In the Netherlands there are several runs on the last day of the year, but there is one that everbody knows: the Sylvestercross in Soest. This is not just one run, but consists of several runs for children, young adults, separate crosses for men and women and, last but not least, the funrun for everyone that likes running but doesn’t compete in one of the professional series. For that last one, you have to run laps (1, 2 or 3) of 3 kilometers.

So, having signed up for this funrun, I had to start with the difficult part yesterday morning: choosing which shoes to wear. And since you don’t know me yet, I guess I have to explain myself. I am the proud owner of 11 pairs of Vibram FiveFingers. And although several pairs are not suitable for running in sand dunes and mud, I still have to choose between a few models and colors. In the end I chose a pair of KomodoSports that was already muddy from a training the week before, in which I had to conquer 33 kilometers of mud. Normally they are blue…

The funrun started at 3 pm and I was standing about 3 meters from the starting line. In front of me were lots of people and behind me were even more people. All runners for 3, 6 or 9 k. Men, women and children. People looking very lean and very fit, but also runners that looked a bit more ‘filled up’. But hey, it’s a funrun, so let’s all have fun! So at 3 pm we all charged the sand dunes of the Soesterduinen.

The course was lovely, it started with some loose sand, then we went into the woods, where the paths were a bit (very) muddy. As a good cross should be, there was some going up and down and small paths winding through the trees. The lap ended in the loose sand again. I started fast so that I would be out of the big mass before going into the woods. That plan almost succeeded, but the stagnation was minimal. The mud on the paths was mainly in the middle. Since FiveFingers are perfect for splashing though mud, I took the easy way: straight through the middle.

I loved the race every bit of the way, the sand, the mud, the winding through the trees. I was even a bit sad that after 3 laps I had to finish. The very last part was probably the hardest part, going up a sand dune. I clocked a little over 40 minutes on my Garmin. I proved myself that training for a 50 mile race in March didn’t slow me down on crosses! And yesterday evening I even found out that I ended up in second place! Maybe even first, since the person first in the listing sounds very manly (Frank is not a women’s name). But since it was a funrun I only won eternal fame. Fine by me :-D.

I didn’t need any prize, I already won: I had a marvellous day having fun in the mud!