{b}The people of Texel were incredibly hospitable and kind, making me feel very welcome and relaxed. I\u2019m hoping they\u2019ll have me back \u2013 I have unfinished business{eb}<\/p>\n
Source: http:\/\/pyllon.com\/2015\/04\/16\/de-zestig-van-texel-120k-2015-race-report\/<\/p>\n
{b}Dutch Courage{eb}
\n4.00am and I\u2019m leaving a hotel in the dark on an island off the coast of Holland. It was pretty chilly and my stomach was at its limit after the food assault that commenced from 2.15am when my alarm woke me from that familiar disturbed pre-race sleep. I was in Texel to race 120KM around the island and back \u2013 an event that\u2019s been running for over 25 years and one of the best in Holland.
\nI\u2019d been on the island for a few days, staying with some very friendly people in Den Burg. The race organiser had kindly organised accommodation for me and it made for a very pleasant few days, being part of normal day-to-day life. On arrival at the harbour I had been shown a couple of parts of the course en-route to my ultra \u2018foster home.\u2019
\nOn the Saturday I attended a premiere of a short film on a Dutch ultra-running legend whose life had clearly had an impact on so many \u2013 Jan Knippenberg. He will always be remembered for his incredible run from Holland to Stockholm and it was clear his family and friends were still very proud of the enormous achievement. Whilst the film was in Dutch it was inspiring to watch and to think about the barriers Jan was breaking by doing something so audacious. The film really put me in the mood for running and I\u2019ve thought about it a lot since I was first told of his story a few days earlier when I stayed a night on the mainland with Ton Peters. Each of the 120K runners would be accompanied by a cyclist for most of the route and Ton had kindly volunteered to be mine. I ran with Ton on the Friday on his local trails before he dropped me at the ferry that would take me to Texel.<\/p>\n
{b}Heading out{eb}
\nThe start was cold and I had flashbacks of Trans Gran Canaria only a month before where I\u2019d started the race wearing too much due to standing around in the cold wind. Not this time. Shorts, top and gilet meant I was still cold but would be fine when I finally got moving. No big fuss at the start-line and we were released at 04:35. Head-torches were needed as we started off with a couple of laps of a sports field before joining my cyclist (Ton) and heading out of town towards the coast.
\nAfter about 10 mins with no-one else in sight, Ton spoke \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a long lonely day\u201d his way of pointing out that it wasn\u2019t exactly the plan we had briefly discussed the night before but we both knew it wasn\u2019t a reckless pace. So that was it \u2013 I was committed now.
\nWhen we got to the coast and headed north it was still dark, and would remain so for the next few hours. The wind picked up and it started to drizzle as I fixed my sights on the lighthouse miles away in the distance. With the wet weather, wind and darkness it felt for a while like I was running at home in Scotland. Ton and I chatted now and again \u2013 I knew from the time we\u2019d already spent together that there would no pressure to talk but it was nice to have company. The man knows what\u2019s involved in running and racing long distances and it felt like a team effort right from the start.
\nNavigation wasn\u2019t straightforward in the dark and a couple of times we had to retrace our steps but fortunately nothing far off-track. I was just glad that I didn\u2019t have to worry too much about directions for once.
\nWhen we finally reached the lighthouse we turned south and along the west coast where we\u2019d cover some trails and the first beach sections of the race. It was nice to take the head-torch off when the sun came up and the trails felt good as we cruised along.
\nBefore I knew it I was picking up a hand-held bottle and saying goodbye to Ton as I headed onto the soft sand for the first of 4 beach sections. I\u2019d meet him further south before a few miles of road and the long second beach section. The sand was softer than I\u2019d hoped but the wind was behind me and I made relatively good progress. Coming over the dunes I could see Ton and he had some food options ready. We moved on quickly along miles of quiet forest road before saying good-bye again for a much longer stretch of beach. This was tougher than the first section and you had to choose your pain \u2013 soft deep sand with a more direct route or firmer sand near the shore that was visibly longer. There were some flags on the beach when it opened up into a large bay which at least offered me some reassurance that I was still on-course. After another 20 minutes I was glad to see the flags lead off the bay and onto the dunes. The dunes were slow and sapping. I reached Ton and we headed down the trail and onto the road for another 5K before reaching the turnaround point at 60K.<\/p>\n
{b}Heading back{eb}
\nThey were still sorting the timing mats at the most southern point of the course and I dropped a few seconds squeezing past the chip people (which would be used for the 60K race and relay, setting off a little later). We reckoned I had a gap of about 8 mins from 2nd and 3rd (Daniel Oralek \u2013 a sub 7 hr 100K runner and Pieter Mans \u2013 the dutch favourite). Pieter was the first we saw with Daniel close behind and it didn\u2019t look as if I\u2019d increased my lead across the first 2 beach sections. I really couldn\u2019t afford to ease up at all and I felt the pressure as I headed back across the sand dunes onto the long beach \u2013 this time with a strong headwind. It was tough. I felt like I was going backwards despite my efforts and I was worried that I might be losing my lead. I was relieved to get off the beach and as I got back onto some firm ground and moved with some pace I started to recognise the area \u2013 but there was no Ton and after a few more minutes and debating with myself on what to do, I turned around and headed back to the beach. I was sure Ton had said I\u2019d come off the beach at the same point but I knew the organisers had added a couple of kilometres on the return leg somewhere for this year\u2019s race. It must have been here. I headed north again and kept my eye on my watch and came off further up the beach and over the dunes. Not entirely sure if it was right but I eventually saw some flags marking a trail through the woods. Panic was over the minute I spotted Ton drinking a well-deserved coffee.
