Organizing running events in the summer is becoming an increasing challenge. Due to higher temperatures, three events in Brabant had to be adjusted this weekend. Both the Triathlon in Oud Gastel, the Maasdijk Marathon near Oss and the Half Marathon in Roosendaal did not take place in the form as planned. Not only athletes, but also organizers must adapt to the changing climate.
“We made half a half. That was a good decision,” says Jeroen Ulijn van de Maasdijk Marathon. The organization has already responded to the predicted heat by shortening the course and moving the starting times to the evening. “More and more is involved. We now have a medical post and an ambulance on an engine. We didn’t have that before, but it is necessary with the increasing number of participants.”
“You can’t just put it on the plate of the local organizers.”
According to Ulijn, it is not realistic to blow off all summer events. “You have to be prepared for it and rely on athletes. We get people from the course if necessary. People accept that.” He does, however, ask himself whether it is not better to make national guidelines in the future: “You can’t just put it on the plate of the local organizers.”
The half marathon also had to be shortened in Roosendaal. “Heat is coming back more and more often,” says Rens van den Oever of Athletiekvereniging Thor. “In 2019 and 2023 we also had to make adjustments. An edition with the original distances? That is looking for a pin in a haystack.”
The organization remains vigilant. “Before each start there is consultation with safety partners. But even now that it seems a bit cooler this day, we cannot go back to the original plan. Everything, from Red Cross posts to turning points, should be arranged again. That is impossible.”
Van den Oever argues for clarity. “If it is no longer possible, then it must come from health care. Then there must be one standard. And if there is, we will follow it.” In the meantime, all kinds of measures are being taken: extra water points, people with garden hoses along the course and spreading the starting times so that the emergency services are not overloaded.
In Oud Gastel, where a triathlon was on the program, everything came together. Not only the heat, but also blue -algae threw a spanner in the works. “On Monday we had already decided to shorten the distances. Wednesday we suddenly saw blue -green algae in the water,” says Paul Romme, chairman of the Triathlon. “It eventually became a running and cycling competition in the morning.”
“If this becomes structural, we must seriously look at a different date.”
The organization is already looking ahead to next year. “If this becomes structural, we have to seriously look at a different date. But then you get into trouble with other events. That makes it complicated.”