{"id":3005,"date":"2024-12-09T15:47:27","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T14:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kalinga.nl\/?p=3005"},"modified":"2025-03-15T11:43:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T10:43:15","slug":"252-kilometres-through-the-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kalinga.nl\/en\/252-kilometer-door-de-woestijn\/","title":{"rendered":"252 kilometres through the desert"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Bram van den Bergh works in youth welfare, is an avid sportsman and has been a triathlete for 25 years. Bram loves nothing more than constantly pushing his limits. Not for nothing is his favourite distance the Ironman (3.8km swimming, 180km cycling and a marathon run). Bram: \"This distance offers me mental and physical challenges: pain in the legs, nausea and equipment breakdowns while staying focused on the end goal, the finish. Now it's time to push my limits (literally) even further.\"<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The most physical and mental challenge there is, 250 km through the desert
<\/b>In 2025, Bram participates in <\/span>Marathon des Sables<\/a>: 252 km through the Sahara Desert in south-east Morocco. All necessities (including food and drink) he will carry continuously on the route that involves braving sand dunes, rock substrates and scorching heat. \"But even though I have never done it before, I am already convinced that reaching the finish line will be a euphoric moment,\" says Bram.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Running for Kalinga
<\/b>Because Bram likes to dedicate himself to others, especially youth, he would like to contribute to the challenges faced by children and young people in the Philippines through his participation in Marathon des Sables. That is why he is running for the Kalinga Foundation. And we are extremely grateful to him for that!<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

\"Pain is temporary, victory lasts forever\"<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The Preparation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

You don't just run the Marathon des Sables, of course. A long, intensive preparation precedes this. Below, we regularly share information sent to us by Bram van den Bergh. A small glimpse into the sporting kitchen.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\"\"<\/figure>

March 10, 2025- Training in style<\/h3>

In the final period until it's actually here, Bram is walking even more in style. On his jumper, he had a barcode (leading to the donation link) printed with 'Want to know who I am running for?'<\/i><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\"\"<\/figure>

March 8, 2025- Medical examination no. 1<\/h3>

That such a 'run of 252 km' is a serious business is also reflected in the thorough medical examinations that precede it. On 8 March, Bram 'underwent' the first one. And the results? Which was top-notch, on to the next round \ud83d\ude42<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\"Dutch<\/figure>

7 February 2025- Dutch Coast Ultra Run by Night<\/h3>

The outfits Bram has to carry on his back in Morocco are almost complete and now weigh about 8 kilos. To experience what this feels like, Bram is running the 50-kilometre Dutch Coast Ultra Run by Night on 7 February.\n\nIt was leaden; strong wind, dark, cold, sand (beach and dunes), but after just over 5.5 hours he reached the finish. What a super achievement!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\"\"<\/figure>

10 January 2025 - together for Kalinga<\/h3>

Bram's enormous enthusiasm to not only take up the challenge in the field of sports, but also to dedicate himself to children in the Philippines in the process, caught the attention of others. For instance, the fire brigade in Tiel is also trying to raise money, Bram is allowed to use the sports facilities at Dinxper gym for free to train and the Dinxper branch of Jumbo is making it possible to choose a donation to Kalinga the whole month of March, when you hand in your bottles.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\"\"<\/figure>

Christmas 2024<\/h3>

Even during the holidays, preparation continues as usual. Bram: \"In the absence of dunes, I choose to do strength training where I run up the Dinxperlo landfill 10 times.\" (see video)\n\nOn third Christmas day, Bram runs a half marathon with packs. The route starts in Arnhem and leads through the beautiful and hilly landscape of the Veluwe. Such a pack naturally raises questions and Bram enjoys answering them. And that leads to great interest and fun windfall: he gets the registration fee for the half marathon back to donate to Kalinga.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\"\"<\/figure>

16 November 2024 - various training sessions<\/h3>

\"I try to train on different types of surfaces and, of course, training on a (loose) sand surface is essential for this. I usually train outdoors, but I also use a treadmill. By the way, I do not only train by running hard, but I also make kilometres on my bike. That way, I can increase my lung capacity more easily, with less risk of injury.\"<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\"\"<\/figure>

6 October 2024 - how much is needed!<\/h3>

\"Over the past few weeks, I have mainly been gathering a lot of information about what is needed in terms of equipment and other preparation for the Tocht der Tochten and the first materials have been purchased\"<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bram van den Bergh is werkzaam in de jeugdzorg, fanatiek sporter en al 25 jaar triatleet. Bram doet niets liever dan het continue verleggen van zijn grenzen. Niet voor niets is zijn favoriete afstand de Ironman (3,8km zwemmen, 180km fietsen \u00e9n een marathon lopen). Bram: “Deze afstand biedt me mentale en fysieke uitdaging: pijn in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalinga.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalinga.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalinga.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalinga.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalinga.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3005"}],"version-history":[{"count":55,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalinga.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3274,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalinga.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3005\/revisions\/3274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalinga.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalinga.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalinga.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalinga.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}