The duke's mantle: 38 km at 36 ºC

If you have a new race vest, you have to test it out. I did that on the Hertogenpad in Brabant. From Breda to Kaatsheuvel.

It feels a bit like cheating, that bright red race vest around my shoulders. In recent years I have always ran with great satisfaction in Raidlight Responsiv race vests. First in the 10 litre and later in the 12 from the ambassador's set. But that last one got a bit worse for wear and had a bruise from the fall in Limburg. So for the Indian Summer, I needed to get used to a new vest.

It was a foregone conclusion that it wouldn't be a Raidlight anymore. Don't get me wrong: I love that vest and practically live in it. Wear it sometimes even directly on the skin. It's really my buddy. Also in terms of fit. I am a complete fan of the Freelock system, which allows you to tighten or loosen the vest while on the run. That's especially handy if you start out with a lot of stuff like me (extra drinking bags in the back) and end with a largely empty vest. After all, the vest should not slide; sliding means chafing.

However, the quality of Raidlight's latest products was simply inadequate. The first time I closed the Responsiv 12l, one of the straps broke off. The adjusting wheel had already jammed on several occasions, so I didn't dare to run without the repair key to fix it. The original soft flasks were so bad that I had to replace them due to leakage. And the lettering had fallen off a long time ago. Unacceptable for a 160 euro vest that you use for 1.5 years. But that fit made up for a lot. The fact that Raidlight was taken over last year was partly to blame for the poor quality. And it didn't give a good feeling for the future either. But what would be a good successor?

I probably use my vest differently than the average runner. I do a lot of long distances (30-40+ km) and want to be fully self supporting. During running I use two different kinds of sports drink, of which I have to take extra bags with me on long distances. In addition, I also need normal water for when I have a hyper. And I also need to be able to carry medication, first aid kit, sunscreen, a towel and a raincoat with me without any problems. Because of the drinking system there was actually only one serious option: the Salomon Adv Skin 12. That was almost the only vest that could use the Salomon softflask speed; for other vests I should have switched to different brand softflasks. And those Salomon bottles are the only ones you can easily carry loose in the back without the risk of a leak. Moreover, I had already invested heavily in this system: 4 bottles and 2 straws together are worth about 100 euros. In the Mud Sweat Trails Store in Zoetermeer I briefly fitted the Adv Skin and finally brought a red one with two extra soft flasks home.

Testing, testing, testing

If you rely heavily on a vest for your health, that thing becomes part of you. So it was very difficult for me to give the Solomon the chance it deserved. The first run with the vest went so so, even though it was only 10 km. It shook a bit, everything is in a different place, the mesh is thicker and warmer than Raidlight's and the straws of my soft flasks were not in a comfortable place. But already during this first run I adjusted a lot. I tightened the strings and compressed the rear component. It was better already. Because of my short back I moved the front loop up a few holes and pulled the elastic rope even tighter. Now the vest followed my contours much better, there was no more space between vest and chest. The shaking also stopped.

To really test, I wanted to do a long run on Saturday. It would get extremely hot, so if the vest was really too hot, or would cause chafing, I had to notice it in that test. That's why I decided to do the Hertogenpad (Duke's path; LAW 13) in Brabant. Because of the heat I wasn't quite sure if I would do two or three stages (in the end I want to do the route all the way). Each stage was roughly 18 km, so the length of my tour could still go in all directions. In any case, the start was in Breda.

Castle

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With a maximum distance of 54 km and the expectation of high temperatures, I was able to try out the luggage section of the Adv Skin. The GoPro, phone, cards and gels could almost all be in the front. The elastic compartments in the front are very large and don't get in the way when running. There are also several compartments in the back, so I didn't have to push the medicine and sunburn aside to get to the new drinking bags (three of them). In a separate compartment was a 1.5 litre water bag, in a thermal sleeve. It didn't need to be hung up.

When I left early in the morning it was still around 20 degrees. Unlike the first evening test run, I didn't suffer from the fact that the vest felt warmer now. Even though it got quite warm early in the morning.

The first part of the route didn't start at the station, as I had mistakenly thought. Otherwise I would have added a neat route to the start. Now I was going to connect somewhere on the route without making many extra kilometers because of the heat. Only later did I realize that I had missed an iconic starting point: the Castle of Breda. That's a beautiful building in Breda, still in use as a military academy if I'm not mistaken, and surrounded by canals. A few years ago I was allowed access to a changing room there for the Bredase Singelloop.

The first 6-7 kilometres consisted mainly of roads and bike paths. Not quite what I had imagined of the hiking trail. But soon after that the route changed into sand, sand, sand. Now I usually like running in sand, but because of the drought it was now very loose. That and early hypos made the start of the route a slow one.

Dorst

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Those first dirt roads go through a water catchment area that bears the ironic name Dorst (Thirst). Although according to the hiking guide this name is a corruption of De Horsten, or the higher areas. The wells themselves are easily recognizable in the landscape which is quite dry except for a few fens. There are large green lids on top, with the occasional red and white marking of the route.

