I had planned to run along the Wilhelminakanaal, a canal in the Netherlands that starts in Beek en Donk, about 4 km from where I live, and ends north of Oosterhout, about 70 km to the west. The length of the canal is 68 km. To run from end to end requires going a few kilometer more than that, because you have to go around obstacles and cross the canal now and then. I estimate the total distance to run at 70 km.
I tried this on August 27, 2006 (a Sunday), at 5:58 hours. I started in Beek en Donk. I had expected to do it in less than 8 hours, but it didn't go as well as planned and I stopped after 56.8 km and 7:13 hours because I felt I would have had to walk most of the remaining distance had I gone through to the end. The weather was good in the beginning, but later there were heavy rain showers.
From the start on I was slower than expected based on recent training and experience, and I got problems with leg muscles sooner then expected. I think the main reason for this is that the goal - 8 hours - was set too high, and I therefore started too fast. In a possible next attempt I'll aim for 9 hours and start slower.
Edward Vanhove from Belgium assisted me by driving ahead in a car to meet me at a few points along the canal, handing food and water to me, and driving me back home afterwards.
These photos were taken by David Vanhove; the person next to me on some photos is Edward Vanhove, who handed the water bottles to me at a number of points along the course.
Here is a photo of the starting location, with on the far left the sign that says Wilhelminakanaal, and on the far right the sign that says Zuid-Willemsvaart (another canal). The photo was taken from the south bank of the east end of the Wilhelminakanaal. Here a closer shot of the sign that says Zuid-Willemsvaart.
Then a photo from the north bank, where the start was; this was taken from the point where the water side crosses a hypothetical line that extends the road. Ideally, this is as close to the beginning of the canal as one can get. I actually started on the road in the curve, because the grass was very wet and I didn't want to start with wet feet.
Here is the end of the canal; the photo is taken north of Oosterhout, facing south. The canal does not actually stop there, but is called differently from there on - Amertak - and runs into the river Amer, 3 km further north. This last stretch of about 3 km was dug much later than the first 68 km, and has a different name, so I did not include it in the run. To illustrate the change to Amertak, here is a photo that shows both signs.
Finally, a photo of the road where I had intended to finish, on the west bank (the canal curves to the north, so where it ends it has a west and east bank), facing south. You can see the same two signs (Amertak and Wilhelminakanaal) from behind here; the town behind the bridge is Oosterhout, and I would have been coming from there to finish next to the sign Wilhelminakanaal, which is the second from the left on this photo.
A few facts connect me to the canal; I live 1 km from it, one of my names is Wilhelmina, my grandfather has been a bridgeman or lockkeeper on the canal and the family lived by the canal then (before I was born), and I studied in the town of Tilburg from 1986 to 1993, at the conservatorium which then was close to the canal as well.
From Beek en Donk to Tilburg I stayed on the north bank. In Tilburg I crossed to the west (south) bank at the Kapitein Nemostraat to avoid running into a harbour. Beyond the harbour I went back to the east (north) bank at the first occasion. Then at the industrial area Kraaiven I crossed to the south bank again, where I stayed until Dongen (bridge Westerlaan). I had planned to cross to the north there and use the bicycle path on the north bank to get to Oosterhout.
Once in Oosterhout I had wanted to cross to the south bank at either the first or the second bridge beyond the highway A27, so that I could have followed the curve of the canal to the north on the outside of the curve. I would have crossed the Mark canal and followed the Weststadweg to pass the harbour and industrial area that are to the east of me. At some point I would have taken the Distributieweg (parallel to the Weststadweg), crossed the Technologieweg, passed the hamburger restaurant (which is on my left then), and followed the sharp right turn in the road just before the highway (A59). I would then have been on the Innovatiepark, parallel to the highway.
I then would have gone onto the strip of grass that runs parallel to the highway and followed that to the canal a bit more than a kilometer further (this is awkward but there is no other way to reach the canal coming from the south). At the canal I would have turned left to cross the highway (under the bridge) and run the last about 600 meter to the finish, to be recognized by the two signs opposite to the river Donge that runs into the canal there.
I ran large sections of the course on the sand paths rather than the hard bicycle paths. Running on soft surface reduces the risk of many common running injuries; also, to my experience soft surface is faster than hard surface on very long distances.
Here are the cumulative distances run at a number of points along the course, in kilometer. These have been measured on maps and may not be perfectly accurate.
The actual distance may be several hundred meters greater because of canal crossings, especially those in Dongen and Oosterhout.
The specific preparation for this run began early May 2006. In principle I ran a long distance almost every weekend, and shorter, sometimes faster, distances like 4 or 5 km on some weekdays. The long training runs varied from 30 to 50 km at 8 to 9 km/h. Training volume varied between 200 and 290 km per month.
Time run at a few points on the course:
| Point | Time run 2006 | Expected time on next attempt (8 km/h - 7.5 km/h) |
|---|---|---|
| Rendac | 1:36 | 1:43 - 1:50 |
| Oirschot (Beerseweg) | 2:48 | 3:05 - 3:18 |
| Tilburg (Koningshoeven) | 4:38 | 4:56 - 5:15 |
| Dongen (Westerlaan) | 7:13 | 7:06 - 7:34 |
| Finish | 8:45 - 9:20 |
Based on the experience of 2006 I am making the following adaptations:
The number of long runs in 2006 was about 3 per 4 weeks; I'm now thinking of one per month. The training pace in 2006 was around 8 km/h; now planned is 7 to 7.5 km/h. The distance of the long runs in 2006 varied from 30 to 50 km; now planned is 35 to 58 km. Training volume in 2006 varied from 202 to 286 km/month; now probably 100 to 150. The current plan for the long runs (one a month) is:
