Running one marathon is already an achievement for most people, but Dirk van Oorschot (60) from Loosbroek raises the bar even higher. He wants to run a marathon in every US state. Fifty in total. Last Sunday he ran his 48th in Maine. “After the first one I thought: I’m never doing this again.”
“The idea came about in 2007,” says Dirk from his hotel room in the American state of Maine. He was often in America for his work. “I thought participating in a marathon together would be a nice way to get to know my overseas colleagues better.”
“I was too tired to eat.”
Back in Loosbroek he started training hard and half a year later he ran in Memphis, Tennessee. It was his very first marathon.
And that was not an immediate success, says Dirk with a laugh. “None of us had ever walked. We went to a restaurant afterwards, but I was too tired to eat. I was completely devastated. The Americans laughed at me a bit.”
Dirk was done with it after that first time, but when his colleagues asked if they could come to Amsterdam for a second round, he didn’t want to introduce himself. That’s how he got the hang of it: “I started to like it. In no time I had run ten marathons.”
“It really introduces you to the country.”
It only really started to take off when Dirk retired. “I wanted to run marathons in special places and in rugged landscapes.” He ran Chile, Australia, Japan and took one on every continent.
In Las Vegas he ran his fiftieth marathon in total. “That was at night, because of the heat. Very special.” That’s also where he first heard about the 50-State charter: a prize for anyone who runs a marathon in all fifty states of America.” At that time I had done 25 states.” Dirk would be the first non-American to do this. achieves performance.
He decided that if he continued at this rate, but only in states he hadn’t yet been to, he would get there on his own. And that worked. “I only need Minneapolis and Vermont,” says Dirk proudly.
“I’m never going to set a milestone like that again.”
To keep this up, you have to know your body very well, says the seasoned runner. He doesn’t necessarily want to take it easy once he has achieved his goal. “But I don’t want to set such a milestone anymore. Sometimes it feels a bit like an obligation. I’m so close now. You don’t want anything to go wrong, such as an injury, a canceled flight or corona again.”
If all goes well, Dirk will run his 49th and 50th marathon after the summer.