Those route markings came in handy this time. Although I had downloaded the gpx from Wandelnet beforehand, the gpx didn't always seem to give the correct directions. In some places I was sent half over a mtb-path, which wasn't even on my map. Although the deviation was never very large, it did irritate me.

Despite the litres of water and other drinks I had with me, I ran almost continuously with a dry mouth. The heat also started to be pressing. In short, after Dorst came the thirst. At first I didn't think it was a big problem, but while slowly running through Dongen – a long ribbon village starting with beautiful monuments – I did feel like I wanted an ice cream. Of course only after I passed the first bars. If another one would come, I promised myself to stop there.

Fortunately there was a snack bar just before the end of Dongen. It looked dark, but there was a big open sign on the door, so I walked inside. Nobody to see. I did see a fridge with cold cans of coke. I grabbed one and put it on the counter. No one yet, so I called and walked to the back of the store. But it was deserted. So after a few minutes I was forced to continue my way without cola or ice cream. Not good for motivation.

Guard rail

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By crossing the Wilhelmina Canal with a bicycle bridge, I left the village behind me at once. Again a long stretch over asphalt, with a strong burning sun. At the next water crossing I had to follow the canal from the other side. There could be shadow there. However, after I had to climb over a guardrail and take a miniscule path, I saw that the sequel was not along the waterfront where a row of trees provided shade. It was on the other side of the row of trees next to an open field. So it was extremely hot. I decided to take a break and have a drink before continuing on the road.

The heat kept pressing. Moments later I saw a bicycle path to the center of Tilburg, where I had been during my previous adventure. Only 10 km... but I wanted to run this route anyway. To tease me, not much later I came across a gigantic factory of Coca Cola. And I thought again about that can that I couldn't get. Actually, I was a little cooked.

Not much later, fortunately, a terrace was open. The water ice I craved so much was already sold out here. Luckily they had an alternative: a large sorbet with fruit and everything on it. The thing gave me high blood sugars until the end of the trip, but it tasted very good. And it was exactly what I needed at that moment.

Hairy coos

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Just behind the terrace the next nature reserve, the woods of Galgeneind, started, which fortunately allowed me to leave the asphalt again and get some shade. However, the cold sorbet was soon forgotten and the speed wasn't really there (by now it was 36 ºC).

Not only me, but also the herd of Scottish Highlanders was very hot. There were more than 100 of them on one of the shady paths near Huis ter Duin. The rest stood in the fens just in front of the row of trees. And social distancing for those cows is 25 m. That wasn't feasible here. Complicating factor: there were a lot of calves, so I had to be really careful. Therefore I had to walk past them without any sudden movements. Luckily they left me alone.

I myself had expected a lot from the so-called Wonderpad in this region. A scaffolding path through the fragile fens, where special plants had to grow right next to it. Unfortunately, due to the long drought, there was not much water left around the scaffolds. But it was for sure a nice path.

Third stage

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Meanwhile I was almost at the end of stage two. There was another stretch over the heath and along the Efteling before I reached the transition to the next route. In the mean time I had done nearly 36 km. And it was warm.

Just before the road crossing where the continuation of the route would be, my water bag made a grunting noise and I drew up a vacuum. I had already emptied it despite the sorbet and coke on the terrace. Running another 18 km with this temperature, without knowing for sure where to refill, didn't seem like a good idea to me.

The annoying thing about the Hertogenpad is that once again the start and end point could not be reached by public transport. In other words, I had to go back a bit and make a 2 km detour to catch a bus in front of the Efteling. They could arrange that a bit better. But I was already happy that I would be back at Tilburg station soon for a fresh, cold drink.

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Approved?

How did the new racevest hold up at this distance? Well, I certainly got a lot more respect for this vest. The material is soft and there are no hard seams that cut into the skin. So I didn't have any chafing anywhere while wearing a singlet. After 35 km with the Raidlight I often had it: especially around the lower edge on the back, but also near the sleeves and the pockets with gels. The garbage bag was also very handy. The elastic front – because of the material and the rope construction – I could certainly appreciate as well.

Of course, some things are not as well arranged as with the Raidlight. For example, I don't find the system to attach the water bag very practical. Simply hanging it on a sturdy hook is more stable than placing it in a thermo sleeve. Also, the front does not have a handy attachment for the hose of the water bag. Irritating was the fact that the sweat ends up much more in the pockets at the back of the vest. In the Raidlight I usually keep a loose towel there, but in the Salomon it came back completely soaked.

Another irritation came from the soft flasks. The two new speeds, the 2020 model, have a different thread than the old one (a whole stroke more in the thread). That means they are not interchangeable with the four I already have. And that I have to buy extra straws for this. It's those straws that make it easy to drink while running, without twisting your neck.

All in all, I can safely say that I have confidence in this vest. You have to adjust it, but it's like a house afterwards. The soft fabric, large amount of storage space and the absence of chafing make me happy. That the thicker fabric feels a little warmer at first is not a major problem. I have tested it a couple of times during the week, but this has little effect if you wear it for a while.