My first trail marathon - N70 Trail
Disclaimer: Automatically translated from Russian
Rest from 40-kilometer anniversary racepassed surprisingly quickly — a day later, on Wednesday, I already went on a test run. Everything went fine — the legs ran, the hands waved, the pleasure was enjoyed. Memories of this “ practically the marathon ” were still warm and I decided that for that matter, you can run them (marathon) more. Exactly more. Without long-term preparatory plans, without food pads and, ideally, without suffering at a distance. That is, to run on high, and not on the result, which for a very long time I want. As a goal, you can take, for example: to run all the marathons of the Netherlands in a couple of years. And what, quite a goal. At the moment, of my seven marathons — four Dutch, the beginning is laid. And if you don’t really kill yourself, then you can quite run around the marathon per month. The main thing is that the epidemiological situation in the country allows.
With such thoughts I went to see what you can run in September. There were, frankly, not very many — one start and that one this week. And not just a marathon, but a trailer, with a height set of one and a half kilometers, proudly called itself the most difficult marathon of the Netherlands. I consulted with an experienced friend from the club, asked if I could survive in this race in principle. Having received an affirmative answer, registered.
Although no, lied. I registered on Tuesday — before the test run. But not the point.
In general, he began to morally tune in to run the second marathon in a week. Although no, again lied — not really tuned. He accumulated energy, tried to avoid drafts, so as not to let him not pick up a runny nose (at the start it was necessary to provide a questionnaire with checkmarks, they say not sick, not dangerous for others and generally well done). On Friday, he conducted a short test run to check the performance of the limbs — everything is normal, you can run.
The event is called N70 Trail. It is held in the city of Nijmegen, which is 120 kilometers from Harlem. Again the early start, a rather long trip by car there, and then back. Especially worried about the return trip. It was necessary to get up at 5 in the morning in order to have time for breakfast and come to the start place at 8:45. He went to bed at 9 pm, but was delayed at least until one in the morning — still the first normal start since September 2020. And the first marathon since 2017. And one and a half kilometers of height…
Yes. Distracted. N70 Trail. Four distances — 7, 14, 28 and 42 km. There are three circles of 14 km on the marathon. A set of heights on the circle — 520 meters. According to information on the site, food outlets were almost every two kilometers, that is, a lot. But still I decided to take a trailer vest and a couple of bottles of water. Looking ahead, I’ll say that in the end I took only one bottle, but it was very, very useful to me — it was hot enough (+ 22-24) and there was clearly not enough water, after the second lap I even had to share. From sneakers, without a minute thinking, he took Salomon Sense Mantra 2. Good old, but not tested at such long distances. The maximum that — ran in them several times 32 km, and even these races were enough to rub a pair of corns (the sneakers are a little cramped … I will return to this).Therefore, before the start, I greased my fingers well with petroleum jelly and put on not one but two socks (it didn’t help). As food took 4 gel (by gel after 10 km, plus 1 and three more spares, in case you have to spend the night in the forest) and a few coca-colored haribas.
In general, I came to the place of launch. I changed my clothes in the parking lot and went to get a room. The people are not very much, but not a little — just right. Visiting the ritual booth (out of turn!) went to the building. Until the last moment, it was not believed that the start would still take place. Real, mass, I’m not afraid of this word, start. But all the real — start-up gate, leading, about — fellow at the — club - oh hello, Mark.
Set everyone next to the cones to observe the distance. I — 68
Bell ringing — ran.
At the start, he drew attention to the participant with the number 63 (in the photo he is in the center in a white T-shirt). It immediately seemed obvious who today would smash everyone — in excellent shape, without any of our backpacks, with one small bottle of water in his hand. I was not let down by — this is Zac Freudenburg — the record holder of the Guinness Book of Records for running a marathon with a pramp (with a passenger) over time 2:32:10. In combination, he was the national champion of the Netherlands in cross-country at a distance of 10 km among the workshops in 2019, and he also has his own cross. In general, he also won this marathon, with a time of 3:21:05.
