Redefining 'Muddy' - Koning van Spanje Trail recap

After the whole one 50 miler (80K) and two marathons in three weeks thingie, I figured it would be a wise call to take it easy for a while. My right knee is kind of wonky and bugging me, so - fun runs and training for the fun planned this summer for now.

The perfect race came along - the Koning van Spanje Trail 31K / 19.5 miles (about 700 meters / 2,300 ft elevation) - Garmin said 32-ish K /20 miles. Due to The Knee I probably should have hobbled around my home town for a bit, but since I got the chance (this year's Koning van Spanje trail only) to participate with my dog, I figured: heck yeah, ef The Knee!

So, early yesterday morning running buddy Carlo picked me up for the 2-hour drive to Southern Holland. Earlier that morning he'd already picked up Bjorn, who was going for the 11K trail race.

Getting the bib was as speedy as I'd hoped. Met up with some fun trail runners before the race and chatted away the minutes till the start. My dog Lordie could not have been more excited. :) Because of him (and The Knee) I'd decided to take it slow and to let Lordie decide at what pace we were hobbling along. The course was hilly, and due to the days and days of rain (and the rain on race day) extremely slippery. 24K in the race Lordie decided he'd had enough. My guess: the slippery trails made him one tired doggie (fyi - he's used to running 30-40K on weekends). So, for the rest of the course, we hobbled along. I did spent some (okay, quite some) time pulling King off down hills. Slippery slippery down hills. He did spent some time just standing there on the trail. Poor little thing. Took us 3:52 to finish - made it a nice long slow run for me. Finishing with Lordie was priceless. It doesn't get happier than that. :) 

I'll just let the photos (photo courtesy Bjorn Paree and Trail-running.nl) do the rest of the talking.

Before the start:

En route:

Oh yeah, it was that slippery...

Finish line!!! Can you say 'kick ass rock star dog!'? :)

With Jo at the finish line. Why she isn't covered in muddy mess is beyond me. :)