\nI had no idea what this had done to my lead and the confusion went off-the-scale when I left Ton for the last time towards the final 5K of beach. Over the dunes I spotted 2 x runners coming towards me. It was Daniel and Pieter. WTF?? my only reaction. We stopped for a few minutes and chatted about what had gone wrong. I was heading towards the 4th section of beach and they hadn\u2019t come off the 3rd section, through the forest and into the checkpoint. No-one was really sure what to do and we chatted for too long. Eventually they headed off back up the path (in the wrong direction) and I moved onto the final section of beach. I had no idea where this left me and I hoped that it wouldn\u2019t affect the outcome too much.<\/p>\n
{b}Final Push{eb}
\nBack on the path I spoke to Ton about what had happened as the wind continued to blow head on. I was still in front so it was head down and push on back towards the lighthouse where we\u2019d turn south again with what we hoped would be a tailwind.
\nThroughout the whole race I\u2019d had the course record in mind. The first half of the race had gone to plan, turning round at 60K in just under 4hrs 30. But with the headwind on the beach, taking a wrong turn and stopping to chat about directions it was going to be extremely tight.
\nWe talked about it as I tried to maintain a good pace. The beach sections had taken a bit of a toll on my hips and there was a fair amount of tightness and pain. With 20K to go I was trying to work out in my head what I needed to do and at that point Ton confirmed that the record was actually 3mins quicker than I thought.
\nI pushed hard but my pace had dropped and what was easy going for 70K+ was now difficult to maintain. Ton slowed for drinks when I needed them and I tried to get some additional energy into me for the final push.
\nWith less than 5K to go I think we both felt I wasn\u2019t going to make it but I pushed on anyway. I suspect Ton didn\u2019t want to pressurise me as he could see how hard I was working and that the smiles and relaxed running were now nowhere to be seen. I probably just needed a \u201cdry your eyes and move your ass\u201d but I guess that might have resulted in some colourful scottish language in response. Who knows!?
\nI ran as hard as I could in the last K but as I couldn\u2019t see the finish I wasn\u2019t convinced that I was nearly there as my watch said I\u2019d already covered the distance. I sprinted to the line but missed the CR by 46 seconds. The crowds at the finish were fantastic and I should have been happy about the win but I felt like I\u2019d let people down by a measly 46 seconds.
\nMy ultra \u2018foster-parents\u2019 Gerrit and Betsie were at the finish with a bunch of flowers \u2013 I was so chuffed that they had come out to see me and it made the finish really special.
\nDaniel finished in second place about 35mins back with 3rd going to the talented Christiaan van Meurs.
\nSo that was it bar the recovery. I really enjoyed the race \u2013 a new challenge is always refreshing. The people of Texel were incredibly hospitable and kind, making me feel very welcome and relaxed. I\u2019m hoping they\u2019ll have me back \u2013 I have unfinished business.<\/p>\n
{b}Thanks{eb}
\nHuge thanks to Martien Baars (race director), Jan-Albert Lantink, Gerrit and Betsie who kindly invited me to stay in their home, all the friendly people around the course and Daniel, Pieter and Christiaan for a competitive race.
\nFinally I\u2019d like to thank Ton Peters \u2013 my team-mate for the day \/ host \/ room-mate \/ navigator \/ drinks man \/ training partner \/ advisor. Meeting Ton was worth the trip alone. He has such a genuine passion for the sport, a wealth of running experience and knowledge and an obvious love of the mountains and the wild. He\u2019s a real inspiration and I\u2019m lucky to have spent some time in his company.<\/p>\n
Kit
\n\u2022Shoes: Pearl Izumi EM Road N1
\n\u2022Socks: Feetures Elite light cushion
\n\u2022Handheld bottles: Nathan VaporMax+ and SpeedDraw+
\n\u2022Hydration: Osmo Active hydration
\n\u2022Nutrition: HoneyStinger waffles and chews, bananas<\/p>\n
{b}Paul Giblin{eb}
\n(paultatohead <> gmail.com)
\nhttp:\/\/www.paulgiblin.co.uk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paul Giblin: \u2018My ultra \u2018foster-parents\u2019 Gerrit and Betsie were at the finish with a bunch of flowers \u2013 it made the finish really special. The people of Texel were incredibly hospitable and kind, making me feel very welcome and relaxed’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-niet-gecategoriseerd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ultraned.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ultraned.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ultraned.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ultraned.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ultraned.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ultraned.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6494\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ultraned.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ultraned.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ultraned.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}