On an open field at the Karpendonkse Plas in Eindhoven, 88 people are at the start of their weekly running race on Saturday morning. Harry Brekelmans (78) has a kind of handkerchief tied over his head, he is a heart patient and has “six or seven stentsHis wife looked doubtful when he left the house, but still wished him luck. “She knows I’m going anyway.”
He studied electrical engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology and conducted scientific research. Now he sails in a ‘falcon’, does gliding and has been running for thirty years. It’s almost nine o’clock and already around 25 degrees. He usually runs in the shade on the track in such hot weather.
The Karpendonkse Plas parkrun and similar small-scale running competitions will continue this Saturday. The marathon in Sneek was cancelled because the municipality had withdrawn the permit, other running events were also canceled due to the forecast heat.
Alexander (32) and Daphne (33) van Geel are going for a run with six-month-old baby Diana in the pram, she is wearing pink sunglasses. Daphne was still walking along this puddle when she was 34 weeks pregnant, “with such a belly.” Since she recovered from childbirth and Diana can sit comfortably in a stroller, the three of them walk here. Alexander drives the car. Sometimes he jogs with the pram from home to the lake and back again afterwards, but he skipped that “in this weather”.
Alexander (32) and Daphne (33) van Geel running with baby Diana (0) in the stroller
Photos John van Hamond
At the start there is another couple with a stroller, there are families with teenage boys, people running with a dog on a leash, there are trained runners and beginners.
Normally it is busier, says volunteer Heather MacDuff (68). She has been organizing this weekly five-kilometre run with other volunteers since 2020 and last week, for example, there were 128 participants. There are fewer of them because of the heat, she thinks, but they also had to change the route and starting point. She points to the temporary white tents of salsa festival Breeze Latin Fest across the pond, that’s why.
The days before the run, the volunteers warned the participants to take the heat into account. Drink enough, adjust your pace. There is a cool box with bottled water, a first aid kit on a tarpaulin and a red bag contains an AED in case people go into cardiac arrest, but that has never happened before. There are Marshalls along the route who pay attention and show the way.
Everyone arrives hot, but whole and cheerful
Photo John van Hamond
Hat on or hat off?
The participants have a variety of – sometimes contradictory – tips to make running in the heat more bearable: hats on, hats off, a backpack with water and electrolytes, no backpack at all, that’s too hot. Apply sunscreen, wear sunglasses, eat a banana, a gel, drink plenty of water the days before, throw a sun hat in the puddle beforehand and wear it.
But above all, people appear to be developing strategies to deal with the heat better in a sustainable way. “Pass yourself to the heat,” advises Haroldinio Abauna, “that’s best.” He ran twelve marathons to train for a 100-kilometer run trail run recently in Biel, Switzerland. “For example, adjust your pace,” he says. “Shorten your route. Forget your record, in this heat your goal is pure participation. And if you get tired, take a leisurely walk.”
There are runners at the lake who leave the house before six in the morning these days to be able to run. Those who train “very late” in the evening, “just like on holiday in France”, who only run in forests and parks, in the shade. On the open plains in the sun on their route, they slow down and walk. Who run the first kilometers a lot slower than their normal pace or walk for a minute and a half in between to prevent overheating. They say they “listen to their body,” do “what feels good,” take a “step back,” or walk more often at “a comfortable pace.”
Participants take a photo at the finish line. “In this heat, your goal is to participate, if you get tired just go for a leisurely walk.”
Photo John van Hamond
Heat but cheerfully
“Take the heat into account,” volunteer Kasper Bosscher (47) says again to all participants just before the start, around nine o’clock. “Adjust your pace if necessary.”
Then they go. It will be sunny and around 25 degrees.
Already in the first round there are red, sweaty heads. The volunteers in yellow vests encourage the participants: “Go Jan”, “Nice work”, or “Good pace”. Haroldinio Abauna follows his own advice. He takes a short stop, drinks from a water bottle on the tarpaulin and continues jogging.
Everyone arrives hot, but whole and cheerful. Without running, says Harry Brekelmans, he would have been dead a long time ago. “Because of running and my good condition, my heart became one on its own bypass there is a medical term for that. That saved me.” Alexander and Daphne van Geel like it that Daphne also comes outside. “We will be inside for the rest of the day in this weather.” He’s going to take a cold shower at home. Daphne especially needs to drink a lot of fluids, she is still breastfeeding.
Four participants will need more than fifty minutes to complete the five kilometers. Roel Philippart (39) wins, in 18 minutes and 24 seconds. He had planned to take it a little easier today, but he didn’t stick to it. The “combat element” of such a run makes that difficult, he thinks. And when his friend Quinten Nierkens (25) indicated that he would adjust his pace today because he had already run kilometers in the heat the day before, Philippart thought it would be nice to win too. Nierkens usually wins. Both run marathons well under three hours.