By coincidence I saw this article on letsrun about my young fellow country girl. I am from the same region and have seen her run a number of times. Recently at a youth cross country run in Ede where she crushed her peers. She finished more than 200 meters ahead of the competition on a course of approximately 1 km. Last summer I saw her win the women's competition at the Wodan Run in Wolfheze on a 5.2 km run with playful ease on a difficult and varied course. But the most impressive was the Stuwwalloop a few weeks before, where I myself took part and literally experienced her enormous talent. A competition where she became third in the women’s ranking and a race I probably will not forget all my life. The Stuwwalloop is a particularly tough 5+ km race with many hills, almost no flat parts. I ran with a friend, a soccer player and regular runner. I do martial arts and run weekly. We are both in our late twenties and rather fit. At the start we saw her standing right in front of us, very relaxed and with a modest smile. After the starting signal, she went away fast and we had to keep going to follow her. But youth runners do that more often and we thought she would collapse soon. But we noticed that she did not lose the second kilometer either. We laughed a bit and assumed it was due to the large part downhill. After 2.5 km we reached the first serious and steep difficulty, Heaven’s Hill, but she didn’t flinch. She skipped the drinking station halfway, I suspect she didn't want to lose time but maybe she just didn't need it. Where we ourselves already had slight trouble and had to push, it didn't seem to cost her any strength. Like an experienced runner, she adjusted her stride length and frequency (I estimate well over 200). It was special that we barely heard her footsteps but neither her breathing. Looking back, I can't rule out her breathing through her nose, a difficult technique. At that moment we already had a strange feeling, but still had the idea that we were going to get rid of "that little girl". We were a little bit naïve and didn’t get all the early signals. After Heaven’s Hill we went into the forest where she danced around the tree roots like a deer. Then some 300 metres steep descent before you arrive at the foot of the St. Peter’s Hill. Where many hold back running downhill and take a rest, she accelerated. That sounds logical but is not so easy, it requires a particularly good technique (and of course sufficient endurance). Then came the heavy St. Peter’s Hill, 500 meters long. The first part starts with a false flat but after that it gets steeper and steeper. We were in a group of four, my mate and I, another guy I didn't know before, apparently an athlete. And at the front, the little tiny girl who was passionately welcomed by the audience. I think we were 200 meters from the top and it was very hard. Suddenly the little girl let herself fall from the head and started running alongside the group, a little bit to the right. In retrospect, I think she observed us and estimated how fit we were. But at the moment we thought that she finally broke (again naïve). What then happened was incredible. On the very steepest part of St. Peter’s Hill, just over 100 meters before the summit, she started the attack in a way I haven’t seen before (or after). She just sprinted away of us and it seemed as if we were standing still. All three of us accelerated but didn’t have a single chance. She disappeared from our sight in no time. Three mature and trained men in the prime of their lives who were declassified by a kindergarten girl. Like a kind of primal force that could not be fought against. We looked at each other in astonishment and then probably all three realized that we witnessed something very special. Maybe it sounds weird but that’s how it felt. According to my sports watch, we were running 13.5 km / hour when she attacked. We accelerated to 15.1 km / hour in an attempt to catch her but she was still running fast away from us. I estimate on that moment she must have run between 17 and 18 km / hour. If you can do that as a 6-year-old toddler (and girl) in the final of a 5 km race on the most difficult part of a steep hill, then I think you can run. The best thing of all is that she didn't seem to run one moment on strength, it is rather a small and slender girl with an outstanding technique. In addition, she always chose the best part of the trail. And tactically excellent considering the location and execution of the attack. Anyway, after she was gone, we run the last km as zombies in a kind of shock. Just before the stadium where the finish line was located, we heard a huge cheering and deafening applause. We just looked at each other and automatically understood what happened inside the stadium. Half an hour later, after the race, we saw her with her parents and brother (who had also run) on a picnic rug in the grass, playing and smiling, waiting for the podium ceremony. A big teddy bear in one, a lolly pop in her other hand.
I don’t know what her future is like, maybe she stops running in a few years, maybe not. Maybe she will only run for pleasure or maybe she will explore other talents.
But whatever she does or choices she makes, I’ll never forget that moment in the early eve in 2019, on the 25th of May, on St. Peter’s Hill in Oosterbeek, when a little girl showed some magic.
