From a half to a whole

Why would anyone ever run 42K just for fun? Because, let’s face it, most people don’t like running at all. Frankly, in the beginning (now 6 years ago) I absolutely hated it too.

I started with ‘Start to run’ and my dad once let me run a couple of minutes more than I needed to, and in those extra minutes I came up with a lot of gruesome ways to kill him (yes, I told him afterwards).

However, after a while my mindset just clicked and I started enjoying it. Maybe because it was getting easier and I was getting faster? I don’t exactly know, but one day I will never forget though, will be 23/10/2015. On this day, I ran my first half marathon in Amsterdam and found my true love for running.

Most of you will probably still think that I am nuts and that my story sounds made-up and more like a fairytale than reality, however, this is far away from the truth. Some days, my whole-body feels empty. Or I don’t find the motivation to get up in the morning. Or it’s raining. Or I just want to be lazy for once. Or…

Now, here we are, four years after my half marathon and I look back on this race with a feeling of pride on how far I have already come in this short amount of time. It is only one month until my 3rdmarathon and I feel more than ready for it. My body is nicely picking up more speed with less effort, is used now to the high-volume (amount of kilometers) weeks and feels stronger with every training session.

“A little progress each day adds up to big results.”

My main motivation for this marathon is raising money for the meerkats in Na’an ku sê. I personally volunteered in Namibia 2 years ago at their sanctuary and they got themselves a special place in my heart. The love and dedication they show to the animals day after day could be compared with what I feel for running. Therefore, I want to help them as much as possible to make a difference.

On this note, I would like to ask to make a donation, even if it’s only 1 euro, through my website and support my marathon, which I will be running on the 1st of December for Na’an ku sê.