At first I thought there was no running community at all in Belgium.
That was of course an entirely mistaken impression, caused by the fact that my mind was taken up by other considerations as I struggled to settle into a new life. It didn't help, either, that I didn't understand the two languages spoken here, and that it was winter and therefore dark most of the time.
It was quite appropriate, in fact, that my first taste of the running scene in Belgium happens to be the biggest running event in this country, with about 25,000 runners - the Brussels 20k, held on the last Sunday every May. It was my first experience of a mass participation running event, and although I can't complain about the organisation, I realised it's not my preferred type of event. It's too crowded.
Training
Of course, participation in races is only a small fraction of a runner's experience - most of our running consists of training runs, often starting from home. Unless you live in the centre of a city, you probably have a good running trail close by, consisting of cycling paths next to the road often going into wooded areas. The large Foret de Soignes in the south of Brussels is a prime example, but there are many other similar areas all over the country.
The problem with forests is that you can only run there during the hours of daylight. This is fine in spring and summer, when it only gets dark very late, but in winter it's a different story. Apart from the freezing cold and quite often dangerously icy pavements, you need to find artificially lit pavements - or run during the mid-day break.
The Scott2Run competition
Little by little, I gained knowledge about various running events in Belgium. A popular type of competition is the "criterium" - a series of races held in different places in a particular region, with points allocated to competitors according to their category and their placing in each race. In the competition held in my area the Scott2Run (previously the Watermolen Cup), the events range from 10km to a half marathon, although in some cases the distances are only approximate, and you can only compare your performances with previous editions of the same event. Sometimes even the same event changes from year to year! But still, the races are fun, and you get the chance to see different places and some very interesting routes.
One particular event in this criterium deserves special mention - the half marathon held in Zaventem on 15 August (well, I hope that this one at least is measured correctly...). When I did this in 2009 the temperature was 29C in the shade, and the starting time was... 2 in the afternoon! I carried two large bottles of water with me before the race, one of which I drank entirely while the other one I poured over my head and all over my body during the one hour before the start. Even though it was a few insane runners like myself who made up the field, the first few minutes were crowded due to the fact that everyone was jostling and pushing stay in the narrow strip of shade available in the streets of Zaventem! I gained a lot of points in this event, due to the low number of participants but also because I happened to run particularly well on the day.
Les Hivernales de Boitsfort
Far from there being no running community in Belgium, there are events even in the bleak months of winter. One of them, for instance, starts under the most easily recognisable landmark of the country, the Atomium. This is a 10km race held on the last Sunday of December. The one time I registered to take part I couldn't get there. There was a heavy snowfall which brought most of the country to a halt, although a good number of runners still managed to get to the starting line and finish the event.
Then, in February, there's the race that I've done most often in Belgium, the "winter events of Boitsfort" - Les Hivernales de Boitsfort. Like most events here, it consists of two different races - a longer (20km) and a shorter (10km) version. I always opt for the longer version, of course. Typically, it's not exactly 20km long, but a bit shorter. No one seems to exactly how long. Also, typically for a race in Belgium, most of the running is done in a forest, including (mercifully only for a limited distance in this case) narrow muddy paths. The forest is my own favourite "haunt" of a Sunday, the Foret de Soignes, which is another reason why this is one of my preferred events in Belgium.
The marathons
For someone who writes a blog named "Run 42k", it's the marathons that are the main point of interest where the running scene of any place is concerned. Well, Belgium has its good share of marathons, some of which I'm still discovering more than six years after arriving here.
I suppose pride of place should go to the capital city - the Brussels marathon is normally held on the first Sunday of October. I like this one. It starts at the Cinquantenaire Park, goes towards the royal palace close to the centre of the city, and then heads out towards attractive greener sections, before turning back towards the heart of Brussels, finishing at the Grand Place. The route includes two rather tough hills, midway and a few kilometres before the finish, although these never bothered me in my two participations. The toughest part for me was the looong walk from the finish to the hall serving as a changing room. Twenty five minutes of torture! Such a pity, because the marathon is quite enjoyable.
The second largest city in Belgium is Antwerp, so it's appropriate that the second biggest marathon is organised here. Although, truth be told, on the day it plays second fiddle to a much larger event - the Antwerp 10 miles with ten times as many participants, no less than 14,000, starting in the afternoon whereas the marathon starts in the morning. The Antwerp marathon (as well as the 10 miler) does an initial small tour in a green area on the other side of the wide waterway from the historical centre of the city. The runners then descend into a tunnel underneath the waterway and resurface at the historical centre. The route covers residential areas, some arterial roads, a public park and eventually runs along a promenade next to the waterway before the final turn into a principal square in the historical centre. I have to say, I don't have a very fond memory of this one, possibly because due to various mistakes I ended up running the final 4km with a severe cramp. Maybe I should try it out again - it's a flat route and the weather in April is generally ideal for a marathon.
In Flanders fields... is where countless thousands of men fought the war games of deranged despots in cold, wet miserable conditions, many of them dying like flies, in what came to be known as the First World War. It was the ultimate in human folly. Nowadays, the tragedy is commemorated, in exactly the same fields, by means of a marathon each September. It goes from a town close to the Belgian coast, and runs along a flat profile through small towns, villages and country roads towards a town much associated with WWI - Ieper (Ypres). This town was completed destroyed and was rebuilt after the war. Now it hosts monuments and museums, dedicated to peace, a lively community, and the arrival of the In Flanders Fields marathon. This is where I hope to run my next marathon.
Another Belgian marathon that I hope to run one day is the Maasmarathon (the Meuse marathon) in May. I find this attractive since it's a cross-border event, starting in Visè, close to Liège in Belgium, runs along the banks of the river Meuse towards and entering Maastricht in Holland, and turning back towards Visè.
As mentioned earlier, I'm still learning of other marathons in Belgium. One of these is in late September in Gent, a beautiful city in the north west of the country. Still another one, the Nacht van West-Vlaanderen (Night of West Flanders) in Torhout, commences at 8:15 in the evening, so for most of us would finish close to midnight. Being in June, you run in natural light throughout the first loop, and then the same loop in artificial lighting.
There may well be others, of which I'm not aware yet. If I do learn of any, they'll get a mention here...
... and barely 24 hours after finishing the above write-up, I've discovered not one but two other Belgian marathons: the Marathon Noorderkempen, a newcomer since 2007, held in the beginning of July in Rijkevorsel, to the NE of Antwerp close to the Dutch border (this could be, literally, a hot proposition...); and the Hulshout marathon in the second part of August (another potentially hot affair), held in conjunction with other shorter events as well as a 100 km race. The particularity of this marathon is that it's a 5 point something km loop, done eight times. Imagine, then, the 100 km men and women of steel, who have to do no less than nineteen loops! What a heartbreak! OK, they like to repeat loops here in Belgium, so that one may choose to participate in a short event or a double length event, but eight repetitions of 5km in hot weather adding up to a marathon or nineteen repetitions adding up to 100 km... come on!
