Apeldoorn Asselronde 27.5 km

In Apeldoorn, they don't like regular distances for races. They have an 8k, an 18.5k, a 27.5k, and yes, a full marathon. The marathon attracts far fewer people than the other races, so maybe they are right. Steffi and both set out for the 27.5 km, which seemed to have the nicest course, and is also a good test for the full marathon that we will both run in April.

We were there with a large bus full of people from Groningen Atletiek, among which Steffi's fellow runners Emile and Yvonne, and Paul from my group. The bus already dropped us off at 10 in the morning, even though the start was at 12, so we were hanging around for quite a while before the start. At least I could now make sure I was in the start corrals quite on time, not wanting to repeat the Egmond experience. At the start I met up with a former fellow computer science student, whom I hadn't seen for years. Apparently he knew more about me, because he said he and I ran at around the same speed. On the other hand, he also told me his running nemesis was no other than Paul, who normally runs a few minutes faster than me. For Paul's take on his battle with "pi", read his blog. (in Dutch)

Even though the weather was nice, there was a fierce wind, which we were running against in the first half of the race, and which would be in our backs for the second half. Wanting to avoid my other Egmond mistake, I planned to run with a group to keep out of the wind.

So all my preparations were aimed at avoiding last race's mistakes. In other words, I was ready to encounter some new ones. Ever since moving back to the Netherlands I have laughed about "hills" in Dutch races. The blood road in Egmond, laughable! So, yes, there were going to be hills in Apeldoorn, but how bad could it be? Bad indeed, it turned out!

Anyway, on with my report! The gun went off, and off I went, comfortably at the front of the race. After running beside me for maybe 100 meters, pi took off, and I didn't expect to see him again until after the finish. After maybe 500 meters I tagged on with a group of runners with marathon bibs who were going at an approximate 4:05 pace. Somewhat on the fast side, but I didn't see many other stable groups. Besides, a couple of them had marathon bibs, so I expected them to be able to keep a steady pace for a good distance. This turned out to be a good decision, because I ran approximately half the race with them.

The first six kilometers were through the outskirts of Apeldoorn, which was very pleasant, and we maintained a good pace of around 4:08. Right on the mark. After 6 km, the going suddenly got a lot tougher, because without me noticing at first the road turned to go uphill. I noticed I was slowing down, but so was everyone else. It was not going to be as easy as the first 6 km promised! The uphill lasted for a good 2.5 km, which was quite noticeable in my speeds: 4:11, 4:26, 4:11, 4:17 for km's 6-9. At some point in these hills I saw Paul running about 100 m in front of me, apparently he had slowed down even more than me. But later he accelerated, so I didn't see him anymore afterwards. But then it was downhill time again, which allowed me to recover a little bit. But everyone was going really fast now to make up for the lost time, and for a minute I had a side stitch that had me worried for a while, but was fortunately alleviated with a little bit of rubbing. These were fast kilometers: 3:52, 4:04, 4:01, 4:01. We were now at 13 km, and it was very clear to me that I had underestimated the hills, and that I already felt exhausted before we were even halfway through the race. But the worst was yet to come: at km 13 the second uphill started. I vaguely remember Emile saying before the race that after 21 km it was all downhill. Not encouraging.

Indeed, km 13-16 were again uphill, and I felt the strength leaving my legs. I had to let go of my group, together with another runner, and the two us went on together for a while, and then we took turns in falling behind and catching up again. Initially my speed was not too bad: 4:10, 4:17, 4:18, after which we reached a small plateau at km 16. Was that it? Ah no, only a brief respite, because two more km up and up. I seriously ran out of steam here with 4:29 and 4:32.

We were now running on a large asphalt road, very unscenic, but at this time I was grateful for the monotony. And, gradually, the wind pushed in my back, the road went downhill, and the magic caffeine gel took effect, and I picked up speed again. 4:09, 4:15, 4:13, 4:10, 4:18. Not great, but back in the right ball park.

Finally also time to count down the final kilometers, because now the end gradually game in sight. The half-marathon sign, if only this had been one! Time around 1:29, so not too bad for a half. Now steeper down, 4:02, 4:11. The last few kilometers. A marathoner with a very nice running style overtakes me, but I manage to tag on. And there I see pi running in front of me, I hadn't expected to see him again. Lost the battle with Paul, and soon, me. This final little competition gives me an additional push in the back to finish in style with 4:08 and 4:03, and a 3:58 pace in the final 500 meters. Official final time: 1:55:39, which is not particularly meaningful for such an odd distance, but the 4:10/km average was what I was aiming at, so I was pleased, but also quite exhausted. Pi finishes twenty seconds behind me, but Paul is already there for three minutes.

Approximately half an hour later Steffi finishes, and she isn't pleased. Also beaten by the hills. But her time turns out to be quite reasonable, so in the end she is also quite happy with the result.