Romy

I am Romy Hovens (daughter of Tamara), 23 years old and currently still living in Kessel. I recently bought a nice house with my boyfriend in Helden!

Running and sports I have always really enjoyed, but I never really managed to build up anything.

When my period started, it was immediately accompanied by a lot of muscle cramps throughout my body. This caused a lot of pain mainly in my back, neck and shoulders.

With the help of many different therapists, I did get relief from the pain, but this remained temporary each time.

When mum told me about the dream team, I immediately had the idea that with this help I might be able to start training my muscles properly and make them stronger. With hopefully the result being permanently less pain!

I am very excited to start working with this little club towards great results for our bodies and cross the finish line together at the Parade!

21 weeks on. A cosy and close-knit team has emerged! Together, we are moving fast step by step. Not to mention, sometimes taking a step back. We support and motivate each other in the difficult moments and drag each other through those (sometimes very long) minutes of running every training session.

So halfway towards the Venloop, the training sessions remain as enjoyable as ever. Even if the chats have shifted a bit more towards the end of training. Every week, I still look forward to making the trip to Venlo and having a blast together with the other ‘teamies’ and trainers! It makes me very unhappy when I have to cancel a training session because of my work in the hospital. Even though the group feeling does motivate me to do the training myself at another time! Without these people around me, I would never have gone out on the road alone to train

Unfortunately, the first treatments with the therapist also passed. As we started walking longer and longer distances, my calf muscles became more tense and cramped. Fortunately, I was able to continue training during the treatments, albeit at a lower level, and am now virtually pain-free again!

Looking forward to the last 3 months of training and that finish on the parade! Because we are just going to get over that together! I would like to thank our trainers Guido and Pascal for the great training sessions! Last but not least, I would also like to thank Vivian for her work to unburden us!

See you at the parade!

Greetings!

30 weeks past … 30 weeks in which we started walking and eventually worked towards 10 whole kilometres! By any means necessary.

With healthy tension we stood in the starting grid. Some still wanted to move forward a bit, while others preferred to move back a kilometre. There it was … the starting shot … Somehow also the beginning of an end. Because after this 10 km the whole adventure also ends.

Fortunately, that thought was only short-lived and I could quickly focus on the race. ‘Don’t start too fast’ shouted Pascal immediately. The course was narrow so actually that wasn’t really possible either. I liked that!

After the first 5km there was already the first support along the side. I still felt really good, like I hadn’t done anything yet actually. In the following kilometres there was a lot more support along the side. Every time I heard my name it sounded further away.

At 6km, my foot started to go dormant. Shit! Beginner’s mistake number 1 … not tying your shoes properly … What am I going to do stop and tie them again or keep going anyway? This was a three-letter lingo moment! I just kept going because apart from that foot, I still felt very fit.

That foot didn’t wake up again until the finish, but luckily I had enough condition! So at 9km I thought this could be a bit faster. With an extra pace I walked up the Parade. Looking around to see if I could see any more support, but unfortunately I missed them. The last 100m, the finish line already in sight! And that was it. The end of this adventure…

How much I enjoyed that adventure! Of all the training sessions, all the speeches by Viv, all the help we got from everyone in the office, every laugh and every tear, but of course most importantly, that finish on the Parade!

Of course, everyone has passed the three-letter lingo often enough, but together we end up with big smiles on our faces every time! Because Teamwork makes the dream work!