Who Am I

As a boy I was fascinated by my father's camera; an Agfa with a collapsible lens and a pop-up flash. It made wonderful black and white photos. I took my first photos with this camera, and my love of photography has never left me. Thanks to technological advances, the possibilities are now almost unlimited, and you can take the most stunning photos with even the smallest camera.

Hotel Mitland, Utrecht

Alongside my work as the director of Hotel Mitland in Utrecht, I'm also an ardent ultra marathon runner. For me, running works like a safety valve. The training sessions, the races and the travel all provide a very special form of relaxation... an escape from the hectic 24-hour hotel life.

Endurance challenges

Before I made the move to ultra marathons in 2008 I already had 35 years of marathon and triathlon experience, adding up to over 100,000 km of pounding the roads. The book Extreme Running (Kym Mc Connell and Dave Horsley) inspired me to open a whole new chapter in my running career: the ultra marathon (250 km and more).

From 2008 I did quite a lot of ultra marathons amoung which The Marathon des Sables (Marocco), The Atacama Crossing (Chile), The Mount Everest Marathon etc.

Walking all these ultra's led in 2016 to achieving the 7 Continents and the Marathon Grand Slam (marathons on all 7 continents + the North Pole marathon). Aged 65. This made me the first Dutch athlete to join the select group of both the 7 Continents Club and the Marathon Grand Slam Club.

In 2020 all marathons were canceled due to the Covid-19 virus. Organizations jumped in the hole with virtual marathons. All together I ran 1500 km (Conquerer Challenges) in all (virtual) directions. It saved a lot of travel costs, but being physically present at a real run is definitely preferred.

Self-supporting

Ultra marathons are often held in the most breathtaking places in the world. Running ultra marathons is a discipline all of its own, where stamina and endurance are more important than speed. Ultra runners are self-supporting, so you carry everything you need on your run – food, water, clothing etc. – in a rucksack weighing 12 to 15 kg.