It was scorching hot today and not exactly weather for running about twenty kilometers. But Rick van der Burg thinks differently about that.
The 34-year-old ultrarunner from Weesp is training for the Spartathlon in September and enjoys training in temperatures above thirty degrees. There, in Greece, he will soon be expected to run 246 kilometers in one go. He hopes to be ready in thirty hours.
Why would you do that?
“Well, why would you do that? I often get that question. Let me first say, this is not something you come up with spontaneously. ‘Don’t try this at home’. I have been training for this for years and years. I like to push my limits. That started with a marathon, then an ultra run of a hundred miles (160 km, ed.) and now the Spartathlon in September.”
The competition in the Greek mountains is the Wimbledon among ultrarunners, men and women specialized in races of one hundred kilometers or more. The Spartathlon has been around since the early eighties and only a dozen fellow countrymen have participated since then. The qualification requirements are super strict.
“I qualified for the Spartathlon by running 100 miles (about 161 kilometers, ed.) in 15 hours and 45 minutes, which equates to an average of about 5:45 minutes per kilometer. Now on to Greece.”
“You can officially complete the Spartathlon in 36 hours and then you are simply a finisher. However, you hear from many former participants that running under the magical limit of 30 hours is really something special. That has gotten into my head a bit. And when I set my mind to something, I go for it.”
Running in the Greek heat
Four hundred runners will soon take part. Only forty percent make it to the finish. Rick hopes to run it in under thirty hours soon. Continuously. Without sleep and in the scorching Greek heat. “The real summer is already over, but it is still over twenty degrees.”
His wife Iris, mother Wilma and sister Anouk are coming with him to Greece. For moral support, but Iris is also a nutritionist, so she stands along the route to provide him with the right food and drinks.
There will be full training in the coming months. Walking one hundred and fifty to two hundred kilometers a week is no exception. He ran fast again today. “A leisurely round, lasting almost an hour and a half. Wonderful in the heat.”
Rick also works in mental health care and guides runners himself. “I get a lot of crooked faces from everyone around me, but also a lot of support. (laughing) I will really be able to use that later.”