I ran the course on a very nice autumn day, almost no wind, some sun and perfect temperature. The first few km's were the most beautiful, I really like forests. Immediatly thereafter was the worst part: the boulevard between Bloemendaal and Zandvoort. I had never been there and will never return. It was easy to run, but way to many concrete.
I did run some trails around 5m pace heading into this and the plan was to see how long I would be able to keep that pace up. Thanks to the nice paths it went really smooth. I spotted some wildlife and enjoyed the sun upto 25km while easily maintaining this pace.
Then I started to feel my knee and hips a bit, I hadn't realised the surface would be all paved up to that point, as I expected more sand / shell paths (although it's clearly in the description). Wearing my trail shoes instead of running shoes didn't help...
The halfway point gave me a nice mental boost and a few 4:40 km's later I was well ahead of my 4h10 schedule again. From km ~36 on there were more shell paths and the route follows a sidewalk instead of a cycling path for a while. This path is way more hilly and I started to get tired.
Running a marathon with this gear and under these circumstances under 3:29 was motivating however and kept me going. The last 5km was a struggle mentally, but I didn't really slow down. With only 700m to go I was 1:50 minute ahead of my goal time when I suddenly I felt incredibly nauseous. Had to stop for a minute or 2 before it disappeared :(
At the finish line my watch said the official route was only 49.8, so I ran another 200m to make it 50k. Final time including stops was 4:10:20, and I probably did the GPX route in around 4:09:30, but not sure about that, so I did put in the longer time.
Most importantly: I really enjoyed running for such a long stretch and was suprised by what my body was capable of! :)
Tips
- Make use of the free water provided by the water company in Noordwijk (just before entering the town, when leaving the dunes) or in Katwijk (everywhere on the boulevard).
- Try to find a time to run when it's not too crowded. The cycling path can be dangerous when after Covid larger groups start to cycle again.
Thanks Marco for uploading the GPX!