We had another company run coming up, and I’ve signed up again, which for me means a 10 kilometer run. Naturally, I’m hoping for a good time. My ambition was to finish well under an hour, and that will probably work out for me, possibly thanks to my adrenaline training.

Two years ago (in 2024) I ran the 10k in a nice three quarters of an hour. A year later (in 2025) it already took me a bit longer, namely 49 minutes. This year, who knows. I hope I’ve found my old form again, but it could just as easily go the other way.

Due to a small misunderstanding, I received two numbers this year. Instead of simply throwing one away, I came up with a clever way to give myself some extra motivation during the race. The route is 10 km, but it actually consists of two laps of 5 km. After about 1.5 km I pass my house, and again after 6.5 km. That gave me the following idea:

• Preparation: Starting in May I go for practice runs with Alex every weekend.
• Match
  • I run from the start.
  • Alex gets the second number.
  • During the second lap, around 6.5 km, Alex waits near our house. As soon as he sees me, he starts running with me.
  • He is of course still completely fresh, and 3.5 km is easy for him. This way he acts as my personal pacer and helps me keep up the pace.
  • The result: I run the full 10 km but with an extra motivation during the toughest part.

My time/result: 0:50:31
Alex’ time/result: 0:49:54 (faster thanks to his final sprint)

Once again I ran a 10K and this time with a pretty good result. I finished in just over 50 minutes. Up until two months ago I was following the perfect training schedule. I was running three times a week between 6 or 7K. A very good preparation for a 10K. Then my family came home from spending the summer at the beach, and my running activities decreased from 3 times a week to 0 times a week.

Still my foundation must be good, because even without running for two months I still ran the 10K in a very good time, 50 minutes and 10 seconds. I ran together with the father of one of Alex’friends, so that maybe added some motivation.

I was very happy with my running result. After month without running at all I was a bit worries about running 10K, but in the end it went very well, and I finished under the hour. My time was 54 minutes and 30 seconds. Not bad at all considering that it was raining during the first part of the race.

Tonight it is my turn again. A night run of 10 kilometers in the dark through Las Palmas.

In Holland the brand name Buckler was destroyed by a comedian but in Spain the brand Buckler beer still exists. At the end of this week Buckler is sponsoring a beer run.

The beer run is a running match of about 6 kilometers across the beach. Sadly, the match is just the day before I’m leaving for Madrid, so I don’t think I’ll be attending.

The strange thing about this running event is the publicity. In some places you see posters announcing the race, and these posters look pretty professional. Of course there is also a website and this is the weird part. I have never seen such a horrible website. The website offers a bank account number for you to deposit your money and that statement that the run will commence somewhere after 7 o clock. There are also a number of empty pages and that’s it.

There is also a statement that the run should be completed barefoot and in a swimsuit so there will probably not be and time measurements. And where will you store all your stuff? It just smells like a scam but still I am curious. Maybe this Friday I’ll walk towards the beach and have a look.

Mijn marathon tijd was 48:42 voor de 10km. Op zich geen slechte tijd, maar bij nader inzien toch geen persoonlijk record. Volgend jaar iets sneller proberen te zijn. Volgens mij is een tijd onder de 45 minuten een goed doel om na te streven.

Update:
Nu ook met bewijs:
De start
De finish