One of my dearest postcards

Why ?

As indicated on my home-page I am not only a lighthouse-postcard collector, but also an enthousiastic runner. And for most runners the marathon is a dream, fullfilling that dream though is a privilege enjoyed by only a minority. Those that have tried know what it means, and also know that the training is by far the toughest part of it: you need lots of time, perseverence and last but not least a body that does cooperate. I was lucky in having all three, and so I not only could complete the preparations without real problems, but also round it off successfully by running the Marathon of Rotterdam in 1997.

It went well, very well, not only was I able to overcome the notorious dip after twenty miles, the crowd at the finish-stretch made me fly over the last mile, accelerating my speed to a pace I usually reserve for a 6 mile run. It all resulted in a finishing time that I only had dared dreaming of. And with a remarkable balanced split, thanks to the fabulous finish-mile the second half was even seven seconds faster as the first.

So looking to the postcard, brings back the happy memories to a perfect race and a personal victory.

To bring the above in a correct perspective, the winner of that year, the Portuguese Domingos Castro, needed 2:07:51