a new functionMijn Marathon Analyse (My Marathon Analysis). It is an player that enables your to relive the race. Enter the runners you want to follow (for example yourself and one or more of the toprunners) and press play and you can see how the race develops for these runners. When I turned onto the Blaak on Sunday I thought I saw Luc Krotwaar heading towards the cCoolsingel and the finish while I still had to run the strethc around the 'Kralingsebos'. Si if have myself running againt the winner Kipsang and the dutch toprunner Krotwaar it is obvious that you loose sight of me afhter just a few K. The only time I am in the picture is when Kipsnag is finishing (I am just corssing the bridge) and when Krotwaar is indeed on de Blaak with just 700 meters to go while I myself still have 14K ahead of me.
A nice way to relive the race.

London marathon is special

While I was improving my personal beste with over an minute in the Rotterdam marathon a lot of people were running theri race in London. London is one of a kind. Some remarkeble feats:

Three finishers within 2:06

Women running their own race starting seperate from the men

A blind runner from West Bromwich has run seven marathons, on seven continents, in seven days, crossing his final finishing line in London.
(see BBC report)

A man from 101 (!) running his first marathon. I saw the interview with him for the start. I could not find if he was among one of the ...

....over 34000 finishers!

Once I know improving my PR is no longer possible I will start among the crouwd in London.

Rotterdam Marathon changes the course

Tomorrow is D-Day for a lot of marathon runners. In the UK thousands of runners (over 35.000 finishers last year) will start in the London marathon and on the other side of the North Sea a smaller amount will start in Rotterdam. Including yours dearly, the author of this blog.
The weather forecast promises to be less extreme than last year (~25degrees centigrade). Only downside is the possibility of Rain

On the website of the marathon of Rotterdam you can see that they changed the course. The loop on the south side of the Maas river is clockwise where in previous years it was counter clockwise. I think this is a good change as one of the narrow stretches of the course is not around the 5K point but around de 22K point when the runners are more spread out.

For the official course Click here for a map in PDF

If you want to compare this years course with the one from last year: look below with the screen dumps from both courses on the Map My Run website: