Straight from the pen: Marcel

Last week I was still musing in the monastery, 7 days later the world looks very different. I doubted for a long time whether I would still provide you with my meaningless prose, but out of a sense of duty I do it anyway. I just wonder who is waiting for this moment….with everything that happens around us, you would spontaneously start drinking. Still, that's a bad idea, but I'll get to that in a minute.

First let's go to the new reality; for the past few days I have watched with increasing amazement and vicarious shame the conduct of my fellow man; wonderful, even moving initiatives to help each other are dwarfed by the forays of that portion of my countrymen who have reverted to the morals of Conan the Barbarian. I see adults horrified at President Trump's intention to secure the coronavirus vaccine for his own people, all the while clawing away the last 5 packs of toilet paper from the grabbing hands of the neighbor who was just late for stealing 12 cartons of milk and 17 loaves of bread. was aiming in his cart. Like plundering Vikings, they move from shop to shop, leaving only empty shelves for the crestfallen but decent compatriot. Even the cat litter is gone, which now results in toilet visits from my you-know-who hangovers (just put the glasses up guys). Beer, on the other hand, is still plentiful. It may be that the IkPas campaign is very successful, but it could also simply be that all refrigerators are crammed to such an extent that a beer no longer fits, and so do you. So a happy accident.

Many events are now cancelled, including of course the running-related. We've all seen them pass by; Rotterdam, Tokyo, but also the smaller-scale walks such as the Sallandtrail. Last Saturday I walked it anyway, just on GPX, together with my trail buddy, and we enjoyed nature, the silence and the now. No virus for a while, no bullshit, no passes...just the next step that counted. Halfway through we met the organizer who was going to the nursing home with large piles of pies. Flans that were meant for the runners, but were now distributed. The cancellation of course means a huge financial loss for such an event. And when I see someone on Facebook who is complaining about the non-refundable registration fee, my pants drop. Probably also one with a pantry full of tissue paper and cat litter.

But I digress; the Sallandtrail. Saturday 86 kilometers of trail fun, and Sunday morning at 7 o'clock I was active again in the woods around Ossendrecht for a somewhat smaller round. And both Saturday and Sunday I had a beer afterwards. Just because I felt like it, and just because I felt I deserved it. That one beer, as a reward for the effort, that one beer that tastes so much better than the second or third. So that's why I kept it there…and I don't drink. Because although I fear that my walk in Slovenia will also be canceled, this does not change my starting points. I continue to follow my training schedule as if the UTVV on May 15th is a certainty, because even now I don't worry about the things I can't change and I stick to myself…as befits a real ultra-runner. Even in these troubled times.

And that's what I want to give you here; Don't be fooled by the hysteria around you, be calm but alert, and don't deviate from your goals. So just leave those crates of beer that nobody wants, and be proud because you know how to control yourself, proud because you stay close to yourself and your principles and proud because you don't get carried away by the insanity of the moment . It's unfortunately a bit incoherent story but I hope you forgive me. Until next week.