Me and my sister ran the Antwerp Urban Trail and lived to tell the tale.
Antwerp is known for so many things. The Meir for shopping, loads of classical buildings, famous fashion designers and a couple of very impressive museums are the main attractions for the gross of the tourists that occupy our streets all through the year.
Many would forget that Antwerp is also a very active city. A home for sport fanatics and adventurous, active people. Besides the numerous sport clubs, gyms, and swimming pools and outside sporting venues, Antwerp is proud to organize many different activities to keep the average hobby athlete or serious jock busy for an entire year. On top of the well-known Antwerp 10 Miles, our city is home to the Urban Trail. What makes the Urban Trail different than other running events, is that the focus is not on the time it takes you to complete the track, but on the track in itself. Year after year the organization makes a priority of finding hidden trails and treasures in the center to guide the contestants through.
When the morning of the run came around we were pretty confident that we would be able to run the entire course without having to give up from exhaustion. 4 weeks of training and our high spirits would have to do the trick.
Together with 200 other runners we geared up to leave at noon. Starting our trail at Park Spoor Noord, to the Sportpaleis, where we were welcomed by 2 DJs and some contemporary tunes with a motivating beat. So far, so good.
The first real hurdle was the swimming pool in the Veldstraat. Clearly the organization was proud to be able to have their contestants pass through a newly renovated sports complex that most people in Antwerp are proud of. However, going from a chilly 5 degrees Celsius into a 32 degrees hot pool area proved to be quite the challenge. We were hard put to warm up when we came out again. Up next were the gardens of the Stuivenberg hospital, where we also had a chance to take our first rest and have a cup of water.
As the trail weaved right through the entire center of Antwerp, we went from the Stuivenberg area via the subway tunnels to the area around Central Station, where we experienced our first spell of rain. But we persevered through the Stadpark, via the tunnels under the Leien (which seperates the historic center of the town with the ‘newer’ surrounding neighborhoods like Berchem, Borgerhout, het Kiel, etc) and were well on our way to the City hall after just an hour of running. The “Vlaeykensgang” is the smallest street in Antwerp so I was surprised to go through it, but welcomed the “oohs” and “aahs” I heard when fellow sports fans who aren’t from Antwerp joined me.
After tracking our wet shoes through the marriage room of city hall it was on to Felix Pakhuis, where the smells of barbecue and heartwarming dishes made it all the more hard to keep my focus.
By the time we were at the docks and ran past the MAS, I was well on my way of wanting to give up. Had it not been for my awesome sister and het motivating funny comments (non-stop), I don’t think I would have loved the experience as much as I did now.
We finally made our way back into the park at 1h35mins. Getting cheered on by the family as we passed the finish line.
The Urban Trail is a yearly event and has known an exponential growth in the 4 years that it has taken place. If you’re a bit of a fit freak like myself and you love to run with a good view, make sure you enter yourself in next year’s run. I guarantee you’ll see sides of our precious Diamond City that you’ve never seen before or will soon see again.
Text and pics by Joke Tourné