Puinduinrun

Yesterday I ran the Puinduinrun, a hilly 10 km cross country course near Kijkduin, the smaller of The Hague’s two beach resorts. The Puinduinen are, I found out, dunes or hills made out of rubble. I believe they were man made hills to stop the sea from flooding the polders which sounds about right for Holland.

See me in blue on the Puinduinrun

The Puinduin course therefore involves three hilly laps including nine horrendously steep uphill stair climbs of each around one hundred stairs, plus a mushy muddy section of track at the bottom and strong winds at the top of the dunes.

Stairs on the Puinduinrun

Mud on the Puinduinrun

The windy top on the Puinduinrun

The race was organised by the Residentie Triathlon Club and there were loads of sporty looking runners lining up at the start line with their club colours. Also, a predominance of men, in fact two hundred blokes finished the 10 km race to sixty women. It was also possible to race just one or two laps instead of three. When I bought my latest running shoes about a month ago, the shop assistant, also a runner, said, “Don’t do the three laps on the Puinduinrun. Just do one or two laps. On the third lap, the stairs are really hard going.” 

More stairs on the Puinduinrun

I didn’t listen. I prefer to run longer and slower rather than shorter and fast, so I entered the  3 lap or 10 km race. Actually, I prefer to run longer, slower and flatter rather than longer, slower and up 900 stairs but that wasn’t an option.

Sean and I rode our bikes out to the start line. Sean was happy in his role as handbag holder and photographer, even though he had to stand outside in 6°C. He's very brave. At least it wasn't snowing or raining. 

My pace was fairly even for the three laps, about 18 minutes per lap, a bit slower for the final time around; despite the fact that I didn’t actually run up the stairs on the second and third laps. I could only walk them: my thighs were burning. And I felt a real scardey cat running down the stairs: I could just see myself spectacularly breaking every bone and tooth in my body as I landed in a splattered mess at the bottom. But thankfully, this didn’t eventuate. 

The Puinbal (a 2.5 metre diameter ball made of rubble) lies on the Puinduinrun course, possibly an artwork (?)

 Puinduinrun

Photo from www.fotob3.nl

The last lap really was a killer and I began to think that the lady in the shop was right about opting for the shorter course. Nevertheless, I finished the race in 54 and a half minutes and despite having a purple face (according to Sean), today I entered my next race. A flatter one. The Hague City-Pier-City Half Marathon takes place in March. Looking forward to the absence of stairs.