Today, around 300 participants struggled through, along and over 24 obstacles during the Hel van Bovensmilde.
At 12 noon, Mayor Jan Zwiers gave the starting signal, after which the participants ventured through the course in and around the village while running and plodding.
The run started as a local initiative but has grown into an event of social value throughout the village. “The last edition was in 2019. Last year I was itching to do something again,” says Rutger Breider of the organization. “So we gathered a group of enthusiastic people from the village and now it’s happening again. The Hell of Bovensmilde 2025.”
Participants come from the region and could dabble both individually and in a team. Tests included rope bridges, water features and slippery mud strips.
What’s the best way to get through ‘hell’? “Condition, courage and just go with that banana. Then I think you will go the furthest,” says Breider. But in this case the best helmsmen are on shore. “I haven’t walked it myself, so I don’t really know.”
More than a hundred volunteers participate in the sports festival. And next year there should be another edition, Breider says a little out of turn. “I haven’t discussed it with the rest yet, but we have to go again next year.”