After three successful editions, the Vrijthof-Vrijthof Challenge comes to an end. The sporting initiative of the brothers Willem and Mark van Abeelen raised hundreds of participants. They went from the Vrijthof in Maastricht to the Vrijthof in Hilvarenbeek with the aim of raising money for KWF Kankerbestrijding. “It has a stomach ache.”
With this challenge, cyclists took about 165 kilometers in one day, hikers walked more than 100 kilometers in two days and for children there was shorter cycling routes of 15, 25 or 50 kilometers. What started in 2019 as a small -scale initiative grew into a movement that raised millions of euros for cancer research. The finish in Hilvarenbeek was always an emotional highlight, where sporting performance, togetherness and commemoration came together.
For the brothers it was difficult to put an end to what they call their ‘child’. “We have been so intensively involved with this all those years. When the video came online this morning at ten, I had a stomach ache,” says Willem van Abeelen.
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The initiative started very small -scale. “After the death of my father and sister-in-law, I and my brother wanted to do something to raise money for KWF Kankerbestrijding. In the first instance we wanted to do something once, the Vrijthof-Vrijthof Challenge arose from that. It turned out that we went through with great enthusiasm after the first edition.”
“That eats energy and our body is gone.”
In the last edition in 2025, the brothers raised more than 1.2 million euros for cancer research, but the success does not taste like more. “It just takes a lot of time. We wanted to be everywhere and arrange everything ourselves. That eats energy and our body is gone. We have always said that we wanted to stop at the peak. We have chosen a good moment with such a high yield.”
Willem and Mark have experienced countless highlights during the years of the Vrijthof-Vrijthof Challenge, but for them the effort and emotion of everything and everyone stands out. “That is not normal. The joy and tears of all the people who crossed the finish line always stay with me. In addition, the enthusiasm of all the volunteers who are committed to us every time.”
“Sitting still is not in our blood.”
The fact that their major project stops does not mean that the brothers will sit still. “We can’t do that. Sitting still is not in our blood.” Willem is already looking forward to a new project. “I have already had conversations with the municipality of Hilvarenbeek to create an artificial tree, where the relative of the deceased get a place to commemorate their loved ones.”