So what did I stop at? Ah, they ran. The first few hundred meters are fenced with — tape. But then the — car paths began, where to run? Volunteers are not visible. Ahead among the trees flicker several moving people — try not to lose sight. After a few seconds, they disappear, and then I finally notice that the orange arrows — are periodically drawn on the road, you need to run along them. Yes, before the start, they said something about it, I recall.
The first lap — exploration. The main task of — is to remember the track and get acquainted with the relief. Well, do a photo. The organizers promised 80% of the off-road route and did not deceive. Mostly ran along some forest paths with a large number of roots, some stairs with rather high steps, along which I had to both go up and go down. Descendants / forest-friendly approaches. Several kilometers of gravel, several — asphalt. But mostly — up and down, up and down. And steps, steps. And do not forget to follow the arrows, which are either on the ground or on some logs, but on the fence.
In general, you do not freeze. The first lap took 1:19:28, the average rate of 5:37 min / km.
I’ll make a reservation right away that I didn’t even try to run into the — asp (well, at least first). And I had no idea how long it would take me to complete the event. Judging by the results of past years, the average time of the winner is around 3 hours 15-25 minutes. Therefore, when registering, I indicated the expected finish time of 4 hours 15 minutes.
About the eighth kilometer I noticed that I was starting to get a little angry at these lifts and turned on the music to add positive and switch. The phone was in my shoulder strap, so it was well heard through the speaker and, if necessary, it was possible to quickly reduce the volume. And then little — not everyone likes Iron Maiden.
The second circle. Periodically, you have to give way to those fleeing for 14 km — they started after us and drown pretty well on these slides. Any expensive to watch. Well, I continue my adventure.
Turnover in the second round slowed down. Isotonics appeared at water stations, that’s good. I also start watering my head to make it cooler. I stumble and fall literally on the same spot in the twentieth kilometer. I signal a dude running past that everything is under control, just the force of attraction suddenly intensified. I look around — a little scratched my arm and knee, a bruise on the brush. It’s good that he didn’t collapse on the descent. I’m running on. The end of the second round. Before the water station I pull out a bottle — I need to pour water. While driving, Mark — is running up, alive? Yes — a quieter crawl. How are you? Super.
The second round in 1:34:40, the average rate fell to 6:38 min / km.
Third circle. We run several kilometers and talk with Mark. On the first big climb, I say that I am not a runner uphill and he is moving forward. After some time, it becomes clear that I am not a runner not only uphill, but also from the mountain — my fingers begin to hurt wildly. It turns out that with these pandemics and the abolition of starts, I completely forgot that I need to cut my nails before the starts. And now it’s time to pay — judging by the sensations, they just fall off. Especially on the slopes, when the fingers rest against the not most spacious sneaker. With such thoughts, sensations and singing of Bruce Dickinson « I’m running free yeah, I’m running free » I continue to move to the finish line.
At the finish line, the organizers were preparing to meet:
Meanwhile at the finish line
We stood and looked into the distance:
How long has — finished:
The third lap took 1:58:18 with an average rate of 8:18 min / km. Total time — 4:52:29.
At the finish, I talked with Mark and a classmate who also took part in the race. I drank a solemnly handed glass of beer and an hour later I went to pick up a family from the dolphinarium, and then home. Surprisingly, he sat down for two and a half hours at the wheel.
This is how my eighth marathon turned out. And at the same time — the first trailer marathon. Despite all the difficulties (or thanks to them), the impressions of the race are the most positive. I am very glad that I finished in principle. It’s great that I didn’t come running last (10 out of 15 men). I had a wonderful time these 5 hours in nature and, perhaps, this is not read in the text, I enjoyed the process very much. Beer at the finish line instead of the — medal is what you need.
PS.
This is how the route — in the lower right part of the straight section runs along the border with Germany — three times received SMS « Welcome to Germany »:
Link to protocols.
Beautiful photos taken from here.
PPS. Nails, by the way, are all in place. I’ll wait until they stop getting sick — and cut them off. And just in case, I’ll put a reminder so as not to forget to cut them in front of the next marathon, in a month.