Kustmarathon
New Zealand (Zeeland)
By Tim Soekkha & Mark Blonk
Mark:
At the start I ran into Tim. After a short chat we went to the start area.
We took our place at times 3:30 and 4:00. Of course this was way too fast but as Tim said we might get a good going and wouldn't get stuck. Indeed, compared to last year, it was a far better start.
Together we ran a in smooth pace out of Burg Haamstede and into the woods. When I'm in Zeeland I train a lot in this area. After the woords we climbed to the beach. Here I felt my knee for the first time but it was not bothersome. Off the beach we ran into the first food/drink station. Because I had decided not to take any food or drink myself, due to the extra weight, I took a banana at every station and towards the end also some bouillion (which is really great after that amount of km's).
From the post to the weir (stormvloedkering) everything went smooth. We even ran into a runner who had clipped off the toes of his shoes. After the second weir I felt my knee again, it was a bit too fast for me.
Here, at approximately 18km, Tim and I split up. Tim just ran at a higher speed. Sorry, I rather would have finished together.
My family and family in law were at the beach entrance. I took a juice, put my shoes off and continued barefoot. This was such a great decision!!! I ran through the water which had a cooling effect on my feet immediately.
After the beach it became heavy, i went into the dunes and my knee started to hurt more. It almost felt like it would lock. Because of this I alternated running with walking. The area was very beautiful with great altitude differences. At 34K my family was there again. On the beach had put on my belt for extra drinks but was glad I could take it off here and leave it at them. The only thing it had done was being in the way. I also left my earplugs and heart rate..... A lesson for next time.
After a quick sanitary stop I headed for the last couple of km's. A few km's before the finish another beacharea. This was a real stopper because of the many stormbreaker poles we had to maneuver through. Coming from the beach onto the dyke I really got a boost. There were bagpipe players welcoming the runners and if there's something I deeply can enjoy and appreciate it's bagpipe music.
I had a quick glance on the dyke at my family and headed for the finish. Because of the boost I had increased my speed to approximately 13km/hr and the weird thing was: no pain whatsoever in my knee. I am thinking about going to a chiropractor as I suspect there's something not entirely right yet after I distorted my knee half a year ago after mis-stepping on a trunk.
Also I assume that I was not on my peak conditionally. Otherwise, I would have been able to run faster with no knee problems(I think) I had noticed earlier that I run much more comfortable at a higher speed. Conditionally this did not work out now so that's something to work on for the next one. Just before the finish I lifted my daughter from the audience and finished.
Tim:
As Mark already wrote we ran into each other at the start en ran the first 18km together. While chatting about everything and anything those km's seemed to fly away almost effortlessly.
After that, we decided each to run our own pace. We wished each other luck and I took off first.
At the beach entrance I almost missed my gf, we just had a quick wave and then I entered the beach.
I noticed the sand was still rather loose and moist and the tidal line further than I thought, so decided to take off my sandals and continued barefoot. Which went far better immediately. Once at the tidal line I also ran through the water which is, as Mark already described, fantastically refreshing and cooling on feet and calves. I continued barefoot into the dunes until I ran into a kind of pebble path which slowed me down.
Here I put on my sandals again. Beautiful area, many altitude differences, sometimes we really had to climb. The man with the hammer ran into me sooner than expected and I had to alternate running with walking also. At 33/34km was my gf and while I normally don't eat anything during a marathon I ate a banana now. Mentally this was the toughest part. I went on in a trot and the suddenly there was the 35km point. The spirit came back, I told myself it was only 7km from here and imagined that the distance was a similar to a standard bridge training I often do in Rotterdam.
To my surprise I was able to run again 'normally' for a while. De atmosphere amongst the other runners was great. We made jokes about the height of the dunes (30m) and remarks like: relax man, it's the weekend, we do this for fun. In the last 3km's again some walking, also because of stairs and altitudes. Together with another runner we went for the last km's. I removed my sandals on the last beaharea while asking him how the entrance in the village would be if there were pebble/gravel paths (He had ran this one the year before). Nah, he said, just sand and then you enter the village, Zoutelande, on pavement and asphalt. Great I thought, I'll pull it off barefoot for the last part.
Then the stormbreakerpoles, which was really a rhythm and speed breaker. I almost got stuck.
And then then beach exit to the dyke a fantastic welcome by the bagpipes...I enter the dyke and...pebbles/gravel...The other runner pulls over, looks at the path, looks at me, grins and says: oh sorry, pebbles, i had forgotten. We laugh and sprint together to the finish. He overhauls me 100m before but I pass him just before the finish line.
All together, a fantastic day, a fantastic atmosphere and a great organisation.
Reference: http://thebarefootrunners.org/threads/raceverslag-x2-kustmarathon-2014.17322/#post-163559
