Athlete Tom Hendrikse from Assen does not want to run marathons for the time being and will focus on shorter distances. As far as the marathon is concerned, participation in the Olympic Games in Paris comes too soon.
Hendrikse, who is part of the Groningen Team 4 Miles, had set his sights on participating in the Olympic marathon next year. Before that, he wanted to attack the very sharp international limit of 2 hours 8 minutes and 10 seconds during the Rotterdam marathon. However, an injury and illness throw a spanner in the works.
,,I have signed out for Rotterdam”, says the Assenaar. “I was quite sick and had stomach flu. I threw everything out and lay on the couch, exhausted. I also have a knee injury. Something was already wrong, but it got worse after I fell with my bike. A knee is an important thing for an athlete. That should recover well.”
Last year, participation in the Rotterdam marathon was also cancelled
At his marathon debut two years ago in Dresden, Germany, Hendrikse ran his fastest time to date of 2 hours 13 minutes and 3 seconds. Last year, his participation in the Rotterdam marathon was also canceled due to an injury. “One way or another, something always goes wrong in the run-up to Rotterdam. Maybe I trained a bit too much and I should have taken it easy recently.”
De Drent has no replacement marathon in mind to qualify for next year’s Games. He is strongly considering not running any more marathons for the time being. “I now want to focus on the 10, 15 kilometers and the half marathon. Although I still have to discuss that with my coach Eddy Kiemel. Maybe he thinks differently. But at 24 years old I am still young for the marathon. Most marathon runners aren’t at their best until they’re a few years older.”
I’m going to watch TV from the couch
Hendrikse is therefore shifting his sights to the marathon position at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. ,,During those Games I will be 28. The limit for the marathon is very strict. I will have to run very fast, but now I have more time to prepare. That will be my goal: to run very fast next year and beyond. Now it is what it is. I’m going to watch the Rotterdam marathon on Sunday from the couch.”
Hendrikse participated for the Netherlands in the European Championships in Munich last year under difficult circumstances. He was 40th in 2:19.21. In recent months he performed well with a Dutch title in the long cross and his second place in the half Marathon of Egmond.