Suddenly it became a heroic journey!
We look with suspicion at the weather reports in the last week before the SallandTrail. It is mainly cloudy with rain, wind and about 8-9 degrees Celsius that is expected for Saturday, March 9th. Now we know from the past few years that on the day of the SallandTrail it might be better than expected. Last year a week before the SallandTrail people could iceskate on the Boksloot along a part of the course. The following Saturday the weather was fantastic and the temperature rose to 15 degrees Celsius due to the sun!
It also seemed promising on Friday! Set the route on the MTB with signs and orange ribbons and then the weather was lovely. That would also be fine the day after.
Yes it did. At least, for all 25 km runners there was no issue with the weather. It was dry until half past one and perfect weather to run! There were good results:
Fastest ladies on the 25 km SallandTrail 2019
1. Sarah-Lynn Reuver 1:55:32
2. Henrieke Krommendijk 2:05:24
3. Vanessa Lorkeers 2:06:15
Fastest men on the 25 km SallandTrail 2019
1. Rutger Op den Dries 1:36:31
2. Mark Saathof 1:40:35
3. Frank Meijer 1:41:15
The fastest runners of the 50 km didn’t suffer very much from the rain and the really strong wind later in the afternoon, but also the number two and three of the ladies came over the finish with wet clothes!
Fastest woman Bonnie van Wilgenburg was half an hour faster than number two and three. The difference was not that big for the men in the 50 km, but Martijn Klaasse had made a solid gap to his pursuers and the three fastest men in the 50 km were just finished before the rain came down.
Fastest ladies on the 50 km SallandTrail 2019
1. Bonnie Van Wilgenburg 4:16:19
2. Olga Maas 4:47:44
3. Sonja Idzerda 4:48:53
Fastest men on the 50 km SallandTrail 2019
1. Martijn Klaasse 3:36:10
2. Daan Nieuwenhuis 3:53:34
3. Pim Molenaar 3:58:23
After half past one the wind started to blow considerably and heavy rain flew over the finish area; even some hail came down. The participants who crossed the finish line from that time on didn’t stay outside for very long, but went into the shelter and the warm water of swimming pool Het Ravijn.
The less fast 50 km runners now had a harder time. Anyway, they all ran in the middle of the woods. The ultra-runners of the 50 Mile were not that far yet!! At least most of them not.
The rear runners of the 50 km have since been overtaken by the strongest ultra-runners. For a long time, the men Wouter Berghuijs and Søren Rasmussen ran together in front. Unfortunately Wouter had to give up at one point and the strong Dane ran the beatiful but tough kilometers on the Lemelerberg on his own. Even then with quite strong winds on the highest areas!
A little further behind Søren was Maarten Schreuder, who, however, was not a direct threat to the Dane. Third place was last year’s number two: Mike Bongaerts. Last year, Rasmussen took the victory away from him on the finish line. Such a final sprint would not be possible today.
And the ladies?? Well… even before Mike Bongaerts, Irene Kinnegim was extremely strong in third place in the entire ultrafield! What a fantastic 50 Mile SallandTrail Irene ran! Far… very far before the ladies in second and third place.
The results for the ladies:
Fastest ladies on the 50 Mijl SallandTrail 2019
1. Irene Kinnegim 6:31:27 (third place overall!)
2. Indra Muizniece 8:31:55
3. Kirsten Jochems 8:46:10
Fastest runner and winner of the longest distance for the second time – now with a clear lead on number two – Søren Rasmussen from Viborg, Denmark. With a time of 6:19:02 on the tough course here and there, with around 1,000 altitude meters he made the difference on the Sallandse Heuvelrug.
Fastest men on the 50 Mijl SallandTrail 2019
1. Søren Rasmussen 6:19:07 (last year 6:13:57 over 75 km)
2. Maarten Schreuder 6:30:35
3. Mike Bongaerts 6:42:43
Behind this fast men and fast lady there were many runners on the trails. These participants had to endure a lot! Stormy winds, heavy gusts of wind, rain and hail demanded a lot from the runners on the open areas! A few who had not prepared themselves in advance for these circumstances in terms of clothing choice had a hard time. Hypothermia was lurking, but luckily nobody had to be removed for that reason.
At the start/finish area, the volunteers now and then hung on the tubes of the tents and the finish gate flew with a thunderous roar of his cables and ground pegs… Unfortunately a huge crack on the side meant the final end of the gate.
At the “cut off” after 8 hours at 64 km, several runners had to leave the race and they were quickly driven to the finish with special SallandTrail taxis. That was well arranged, so nobody had to wait long.
The runners came in one by one. Tired, wet and sometimes exhausted and extremely tired. The stories about how awful it was on the track were soon told.
The 50 Mile SallandTrail experienced a wonderful edition, with fantastic winners, but especially also heroic moments for the less fast ultra-runners who have had a blast during the last hours of their 50 Mile!
Other results:
https://www.mijninschrijving.nl/participantResults/listParticipantResults/391
(No definitive results yet. There is still some cleaning in the list needed to present the most accurate result possible.)
