Behind the scenes of the Lansingerlandrun

Last Sunday was the day, the very first Lansingerlandrun in my own Green Zoom. Almost 1,400 runners participated during this first edition, quite an achievement since the run was bought only 2 months in advance. I didn't run myself, but the barrel and I have history and I couldn't sit on the side while the RMD-friends continued: “another glass of water Jelle?”

My first acquaintance with the Lansingerlandrun was probably a year ago around the marathon, when Rob de Hair indicated he wanted to organise a run in our common training area. This GroenzoomThe park, which runs along the border of Berkel en Rodenrijs, Pijnacker, Delft and Zoetermeer, is primarily known as the last remaining piece of nature in the region. Even though the park is relatively new, it is already a real hit with water birds and bird watchers with binoculars. White herons, spoonbills and that other odd bird are regularly spotted here: the runner.

Last August I was in top condition. Every weekend I easily ran a half or 30 km through my favourite training area: the southern part of De Groenzoom, Oude Leede, the Ackerdijkse plassen and the Zweth. And of course I had to share this with Rob, because if you are organizing a run anyway, why not organizing a long one during the marathon training period? For 30 km we have to travel all the way to Schoorl, there is nothing in our area. And the Groenzoom is in principle big enough to set out routes of marathon distance, if you run all the way from Zoetermeer to Delft. After having seen the route maps, Rob was also interested. But without my sections on singletrack (yes trailrunner, right) and avoiding the crossings (my 30 km route did not go along the loop of the 10 km, but started directly from Jumbo to Oude Leede and beyond).

Fun(dament) Run

September last year there was a first event to get to know the runners in Berkel. During a cycling tour Rob organized the Berkel Fun(dament) Run of 5 km. A good opportunity for me to get some experience with volunteering. And that was fun; I even had time to run a PR on the 5 km. But the pain in my lungs afterwards turned out to be the precursor of a pneumonia, which kept me out of the running for months and prevented me from doing any more reconnaissance runs.

In the meantime Rob and Marco Vink continued working on the set-up. I have real respect for how they managed to get everyone together and get all the necessary permits and sponsors. I myself was a member of the organizing committee together with a number of other volunteers of the Fun Run. Although I must honestly admit that the aftermath of pneumonia was so long, that I could not put much in motion. The fatigue was still too much in the system and running ahead or actively calling around was very limited. I do feel a bit guilty about that towards Rob.

Overwhelming

It soon became apparent that the timing and distances were a hit. Proudly Rob reported every time that another hundred participants were added. That we were approaching the thousand. Twelve hundred. And eventually even fourteen hundred. That put an enormous pressure on the organization. For a run of this size, and because of the gigantic course, actually 200 volunteers were needed! Just think how many we would have needed if we had organised it on the road instead of the cycle path 😮

We all worked hard to find volunteers. But this turns out to be difficult in practice. Running clubs like De Kieviten and my own AV De Koplopers already ask a lot of volunteers in their own runs (Kopjesloop, Golden Ten) and those same volunteers wanted to run in this new race. So even with the many dozens (you are great!) of volunteers we had, we could only fill the essential positions.

D-Day

From the preparations I can still remember that we assumed it would be cold. What tips did the first aiders have for cold weather? How do you ensure that the runners have enough to drink? Should we offer bouillon at the supply points?

At arrival at 7.15 am for the construction of the start/finish area it was already very clear: now it is still freezing, but it will be a beautiful day! There was not much time to think about this. The first participants would arrive soon and we still had some barricades to place (freezing cold), start arches to blow up and markets to decorate. 

For a moment it became exciting when we lost Rob. However, he was quickly traced in the Groenzoom ... where he had driven the heavy Mercedes bus into the verge. Five men strong we went there in the car. With manpower alone, the bus proved stubborn, but after some help from the car, we eventually pulled Rob onto the path. And onwards again.

Learning points

The rest of the day went by in a daze. After building up, I immediately went on to set up the last care post at the 30 km mark. Unfortunately, many of my acquaintances had chosen shorter distances, but it is really great to be able to help known and unknown runners with water, sports drinks and talking pep. How many extra cups of water did I hand out... and of course the short conversations with amongst others Jelle and Els are nice when you can't walk with the herd. It was also very good to see how beautiful others experienced my training area and how they, despite the toiling, often visibly enjoyed a distance that many will see as a hell ride.

The beautiful weather turned out to be both a blessing – nice to run in – and an obstacle we hadn't expected. Suddenly cyclists from all over came to the Groenzoom. From very fast pelotons of cyclists, to elderly people being overtaken by the runners. That's the problem with an unmarked course. For next year, I know for sure that I would position the drink station a little differently. On one side of the road and before the bend. Because after 25 km of running you are not so fresh anymore that you can duck for a cyclist.

A disappointment for the organization was the lack of clarity on the route of the 10 km. Due to an accumulation of small mistakes, the route was accidentally shortened to 8.7 km. That will not happen to us again soon. But during a first edition mistakes are sometimes made. Fortunately, most 10-km runners have also enjoyed their round, as we read back on Facebook afterwards. 

At about six o'clock, after the demolition of the start/finish, I was really tired. Worse than I experience after 30 km of running. Nevertheless, I can recommend every runner to experience an event from the other side once in a while. You learn to appreciate the races much better. And you can use your experience as a runner to make the event a real success.