On 11 January 2026, 7 of the ING Runners embarked on the mission to tackle the elements on the first race of the year, the Egmond half, and quarter marathons. Egmond is called one of, if not the most brutal running events of the Netherlands, due to the weather conditions in January near the sea, and the relative high elevation gain. Well, this year’s edition was not kidding about it. It was one of the coldest days in a long while with -7 degrees Celsius feels like temperature and still remnants of the snow of the previous days. But as I see it, this is just the beauty of this race; to really challenge one’s boundaries and immerse in that so called type-2 fun afterwards. (Although, I must admit that in those 30 minutes when we had to wait extra until we could cross the start line some doubts regarding the smartness of the idea of this run emerged, only 5 weeks out from my first full marathon, fearing of getting sick.)

The start was announced for 12:33, so after taking a group picture at noon ING runners started their walk towards the start line. It wasn’t until around 13:00 however until all of us could cross the line, due to the big number of participants. Then the first 7 kilometers were along the sea, on the shore. The tide was low, the sand was more or less solid, but the wind made this section difficult. Then there came the dunes. The route was really beautiful and many supporters (many with dogs!) came to cheer on the runners, nevertheless the very cold weather. This made the experience even more enjoyable. Shout-out to all of them! 😊

Personally, this was my first Half Marathon of Egmond, but can say that it won’t be the last!

Finish times