Norman McNeill
We met via the West Highland Way race forum in 2010. I was looking for a support crew which is obligatory for this race and this mad Scotsman volunteered. The beauty being that we had never met! But this symobilses the camaraderie within the world of ultrarunning and escpecially amongst Scottish ultrarunners. Since then Norman and I ran many training runs together, raced during the Highland Fling and supported eachother many times. With Norman comes the complete McNeill family who have also joined many races as support crew. As Billy -Norman's dad- put it: "We've got history now.".
Lennart
We started 'working together' in 2009, when Lennart volunteered (did he?) for cycling with me during the 100km in Biel, Switzerland. In order to prepare well, he spend many hours riding next to me on his bike. During this period we soon found out that the race in Biel would be quite a challenge for Lennart as well (imagine riding a bike for 10 hours in the hills of Switzerland!). Soon we found that Lennart has three important qualities which earned him the title C.O.A.C.H.: in his early days he used to be a fast short distance runner, since years he has developed into a cycling monster and in daily life he works as an accountant. This proved to be the ultimtate basis for making time schedules, keeping track of nutritional intake during races and the necessary butt-kicking.
Joost
Joost joined the team in 2011 with the objective to also support during the Spartathlon in 2012. Ultrarunning and support crewing was completely new to him, so we decided to practise during the Glenmore24, Scotland. It was during this race when many other support crews wondered what this Dutchman was calculating all the time when I'd pass the support area. And how it was possible that he could predict exactly when I would pass again every single 4 mile loop. Norman helped him out and made sure he completed his 'supporting-an- ultrarunner-crash-course'. Most importantly: he enjoyed himself and did a great job being a dedicated support crew member.
Gerrit van Rotterdam
Gerrit van Rotterdam used to be an ultra runner in the period 1993-1998. Some of his highlights: in 1993 he ran his first ultra race and he crossed the line as the winner. One of his winning times of “De Zestig van Texel” -a well known 60 km ultrarace in the Netherlands- is still the course record (3:57). During the 1996 RUN Winschoten, Gerrit joined the select group of Dutch runners that run 100 km within 7 hours (6.53).
After his ultrarunning career, Gerrit started his coaching career. During 1997 – 2001 he was training the long distance team at Athletic Club “AV Clytoneus". In 2001 he started as coach of the Dutch national ultra running team. During this period, Gerrit supported the Dutch top runners and helped them prepare for international championships in the 100 km and 24 hours. Since 2005, he counsels individual athletes. Since December 2011 I am one of them. Gerrit is going to help me with my trainingschedule and preparation for the Spartathlon.
This man hardly needs an introduction: in the Netherlands he has remained unbeaten the past years, during many ultra races. Also abroad this unique ultranunner ends up somewhere top 3: 2nd in Spartathlon 2010, 2nd in the West Highland Way Race 2009/2011 and several wins in Germany and Belgium. In 2010 I registered for the West Highland Way race and Jan Albert was one of the few Dutchmen who actually ran the race. This was our first contact when I asked him to help me with trainingtips, route information and general preparation. Our many phone calls proved to be of great value (we actually never met until June 2011!). It was Jan Albert who inspired me to chase the Spartathlon dream. Jan Albert provides invaluable information sharing his experience and knowledge. More information: visit his weblog.
