Subscribe to the newsletter
The main sponsor of this year’s edition of the ‘65 of Walcheren’ was, for the first time, Damen Naval. This meant that the company’s head office in Vlissingen marked the start and end points of the route, in addition to hosting the prize-giving ceremony for the winners and providing drinks and toilet facilities for the participants. The ‘65 van Walcheren’ is gaining popularity amongst Damen employees: 41 people took part this year, compared to 13 last year.
Dolf Elst during the race.
The ’65 of Walcheren’ is a (relay) running event with a course that encircles the island of Walcheren. As you might have guessed, the route is 65 kilometres long. But don’t worry, it’s not compulsory to run the whole distance. “We had lots of people involved this year, beginners as well as more experienced runners,” says Dolf Elst who, besides working as a Senior Cost Estimator at Damen Naval, is an enthusiastic runner in his free time. “Some colleagues were running five kilometres for the first time, some did 10, 20 or 30 kilometres as part of a team. Some even ran the whole 65 kilometres on their own – that was a real achievement.”
The weather on the big day (Sunday 3 March) was not too cold, but not too warm: ideal conditions for running. “Everybody had one aim, which was to complete their distance,” Dolf adds. “And we helped each other with this, encouraging our Damen team mates as they passed through the change-over points. That was an infectious feeling, almost euphoric.”
Managing Director Roland Briene signalled the start of the race, which both began and ended in front of the Damen Naval head office.
That positive vibe continued long after the event was finished. “Doing something like this creates a bond between colleagues. After all, we work together all week with figures, designs and deadlines, so it is nice to do something different outside work together – and then talking about it at work, and whether you are going to do it next year,” says Dolf.
On behalf of the Damen participants of the ‘65 of Walcheren’, we would like to thank Dolf for drumming up interest in the event and organising the team’s t-shirts. Peggy op ‘t Hof from the Marketing & Events department also deserves a big thank you; she did the bulk of the work coordinating the sponsorship with the event organisers.
If you are interested in taking part in the ‘65 of Walcheren’ – maybe as part of a Damen team – then watch out for the ‘call to action’ flyer which will be going round the office early next year.
Around the island: the race course of the '65 of Walcheren'.