Karin never stuck with any sport for long, because it wasn’t really her thing. Until last year, when she signed up for a beginner’s walking course, which concluded with the Urban Walk during the ASML Marathon Eindhoven. “It is great fun, walking briskly a few times a week while chatting.”
“We can do that too, we’ll just do it,” we thought. As a young woman in her early twenties, Karin bravely participated in the Kennedy March in Someren, together with her then-sister-in-law. But walking those 80 kilometers turned out to be very tough. “We eventually finished it, but it was already a disaster after 15 kilometers. Terrible. I’m never going to walk again, I thought at the time.”
In the years that followed, she did engage in physical activity regularly – dancing and tennis, for example – but it was always short-lived. “There was no sport that could hold my interest for long.”
Until she signed up in August last year for a beginner’s walking course organized by the association Get Running in collaboration with Eindhoven Sport. “The whole package, culminating in the joint Urban Walk during the ASML Marathon Eindhoven, was a nice and accessible offer. And a great stepping stone to getting active. I enjoyed the training sessions; my fitness improved little by little, and we were able to walk increasingly longer distances with ease.”
“Those regular training sessions twice a week actually serve as a real incentive, which I definitely need. You might stay home on your own, but walking with a group like that motivates and encourages you to go anyway. The days and times – Saturday morning and Tuesday evening – also suit me well.”
But what Karin likes best is that she can combine walking with chatting. “For me, the contact and the social aspect are very important.” Partly for this reason, she enthusiastically joined Get Running after the course. “Besides walking, we also sometimes participate in a pub quiz or go out together for an evening of Eighties & Nineties music.”
In addition to the training sessions, there are also recurring initiatives within the Get Running group of walkers to participate together in running events such as the Bloesemtocht, the Dam tot Dam Loop, and OLAT walks. “You join in if you feel like it, you choose the distance you prefer to walk, and it is also nice that you can set your own pace when walking.” Karin herself prefers walking 10 km. “I find that this distance suits me best, in terms of time and effort.”
This year, too, a group of beginners is active at Get Running in the run-up to the ASML Marathon in Eindhoven. And they will be part of the walkers from this club that will be present at both the 10 km and the 15 km Urban Walk.
