A visit to the furniture boulevard, a movie marathon or a visit to an amusement park. There is a lot to do on Boxing Day, such as at the Vught Prins Hendrik sports club where it was very busy with runners on Thursday. Mattijs van der Laan enjoyed the 15 kilometers during the Kangaroo Run. “A lot of people ask why I do this to myself. But I don’t think it’s a strange tradition, it gives you a good excuse to eat extra during Christmas dinner.”
Together with his uncle, Mattijs walked a beautiful route of 15 kilometers through the wooded area of Vught. “I live in Utrecht, but every year I walk in my old hometown of Vught. Afterwards we sit down for dinner with the family nearby, a beautiful day.”
The Kangaroo Run is a tradition in Vught and the surrounding area. More than 10 years ago, 3,000 sports enthusiasts participated, but that number collapsed due to corona. In recent years the upward trend has been taken again, with 2,500 participants this year, at least 400 more than last year.
“Dream of athletes for my sleigh.”
“This is a wonderful event that I always attend,” said ‘Santa Claus’, who was allowed to fire the starting signal together with world star and Prince Hendrik member Cathelijn Peeters. “I dream that in the future I will have a number of athletes for my sleigh so that I can go a little faster.”
The Vught sports club did everything it could to give the participants a Christmas atmosphere. There were Christmas trees everywhere along the athletics track, there were lights and of course there was mulled wine and sausage rolls. There were few Christmas items on display among the runners themselves.
“What a large group of enthusiastic people.”
“Yes, the Christmas mood among the runners is a bit disappointing. Hopefully we can start a trend,” said Kick Verlouw from Ammerzoden, who ran with his family. “But it is nice to be here and what a large group of enthusiastic people,” says Maud.
Afterwards, the runners streamed in in groups. One showed no fatigue, the other really needed to catch his breath after a final sprint. One father even had the color of his face changed by the cold. “It looks purple, let’s take a quick photo,” says his son with a smile on his face.
Friends Samuel, Gijs, Max (all 12) and Jurre (11) were satisfied with their run afterwards. “Although I did get a stab in my body while running. Afterwards it felt like I was going to throw up. After ten seconds I felt good again,” says Jurre.
And the rest of the day? Samuel: “Watching Home Alone? No, we’ve seen that one too many times. Nice to sit on the couch.”