Alwin Heijting and Manon Otter have gone down in history as winners of the fiftieth Oliebollencross in Nieuw-Dordrecht.
In the early 1970s, the local football club DVC’59 wanted to offer the players something during the winter break. It became a running competition, the Oliebollencross, in which everyone could participate two years later. More than fifty years after its first edition, the 7,200-meter race is still a regular fixture on the last day of the year.
This time, just like in 2022, the victory went to Alwin Heijting. The athlete from Erm crossed the finish line at Bloemendaal sports park half a minute earlier than Mark Kuipers from Emmen. Stan Heijnen from Dalen came third. He lost 59 counts to the winner.
Manon Otter from Wildervank was the fastest woman with Meyke Scholman from Klazienaveen second at 1 minute and 56 seconds. Renate Post from Emmen crossed the line in third place 3 minutes and 11 seconds after the winner.
Sylvestercross in Soest
After the 41st Sylvestercross in Soest, only Nick Marsman of the Groningen running team Team 4 Mijl returned home with a medal of honor. The athlete from Dedemsvaart came second in the short cross over 3300 meters. Edwin Sjerps from Nibbixwoud won this part. Marsman finished 6 seconds behind him.
In the long cross (10,600 meters), Marsman’s teammate Tom Hendrikse from Assen crossed the finish line as ninth and third Dutchman. The win went to Mahamed Mahamed from Great Britain. He was 1 minute and 23 seconds faster than Hendrikse.
Sweden’s Sarah Lahti won the women’s 6000 meters race. Jetske van Kampen of Team 4 Mijl finished seventh at 56 seconds. The Groningen native saw her teammate Jacelyn Gruppen from Hoogeveen finish 12th 1 minute and 35 seconds after Lahti. Andrea Deelstra, who grew up in Dwingeloo, finished fifteenth, Yasmin Hillebrink from Groningen seventeenth.
The race was the third of five in the Cross Country Series, formerly the national cross circuit. In the standings there is a first place for Tom Hendrikse (long cross, men), a first place for Nick Marsman (short cross, men) and a third place for Jacelyn Gruppen (long cross, women).