Long Course Weekend, Belgium
When looking for races to run in Europe in the fall, I was scrolling through the list of options and when I got to the month of September I suddenly saw September 24th as a race date and was like whhhhhhaaaa omg that’s my birthday! A few races were happening on my birthday and one was in Belgium, a country I had yet to visit! The race is called Long Course Weekend in a place called Nieuwpoort, and I had never heard of it, but doing a quick google search, I saw that it was on the coast and the race would be near the beach! A beach in Belgium? Interesting, but okay. So I signed up, not really knowing much at all, or the logistics of getting out there, but I was sure it would not be difficult. I tend to do this, I just sign up and figure out the details later ;)
Since it was my birthday weekend, I couldn’t think of anyone else I wanted to ask to come along for the ride than my best friend Teja! How could she say no, it was my birthday!! Our good friend David lived in Belgium for eight years and he is constantly (annoyingly) telling us it’s the best country in the world. Why is it the best country in the world? Biking, Beer, and Waffles, and not necessarily in that order either. So I also told him I would be hitting him up for some much needed travel advice! We flew into Brussels, but was told staying the night there was not necessary, just get to Ghent and stay the night there instead so you can have a day there to explore before heading out to the beach town of Nieuwpoort, then after the race head to Bruges, so we did just as instructed.
Long Course Weekend, Belgium
The Long Course Weekend event as it turns out, is not just a half-marathon, it is a weekend of three sports that athletes can choose to participate in, either swim, bike or run. I like this concept, because you could travel with your partner or friends that don’t run but could potentially do something else, but you’d all have a sporty weekend together. There are other Long Course Weekends in Mallorca, Wales, Yorkshire, and New Zealand!
The town of Niuewpoort is a 2-hour train ride from Ghent., you need to get on the Tram that takes you to the center of town and then out to the beach. We were staying out at the beach. This tram is the main transportation for the town of Niuewpoort, and so there are many stops, it took 20 stops to get us to our destination! Which we laughed about, but enjoyed ourselves people watching and seeing scenic views of the beach for what seemed like a never-ending tram ride. Along the coastal ride is a lot of modern buildings and complexes for those who have moved to the beach, its small but cute. Where we stayed in Niuewpoort was a lovely hotel right across the street from the tram stop and the beach boardwalk area. Dune Hotel Nieuwpoort was a brand new hotel, and we were pretty impressed.
Running the Route
The race did not start until 11:00am!! This is by far the latest run ever, and I was not exactly thrilled. I like to get up, have my coffee, not have time to think about much, and just get on with it! I don’t normally eat breakfast, but for this race I realized I would need to eat something for this late start. I went and collected by bib in the morning and then went back to the hotel to get ready and eat a light breakfast. It was a pretty flat course and all countryside, there was even a tractor traffic jam, we also ran along the river which was nice. we actually did not running along the beach, at all.
I have to say the race medal is FABULOUS. The ribbon is a beautiful red & pink, nice quality ribbon with a huge gold 21k. Not that I do this for the medal, but I do appreciate the beauty of a nicely designed and substantial medal. I also LOVED and appreciated the Pasta Truck at the end.