Running 106 km over the stunning Dutch “Mountain” Trail

Last year I wrote a story about my journey towards running the most beautiful marathon in the world: going up the Jungfrau mountain in Switzerland. It was a tough but ever so rewarding experience that intensified my joy for running, and especially trail running, greatly. So very soon after this marathon the obvious question arose: what’s next? What other challenge could we take on which would offer the same kind of fulfillment after completion? Around that same time Netflix broadcast the Idris Elba narrated documentary Human Playground. In the first episode we follow the struggle of Amy Palmiero-Winters during her participation in the toughest marathon in the world: the Marathon des Sables. A race of 250 km through the Moroccan desert… although very appealing this was a bridge too far in terms of “nice” next challenge for me. But browsing the internet and learning about the famous MDS, I discovered the existence of the HMDS. Half of the Marathon des Sables, a distance of up to 120km run in 3 stages during 4 days in the desert. Is that something I could do? That distance? In the desert? I could already visualize myself sweating and panting through the sand, having a great time. But with a newborn baby to care for this challenge was not one to take on in 2023. Nevertheless, running more than 100 km in 3 days a little closer to home… perhaps that’s an achievable goal for the year. And so, a new challenge was born!

Me and two other sporty friends found the perfect route to be the Dutch Mountain Trail. The route basically sells itself as described on the trail’s website:

“…this challenging 101-kilometre trail (63 miles) is not for the faint-hearted, linking up seven of the country’s highest summits all of which are above 150 metres (500 feet). The alpine meadows, wooded hillsides, bubbling streams, rock faces and spectacular vistas along the way give trekkers a taste of the mountains. Its ups and downs demand some serious leg work, often traversing rough, rocky, and muddy terrain and on occasion imperceptibly crossing the border into Germany and Belgium. At times you will find yourself battling across open plateaus where the wind has free rein and at others, tumbling down mountainous slopes into dense forest or teetering along a vertiginous cliff face. The views afforded from the top of the Seven Summits along the way are far-reaching, taking in the Eifel in Germany, the Ardennes and the Kempen in Belgium, as well as lower lying lands of the Rhine Basin and the Maas valley to the north.”

Wow!! That’s where I want to be!! That’s what I want to do!!! And so, I did. Obviously not whitout some necessary training time. Because running one marathon is one thing, running almost 3 consecutive marathons in a row is another. I purchased a Cybex Avi stroller specifically made for running so that I could combine my parental leave days with training sessions. And the best part of this was that my son absolutely loves this stroller. It offers the perfect mobile nap time with the monotonous sounds of running shoes and the wagon fluently gliding across the pavement. On one occasion we were stopped by a journalist from hardlopen.nl who took this photo of us.

This year I felt that my body still reaped the benefits of last year’s marathon training and I got back into shape a lot quicker. I clearly experienced less pain and could adapt faster to the summer heat. And before I knew it the weekend of our self-organized challenge was there.

We had split the route into three segments of about 35km each and we made sure that the first two segments would finish at a comfortable hotels to stay the night. With the .gpx files loaded onto our watches it shouldn’t be too difficult to navigate the right course. In terms of luggage I packed a clean shirt, lightweight pants, a jacket, warm socks and clean underwear in the back pouch of my Solomon Adv Skin 5. I also brought my phone, charger, identification, two 500ml drinking flasks and sufficient Maurten Gel 100’s for the necessary carbohydrates.

One of our friends joined our challenge by bicycle and he kindly carried some additional stuff for us, like toiletries, additional gels and isotonic energy drink. I’m sure everything I needed for the trip would have fitted in my small runners backpack but this was a little more comfortable (+ after running for some hours it is nice to know that there is someone waiting at the finish line).

All set! My taper week was going well and I felt ready. But then… my son contracted a stomach flu at daycare which I inevitably also could not escape. So the day before we would make the three hour trainride to Eygelshoven I had seen the toilet from way too close and for way too many times than I could wish for. Fortunately, the virus didn’t put me down for too long and on Friday morning September 29 I found myself eating a bunch of dry crackers and bananas in the train to fill my empty stomach.

Go!! Off we went, starting the Dutch Mountain Trail from a tiny station called Eygelshoven in Limburg. The route immediately took us onto a narrow dirt road. That Friday we ran to Vaals, crossing a rural area of Germany and with a short Coca Cola break on the Drielandenpunt on top of the Vaalserberg, we reached our first hotel after 36.7km, 781D+ and 4 hours, 7 minutes. Time to recover with a nice dinner and good company.

Day 2. After an extensive breakfast (and my post-flu appetite fully recovered) we continued our journey through the breathtakingly beautiful landscape. Through forests, over hills, across open green pastures and along small babbling rivers we ran to the Belgian town Teuven where we stayed the night. 34.9km, 904D+ and 3 hours, 43 minutes.

Day 3. It was already harder to finish dinner the night before and also breakfast wasn’t easy to eat. My body clearly still recovering from the stress that I had put it through. But my mind was strong and I felt positive towards running this final day to the train station in Maastricht. The weather on October first was fantastic, perhaps even a little too warm for running. With the trail sending us over some very nice hills (apologies, I should say Dutch mountains ??) on a short ferry crossing and through a collapsed limestone quarry, it was again a wonderful journey. Today even faster than day one and two: 34.6km, 557D+ and 3 hours, 33 minutes.

WE DID IT! 106km in 3 days!! That Marathon des Sables feels much more within reach now…