2020 has been a strange year. Almost all races were cancelled, but virtually there was perhaps more running than ever. A report of my last race of the year and the most read articles of 2020.
The end of the year is normally the moment when normal running and trail running come together in the curious mix of cross country races. Raging through the blubber, sprinting over hills, cutting each other off on single tracks, biting through the sand, retrieving your shoes from the mud and all that with a pure focus on time. It's also often a very short course that you have to run two or three times with a total distance of around 5 km (women) or 8-9 km (men). Ideal as a trial of strength, especially for trailrunners who have an advantage on the tricky underground. Although I seldom do 10 km runs as a virtual run, I decided to participate in this virtual Sylvestercross after the persuasive recommendation of Bas van de Goor (the proceeds also go to the Bas van de Goor Foundation and thus to sporting diabetics).
If I had been home, I would undoubtedly have taken the route of AV De Koplopers' own Oliebollenloop ('oil ball run' a dutch end of year specialty). Actually, that run always guarantees limping on 1 shoe. But from Gorredijk it was a bit more difficult to determine a good cross course. In the end I did a part of an existing cross of Udiros. Indeed, the (top) club that also organizes the absolutely unsurpassed Saint Thomas Trail . Think of slipping away in the meadows, waist-deep wading through ditches, to your knees in a corn field where you are constantly almost falling – and sometimes do – due to complete lack of grip. Playing in the blubber is one of the most fun things to do, so if you don't have any appointments on the Third Christmas Day next year and we are allowed to race again, do come along.
All landscapes
The route I ran really contained almost all the different undergrounds. From a forest path, to a single track on sandy soil, from a mud meadow to a short bit of roadside. Including hills. I tried to get through fairly quickly, but couldn't resist making a short movie during the run. Where I almost face planted… so don’t try this at home if you don't want a wet suit. Or grab shoes with just a bit more profile than the Altra Superior.
The time is not really sharp (1.01:47, including a few minutes of fooling around with the GoPro). And that's not only because of the limited breath of my still painfully dented ribs (see Dwingelderveld). With a run focused on speed, you really miss the organized races with large starting squares. You can't pull up on someone or chase your clubmates. This is not the case with trails, where you often run relatively quickly on your own. As we could still run alone, to me 2020 was quite a good year for running.
Performance in 2020
Strava has a nice overview of the total number of hours and kilometres for the year. You can clearly see that for me 2020 was a year in which I did a lot more sports. Not only in terms of running, also walking was in the plus. The most visible are the summer months, in which I ran a total of 1,000 miles for the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee. The Circumpolar Race Around the World clearly doesn't have the influence that GVRAT had from May to September; for me it does not really come alive. So I also doubt whether I want to continue with that race.
Even more than the GVRAT and CRAW, 2020 was the year of running adventures. I ran the Krijtlandpad and the Hertogenpad, often with stages of 40 to 60 km. And I'm mega proud of my first 90 km that I ran even though it was converted to virtual a few days before the original race date. The fact that such a race is possible without support crew also gives me self-confidence.
But what did you like most in my blog adventures of 2020? These are the five most read posts:
On five: The endless runner. I actually expected this one higher, because it really represents a feeling for me. But male nudity doesn't sell… Not that I care about that.
On four: 87 km Virtual Indian Summer. It looks like my favorites are in reverse order. Although I understand that on this one. It came too easy to me. But I was very impressed by the way I ran to, and especially the last part in the dark.
On three: Measuring demotivation: the power of the watch. Apparently a problem for many: being lived by your watch. Most visitors to this article came through Google. For most other topics, more than 90 percent of them came from Facebook.
On two: Krijtlandpad in Three Days. A very nice summer challenge that could have lasted longer if it was up to me. And also one that received a lot of imitation, among others trail runners. For walkers this was already a very popular path for the summer months. I am curious if the Dutch Mountain Trail next year might be a nice alternative. In any case, the booklet has been ordered.
On a: Pacers in the forest: Crown Estate the Loo Trailmarathon. A total surprise for me, but maybe also because it's a controversial run. One to be quickly forgotten. As far as I'm concerned, it is not a trail, and has a very presumptuous organization, although fortunately not all volunteers acted in that way.
Missed articles
In the overview I still miss the nice runs I was able to do with my running buddies. In that respect, the year started very well with the Leenderbostrail, together with Ramona, Simone, Wouter and Frank and Saskia. And of course the challenges of Mud Sweat Trails, Viking Outdoor and Capricorn Sport, of which I did a few with Ramona and Simone. Those were really highlights as far as I'm concerned, although you might easily forget them in this year of solo efforts.
Of course there were no foreign trails for me this year and because of that there was much less elevation gain. Those foreign races are usually my cherries on the cake.
For next year I hope for an even better year of running. One in which we can continue with the personal projects, but also participate in a number of organized competitions. Until 2021!
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