A few years ago they were sitting at the table, the Dr. Nassau College and Drenthe College. To climb the Alpe d’Huez, the ‘Dutch mountain’ in France, for the Dutch Cancer Society, in the context of Alpe d’HuZes.
An idea that started small, grew into a project involving almost all secondary and MBO schools in Assen. About 140 employees, students and pupils will be at the departure from 05:30 am to conquer the Alpine climb. This is done cycling, running or walking. “Even if we have to go up that mountain a hundred times, the pain is not equal to the people who have cancer.”
The participants today drag up about 145,000 euros, the sponsorship amount that they have collected in a few years. It was intended that the Assenaren would travel to France in 2020, but the corona outbreak caused a delay of two years. The schools did not stop with raising money, because sponsored walks, baking cookies and the sale of Easter eggs and cheeses continued. As a result, more and more zeros were added after the decimal point, says sports teacher and supervisor of the project, Christel de Jong. “We sold it for way too much money, but getting dropped off for charity isn’t a bad thing,” she laughs.
The alpine giant of almost 14 kilometers, known for the Dutch triumphs of Gert-Jan Theunisse, Steven Rooks and Peter Winnen in the Tour de France, is today the battleground where the Drenthe provincial capital is overrepresented. De Jong and her colleagues have prepared the sportsmen for today.
The cyclists trained in the winter on spinning bikes in De Bonte Wever, when the temperatures were better they went to the Asser velodrome. And for the shorter, explosive work, the VAM mountain was visited. Runners received a tailor-made training schedule, the walkers set out in groups. “And we wanted to see that training was taking place, because students we didn’t see could expect a phone call.”
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