On that weekend the RWV (Rotterdamse Wandelsport Vereniging) from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, organised a mixed race. (Race-)walkers could enter the 24 hours, 100 miles, 100 kilometres, 50 miles or the 50 kilometres race. The setting was the Beatrix Park in Schiedam.
Getting started
On Saturday, a few minutes after noon, 47 walkers (6 women) set out. Favourites are Arie Boertjes and Marleen Radder, Ad Leermakers, Per Kleis Pedersen and Bernardo José. Marleen won Chalon-Colmar, 340 km. last year. Per Kleis Pedersen from Denmark won the 24 hour race (men) in Ware last year. Jan Vos is who has probably walked more 100 milers than many athlete runners do marathons is here and Aaf Peters-de Rijk who once walked a world record on the 100 km. is present too. The 50 km. start now too. Ad Martens who celebrates his 50th birthday today does the 50 km. wearing number 50. Apart from Dutch and Danish walkers, there are participants from Belgium, Great Britain and Spain. Somewhere at the back there is little me doing this for the first time. Crazy, but that is what one has to be every now and then to stay sane in this world.
The first lap is the largest: 5448 meters. We have to walk up and down on part of the regular lap twice to make the full 160,928 meters later on. It gives us another opportunity to wish each other success and good luck.
The first "hurdles"
The weather is hot in a nasty way: high temperatures and high humidity. All one can do is drink a lot and eat some salty food. On the regular 3887 meter long lap there a two posts. One with water, lemonade and sponges, the other has "everything" you always wanted and are now free to ask for. It is run mainly by "The Daltons": father Wim and sons all infected by the racewalking virus. After about three hours the first fast group overtakes me for the first time. They walk a bit over 9 km. per hour. Arie is there, Ad Leermakers is there. Bernardo José from Spain is evidently a strong and good racewalker. Per Kleis is no longer with them. A little while later he catches up with me, having done one lap more than I have. This will not be his race. Per Kleis has had hardly any opportunity to do 100 km. walks this year due to strikes in Denmark. He will do this one, but not the way he wants to. Eventually Per Kleis will finish his 100 miles in 20 hours, 19 minutes and 4 seconds. In three hours and 7 minutes I cover almost 25 km. without much trouble. In fact, I feel quite happy. I take my time to go to the toilet. It may seem a waste of time, but I can empty the bladder completely, relax and stretch my back muscles by sitting down and resting my upper body on my upper legs. Better to invest a bit of time for that now to survive the hours to come.
A "blue jacket official" scorns me for putting on a rainjacket while only a few drops of rain fall. He evidently thinks I"m a sissy. Within half a minute the air is white with pouring rain. At the water and sponge stop Wim smiles "I suppose you don"t need a sponge right now, do you? "No thanks, how about a towel?" This outburst of rain doesn"t last long but it leaves a longer lasting "impression" on the paths with big puddles and pools. The steep wooden bridge in the lap becomes slippery. Maintaining a proper style here is close to being suicidal. By now people start to retire (a much nicer word than dropping out). The combination of heat and rain and whatever may be next is too much for some. Others have to walk a 150 km. in two weeks time to qualify for the Paris-Amsterdam walk, about 500 km. in eight days organised by the LAT in August this year. Obviously they don"t want to push it too far now.
