... but it doesn't stop there! It turns out that there is a lot more to that little country than gastronomic delights! But while we're talking about food, my favourite Belgian dish has to be Stoemp & Wild Boar sausages; haute cuisine it may not be but it has a farm fresh, healthy, traditional, mature, local, good feel to it... a little like haggis in Scotland or Oysters in Galway; it may not be the best thing for you but it feels right when you're there!
The weather in Belgium this weekend was fantastic, regularly tiptoeing around 28 degrees Celsius and race day was no different... it was a hot! The race was in the small village of Ogy, near Lessines, about 50KM South West of Brussels. The drive to Ogy was lovely; the countryside was beautiful and we had a running commentary of the view by my 3 year old niece. It turns out there are a lots of cows in Belgium!
We found the village without any difficulty and arrived at the starting area with plenty of time to spare, so much that we had a prime parking space in the village centre. Ogy is a small, quiet, friendly village tucked away off the main road. We found the registration hall (that would double up as a bar after the race) to enter the race. Once the princely sum of €3 had changed hands we were issued our race numbers and 1 safety pin each. After some negotiation we secured a second safety pin each.
Outside the hall some local vendors were setting up their stalls; a creperie, juice stall, fast food stall and yet another bar. We made our way out to the market square where the race MC was chatting to a transient crowd. He had a list of all registered runners and as we had registered on the day we were not on his list. He called us over and asked for my name but unfortunately his question stretched my French vocabulary of 5 words beyond it's limit and I couldn't make out what he was talking about; he quickly figured out I wasn't a local and Alain stepping to translate. He was trilled to have a foreign participant and as soon as we had been added to his list he switched on his microphone to announce my arrival.
We had a little time so we jogged first kilometer of the route to warm up although I didn't expect such an extreme warm! The temperature has risen to 28 degrees centigrade even though we had left noon far behind us.
By the time we got back to the village it was almost time to get going again. A line was forming behind the start barrier and as we slipped into place the entire crowd was hushed to silence and held it for about a minute. I wasn't sure if this was a tradition before races in Belgium but I decided to go with the flow and waited patiently, holding back a sneeze that was slowly building up. I'm sure that if there is a God he's got a cruel sense of humour, but at least he's got one. After the race I found out they were observing a minutes silence as a mark of respect for a runner that had recently died. Sometimes it's good to go with the flow!
A few seconds later the starting gun rang out and we were off! We ran up the narrow street we started on, past the makeshift bars and into the village square; past the church and the village war memorial on the right and soon we were out into the open countryside. The pace was a lot faster than I had expected or was used to but I felt good and kept up. The first few kilometers were fast but very enjoyable; we were running through the heart of the Belgian countryside, way off the beaten track.
The temperature was high, somewhere around 28 degrees centigrade, and as we passed kilometer 4 I really started to feel the heat. The first water stop didn't come a moment too soon and provided instant, if short lived, relief to the heat. The next few kilometers were undulating and quite challenging. I knew my pace was ebbing away as a quick glance at my watch confirmed. I could feel the sun sucking energy out of me and the water stop at kilometer 8 was most welcome. The next 3 kilometers were very tough; I was tired fought hard to keep going. The final kilometer was uphill and a real struggle but my running partner Alain kept me going until we reached the top of the hill. From there we could see the finish line.
As we passed the church the race MC spotted our approach and called out our names as we crossed the line, what a thrill!
We crossed the line in 1.06.27; a pretty good time for such a tough course in that heat.
The weather in Belgium this weekend was fantastic, regularly tiptoeing around 28 degrees Celsius and race day was no different... it was a hot! The race was in the small village of Ogy, near Lessines, about 50KM South West of Brussels. The drive to Ogy was lovely; the countryside was beautiful and we had a running commentary of the view by my 3 year old niece. It turns out there are a lots of cows in Belgium!
We found the village without any difficulty and arrived at the starting area with plenty of time to spare, so much that we had a prime parking space in the village centre. Ogy is a small, quiet, friendly village tucked away off the main road. We found the registration hall (that would double up as a bar after the race) to enter the race. Once the princely sum of €3 had changed hands we were issued our race numbers and 1 safety pin each. After some negotiation we secured a second safety pin each.
Outside the hall some local vendors were setting up their stalls; a creperie, juice stall, fast food stall and yet another bar. We made our way out to the market square where the race MC was chatting to a transient crowd. He had a list of all registered runners and as we had registered on the day we were not on his list. He called us over and asked for my name but unfortunately his question stretched my French vocabulary of 5 words beyond it's limit and I couldn't make out what he was talking about; he quickly figured out I wasn't a local and Alain stepping to translate. He was trilled to have a foreign participant and as soon as we had been added to his list he switched on his microphone to announce my arrival.
We had a little time so we jogged first kilometer of the route to warm up although I didn't expect such an extreme warm! The temperature has risen to 28 degrees centigrade even though we had left noon far behind us.
By the time we got back to the village it was almost time to get going again. A line was forming behind the start barrier and as we slipped into place the entire crowd was hushed to silence and held it for about a minute. I wasn't sure if this was a tradition before races in Belgium but I decided to go with the flow and waited patiently, holding back a sneeze that was slowly building up. I'm sure that if there is a God he's got a cruel sense of humour, but at least he's got one. After the race I found out they were observing a minutes silence as a mark of respect for a runner that had recently died. Sometimes it's good to go with the flow!
A few seconds later the starting gun rang out and we were off! We ran up the narrow street we started on, past the makeshift bars and into the village square; past the church and the village war memorial on the right and soon we were out into the open countryside. The pace was a lot faster than I had expected or was used to but I felt good and kept up. The first few kilometers were fast but very enjoyable; we were running through the heart of the Belgian countryside, way off the beaten track.
The temperature was high, somewhere around 28 degrees centigrade, and as we passed kilometer 4 I really started to feel the heat. The first water stop didn't come a moment too soon and provided instant, if short lived, relief to the heat. The next few kilometers were undulating and quite challenging. I knew my pace was ebbing away as a quick glance at my watch confirmed. I could feel the sun sucking energy out of me and the water stop at kilometer 8 was most welcome. The next 3 kilometers were very tough; I was tired fought hard to keep going. The final kilometer was uphill and a real struggle but my running partner Alain kept me going until we reached the top of the hill. From there we could see the finish line.
As we passed the church the race MC spotted our approach and called out our names as we crossed the line, what a thrill!
We crossed the line in 1.06.27; a pretty good time for such a tough course in that heat.
1 comment:
Hi Andrew, Good read Belgium, the land of chocolate and beer. Could you let me have detals of the event, as a few of us girls would be interested in running
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