The morning was pretty cold, we left Antwerp with 4 degrees Celcius. Arriving at Maasmechelen the temperature had dropped to 0 degrees. But because of the weather forecast saying the temperature was about to rise till 16 degrees, I left with just with 2 shirts on top of each other. I really didn't want to carry too much clothing as it was an unsupported attempt. Then there was the decision on how much water to take. I realised 4+ litres would be a minimum for 6 hours of running, but because of the cold weather I guessed I could get away with 3,5L. And also that's all I wanted to carry for that long. So then just after 7am I left the car into a 6 hour long adventure of ups and downs. The first 20km went great, apart from the heavy pack, I felt pretty good, taking around 10 minutes on the current record. But around that time, a glitch in the gpx file and me missing a sign, had me stuck in thick and sticky bush. This meant backtracking. I lost about 4 minutes here, but found my way back and went on. Around this time my right calf started to trouble me. It was on the verge of seizing and just very tense. I struggled with this pain for about 30km, then realising it had diminished. Then I had some trouble with the gpx file sending me onto pathways that didn't exist anymore, but stayed on the signalised route all the time. I had some hard moments along the way, especially between 50 and 70, but very happy I didn't let it get to me and kept on running. Really hope other people will try this loop as well, I really recommend it.
It was a beautiful day, in a beautiful place, a route that brought me lots of joy. I'm curious now of what would be possible if you try it supported... Maybe something for the future.