If you dip even a single toe into running, you suddenly find yourself at running events too. It just seems to happen on its own? A whole world slowly opened up for me. Apparently there are quite a lot of running events held in the Netherlands (all over the world, really). Some obviously more well-known than others. One running event is always held right on my doorstep. Namely the NN Egmond Half Marathon. I've been part of it for nine years now, though the last two years I've had a somewhat more active role!
The Egmonds
Even though I didn't grow up far from Egmond, I've only really known Egmond since I met Jesse. Really? Really. Thanks to Jesse I suddenly learned that Egmond aan Zee existed. Where's that? Near Alkmaar, right on the coast. Apparently the Egmonds are known for several reasons; as a seaside resort among Germans, and as the town where a fairly well-known running event is held.
Let me fill you in a bit. That'll also partly explain why there are so many different names for what might well be the same place.
Next to Alkmaar lies the municipality of Bergen, and within the municipality of Bergen lie the Egmonds. The Egmonds is a sort of collective name for three villages; Egmond aan Zee, Egmond Binnen, and Egmond aan den Hoef. I'll list them here in order of how well-known they are.
Egmond aan Zee (the Village), is the (apparently) fairly well-known seaside resort that's (genuinely) busy with tourists all year round. For a while, the residents were worried about becoming the next Zandvoort aan Zee, but nothing could be further from the truth. In winter, this is definitely not a ghost town. Why not? The municipality doesn't allow houses here to be sold to Germans. Thanks to that, we thankfully don't have vacant housing during the quieter periods (though there are few of those). It's also nationally known for the NN Egmond Half Marathon.
Attached to Egmond aan Zee is Egmond aan den Hoef (the Hoef). Egmond aan den Hoef has an old village core, but really started growing in terms of housing once Egmond aan Zee became too popular with tourists and house prices got too high for first-time buyers.
Egmond Binnen is a few kilometres further along. This village is mainly known for its still-inhabited abbey and monastery!
NN Egmond Half Marathon weekend, as a spectator
A whole world genuinely opened up for me. When I'd just met Jesse, it was autumn and already fairly well on the way to winter. That meant January was coming up fast, and with it came the announcement; block off the second weekend of January. For what, exactly? For the marathon weekend. Uh, okay?
Jesse said that for a reason, because that weekend Egmond aan Zee turns into an absolute madhouse. On Sunday they literally put up a fence right across the main road into the Village. You can only get out easily without a car, or if you actually live there. Every local knows by now that you just don't leave by car on that second Sunday in January. Every hotel is pretty much fully booked, and so is every holiday home.
On Saturday, the first event in Egmond aan Zee already takes place, namely the cycling. On Saturday, the Egmond-Pier-Egmond is held. Up here on the left you can see the route for this event. The course is 38 km and runs mostly along the beach. They cycle from Egmond to the pier at Wijk aan Zee and then back again to Egmond. A big annual event, which this year (2025) attracted, for example, Tom Dumoulin. He took part in the combined classification. That means he cycled the Egmond-Pier-Egmond and also ran the Half Marathon, for a combined time.
On Sunday is the NN Egmond Half Marathon event itself, where the 10.5 kilometre and 21 kilometre distances are run by a huge number of people. In total, 18,500 people take part in the entire running event.
On the Sunday, we always used to watch the start and finish of the quarter marathon (10.5 km) to cheer on people we know/friends, and we'd also watch the start and finish of the half marathon.
After that though, we loved joining the blister ball. Back then it was still held at Zuiderduin, and it was a great party on Sunday afternoon!
NN Egmond Half Marathon weekend, as a participant
Last year (2024) was my first time taking part in the NN Egmond Half Marathon event. At this event you can choose between two distances; the quarter marathon of 10.5 km or the half marathon of 21 km. As a beginner, 10.5 km was already a huge challenge for me last year, so I signed up for the quarter marathon. My goal was mainly to finish it and experience what it felt like to run with a bit of race-day pressure. Since it was my first event, I invited my sister-in-law and my brother to run along with me. They're both a lot more athletic than me and can run longer distances faster too, but they ran along to coach me. My sister-in-law is actually the driving force behind my progress. She puts together a fantastic personal training schedule for me every single time.
Running in Egmond aan Zee in January is usually a challenge because of the weather and the beach. The slogan of this race is actually; brave the elements of Egmond. So you genuinely have to figure out how to deal with the cold, wind and rain. On top of that, it's also a challenge to climb up into the dunes from the beach, heading into the dunes near Egmond Binnen. In the dunes you run on a paved surface, but even there you still have quite a few climbs to conquer, and in your last 500 metres there's still the Bloedweg with a fairly steep climb!
That first time was cold and, above all, really wet. From cycling there all the way to crossing the finish line after the 10.5 km, it rained. After a few kilometres it stops mattering, since you're soaked anyway. It just makes it a lot less comfortable. Before that Sunday, I'd never run further than 8 km, so it was a really special experience to sprint across the finish line together with my brother after 10.5 km!
The 2024 NN Egmond Half Marathon weekend
For the second time, on 12 January 2025, I knew what to expect. I kept a close eye on the weather forecast. The predictions were, and stayed, good.
At 9:15 AM we set off on bikes with seven people towards Egmond aan Zee, five of whom were taking part in the quarter marathon. From 9:30 AM we waited nice and warm at my in-laws' place in Egmond aan Zee, until we finally had to get dressed and head to the start.
My entire outfit was from Under Armour. What was I wearing? I had grey thermal leggings, then a ColdGear base layer in the form of a mock-neck top, and over that also a Cold Weather balaclava. A really great combination.
The first three kilometres you run through Egmond aan Zee, and there I was regularly cheered on by friends and family. Genuinely such a great atmosphere and so many people! After those three kilometres you head onto the beach. The wind was perfectly at my back, and the sun even came out to shine. Was it easy for me though? Unfortunately not. It would later turn out I already had some kind of stomach flu virus in me. That caused cramping in my stomach the whole way through, and unfortunately a really high heart rate right from the start. On the beach my sister-in-law caught up with me, and just before the dunes, my brother did too. The three of us headed up into the dunes together. That's often where a really congested stretch forms, since you go from a really wide beach to a narrow, steep dune that a lot of people can't run up.
The last 3.5 km were tough, but really fun. My brother kept me occupied by talking to me (distraction), and my sister-in-law coached me through the final kilometres. 'Don't work hard, we're heading downhill so just let yourself fall forward!' 'Come on Roos, take bigger steps, see? You're speeding up again already!'
To be fair, I didn't come close to hitting my goal, nor my adjusted goal. But that's also part of running. Egmond is definitely not the place to run a PR, but I would have liked to show a bit more progress.
Even so, it was another really fun and rewarding experience. Despite not hitting my goals, I've still got another 10.5 km in the bag, across the beach and through the dunes, running in the sun together with my brother and sister-in-law!
Again next year? Definitely.
For now though? On to the Groet uit Schoorl Run on Sunday 9 February.
