And so the unique situation occurs that a vacation to Greece falls exactly between two running events - it can be strange; Heat training combined with relaxing and lavish consumption, no less than twelve days. First, the City=Pier-City uit de benen geslenterd in de ellenlange rij die Schiphol heet om vervolgens waanzinnige wandelingen te maken langs woeste kusten en wonderschoon kitsch. In the back of your mind, the 15 of #Wassenaar who is on the program when you return. In terms of distance, considerably less than half a moment before, but a task not to be underestimated and a good indicator for the planned Gouda half mid-eleventh month. A particularly friendly event, where volunteers plot and check the route.

The mayor gives the start when it is sunnier than expected at half past three Sunday afternoon. An enthusiastic group of athletes choose the hare path for fifteen kilometers, while others choose a route for seven. In the moments before the start, this causes some confusion left and right when asking for intended end times, a tightening of a PR or simply extending the distance.

From the site of the local football club Blauw-Zwart, we follow a perfectly marked walking route through the most beautiful spots that this municipality has thought it should release for this occasion. The pavement features purple arrows to navigate, supported by striking mileage markers. Here and there villagers who, whether or not provided with musical support, offer support with words of encouragement written on cardboard, hand fruit cut into bite-sized pieces or various thirst quenchers accompanied by heartfelt bravo or words of a similar nature or meaning. In any case, the mood is in good shape and the same applies to the sea.

The fact that the times in the header photo and my Adidas app differ is due to the net registration with a chip after crossing the starting line.

With a remote, moody music in my ears and the most important promises to myself in my mind, I didn't get too fast. Start quietly, don't slalom too much or switch between sidewalk and street and only join runners at the same pace after 2 kilometers: check.

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