Night running

Friday night saw us take part in an unusual running event – the Bergrace by Night. The race was 7.6km, starting at 10:00pm. Nicky and I were at the annual Greenpeace planning meeting, so we took a bunch of our colleagues – Joss (Netherlands), John (US), Ahmet (Turkey), Emiliano (Argentina), Kaspar (Switzerland), Paul (Luxembourg) and Wendel (Belgium). Our full mini van certainly had an international feel to it! And when we got to the race, we ran in to Bart, Claudia and Mart from De Dolfijn, our triathlon club in Amsterdam.

The race starts in the town square in Wageningen, then heads out in to the dark, finishing in Rhenen. Every competitor has a glow in the dark band, and it is quite a sight as the field disappears in to the dark. It was a beautiful night – no wind, a full moon, and not too cold. Running through the fields on country lanes in the dark was quite amazing, especially heading through the patches of fog. John described it well – it was like running in a dream.

The final kilometre is perhaps the most spectacular. The course heads in to the forest, where the trail is little on each side by small lanterns – it is eerie and beautiful.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience – we all hope to return next year! I had a good run – took off carefully due to a recent twinge in the hamstring, but soon hit a good stride and felt strong – my training is clearly working. Finished in 29:54 for the 7.6km, placing 26th overall and first in my age category. As it happens, this result netted me the handsome prize cheque of 15 euros!

Shane