White thinks that the event would not take place today in such extreme weather conditions. He refers to the 2010 edition. It was canceled because the GHOR (Medical Assistance in Accidents and Disasters) indicated shortly before the start of the event that it could not guarantee medical assistance at the event. Blizzards and a wind chill of -15 were forecast.
It was also tough for the runners in 1983. “Then there was a southwesterly storm with high tide. That means that there is actually no beach. We couldn’t walk on the beach, so we walked back and forth through the dune area. There was also such a storm in 2005, we had then only a few meters of beach.”
High water in dunes
Nowadays, organizer Le Champion also has to deal with another natural phenomenon: the high water in the dunes. “Certain paths were therefore not accessible last year and that is why we had to adjust the route at the last minute. Especially at Castricum and Camping Bakkum, we had to run a different route to finish the half marathon again. That is why we are also running the route this year.” last year. It was a little too short then, but it is now 21.1 kilometers again.”
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