During the last edition of the Dutch cross championship, northern athletes took three titles. On Sunday in Eersel, not a single runner from the North stood on the top step of the podium of honor.
G a gold, but silver and bronze. Nik Lemmink came second in the 9.7 kilometers for men. Defending champion Tom Hendrikse crossed the finish line fifth. Nowadays women run the same distance as men. Jacelyn Gruppen finished third. Nick Marsman lost his title on the short distance (2.5 kilometers); he ran to sixth place. Jetske van Kampen did not start in the women’s race. The Groningen, three-time national champion in this event, is preparing for the indoor season in Lanzarote.
Eighteen year old talent
The only eighteen-year-old Brabant talent Niels Laros came first in the longest distance. Nik Lemmink, who was also second during the last edition in Hellendoorn, fell 10 seconds behind. Two weeks earlier in the Warandeloop, the athlete from Groningen had been too eager. “I blew myself up and had an upset stomach,” he recalled. That’s why he started conservatively. “I ran comfortably in the first half. Tom Hendrikse and Bas van Hooren had started fast, but I was able to pick them up slowly together with Niels Laros. In the end I didn’t have the power to beat Niels Laros, he got through the loose sand areas much better in particular. Glad that I was able to end a year with many injuries with this performance,” Lemmink looked back.
At the E3 beach in Eersel, Tom Hendrikse was not fit at the start due to a cold. He was still part of the group from the very beginning, but soon had to drop out. The man from Assen eventually arrived almost a minute after Laros. Hendrikse: ,,Because of the cold virus, I reached my limit early in the race. Its a shame, but there is nothing to do about it.”
Jacelyn Gruppen
Among the women, Jacelyn Gruppen from Hoogeveen, winner of silver in the last edition, was not considered a medal candidate. Maureen Koster, Emmy van den Berg, Merel van der Marel and reigning national champion Veerle Bakker would compete for the medal. This quartet had also played at the European Championship a week earlier. But Gruppen pulled off a surprise.
In the leading group of six she could easily keep up with the pace. The sand passages came easily to her. In the first big lap Maureen Koster opened a gap, in the second lap Emmy van den Berg accelerated. Only Gruppen could follow her. Koster, second in the 4 Mile in October, finished with a lead of 25 seconds over Van den Berg. Gruppen lost 44 seconds to the winner. She was happy with her third place. “I really liked the distance and the sandy strips. I didn’t expect this with so many participants in the European Championship. I am very happy with this.”
Indestructible Meppel veteran
In the short distance, Nick Marsman from Dedemsvaart and, like Lemmink, Hendrikse, Gruppen and Van Kampen, a member of the Groningen running team Team 4 Mijl, failed to become national champion for the fourth time. Halfway through he lost connection with the leading group in a sharp bend, after which the medals disappeared further and further from view.
The indestructible Meppel veteran Petra Hasper managed to win the national title on Saturday. That day she came first among the women over sixty.