Poelster Bosloop....always taking place on the Easter Monday. This year marking the 42nd edition of the run. There are 1.7km (kids), 5km, 10km, and 10 miles runs on offer. I decided to go for the 10km.
The beauty of the run is that you don't need to sign up weeks before....but on the day itself.
Very recreational run as you only get your start number without registering your name, and without any official timing...so timing for my run was provided by the Garmin 310XT.
Start of all the races was at the north side of the Amstelvense Poel, while the 10km parcours takes you through the Amsterdamse Bos and back to the Amstelveense Poel. Here you can see the map.
Sometime last week I asked Alec, my brother in law, if he was interested in running also. At first not so sure but later decided to do it. As soon as he confirmed his run he started talking about beating my personal best....which was not very difficult as my PB on 10km is about 47:12...what I ran last week in Purmerend.
Alec, being a very good runner, and having a PB on 10km of about 35min was going to be my rabbit....
During the days before the race I had way too much to eat and was afraid to step on the weight scale....Yesterday BBQ at Iva and Alec's, the day before plenty to eat at home....all in all way too much. I hope I can still fit my wet suit....so todays expectation were not high, I would even be happy with 48min.
Weather was good. Sun. Temperature high for end April....I estimate some 24C.
Race started and we were off....starting in the middle of the pack, we had to over take a few runners to get at our (read mine) ideal pace of about 4:30 per km. We managed to keep it for the first 5km without any issues.
Later on it began to be a little tougher but we still managed to keep the same pace. At about 7th km we encountered a small "uphill" stage.....yes...you may think...hills in Amsterdamse Bos....well yes...enough to feel in your legs that you are going uphill....luckily it only lasted some 300m....
During the whole race we passed many people, while only 2-3 people passed us....but the most remarkable passing was of a what I estimate a young kid that was maybe 8 years old....he started same time as we did, but managed to be in front of us until km 8....great kid that will certainly develop into a great runner!
At km 8-9 pace dropped a little, but Alec was pushing and I tried to follow.....which worked pretty well and somehow I got extra energy going into the final 1000 meters....running far above the 4:30 pace finishing the race in my new PB of 45:65.
Honestly, I am not sure if I would have been able to do this without Alec...so a big thanks to him!
Great race. Great result...that will be hard to beat in the coming months for sure...and certainly during the 1/4 and OD triathlons.
Some race data:
GPS track
Distance: 10.05km
Time: 45:56
Average pace 4:34 per km
Average HR 168
Lastly, thanks to the Poelster organization and many voulenteers for making this race possible.
Thanks for reading!
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