She was the strongest woman at the last Dutch Backyard Ultra. She started running ultras to clear her mind. She runs without a training plan, just on feeling. Time for an interview with ‘newbie’ Floor van Welie (35), about trail running, backyard ultras, being a running woman and running as therapy.
The Dutch Backyard Ultra is going into loop number 16. Most runners have stepped out by now. Reaching the 100 kilometres is what they came for. Not Floor van Welie. The 35 years old trail runner from Wageningen, the Netherlands, is still going strong, on her first Backyard Ultra ever. So strong that some of the volunteers are starting to tip her as a potential winner. “I normally struggle to run slow”, she says a couple of weeks later. “I know it’s good for endurance, but if I’m on my own, I can’t. If I run together with somebody else, I feel forced to run slowly and I can do it. That day, during the Backyard Ultra, it felt all very easy. I found my flow, and just kept going. I hadn’t expected it. I thought it would be hard to return to base camp every time and stand still for a couple of minutes, but it wasn’t.”
Spending as little time as possible in base camp was her primary goal. “I didn’t do any research into Backyard ultras before this race. My only concern was the temperature. As soon as I start running, I start sweating. As soon as I stand still, I cool off and that affects my muscles negatively. Luckily I managed to run so slow I barely sweated. I had brought my bathrobe for the moments in base camp. Those things are made to absorb moisture.” Every so often Van Welie would run a loop a little faster, to have some spare time to run to her tent and grab something to eat. “ I deliberately didn’t bring a crew with me. My husband brought me to the race and picked me up, but I didn’t want him to crew. I wanted to focus on the race. If I had a crew with me, I would worry if they would have a good time or not. I would feel guilty that I saw them for only a couple of minutes per hour. And I was afraid that I would step out quicker if somebody was there waiting for me.”
At round 18 Floor van Welie suddenly disappeared. Out of the race, away from the trail. Nowhere to be found. “I had my period that day. The whole night
I was struggling with cramps in my belly. Round 18 it became too much. I needed to sit down for a moment. The runners that were still in the race were all very nice. They all asked if I was okay and I kept on telling them I just needed a moment. That I would join them in a couple of minutes. But I couldn’t get up. The pain was too much. And in the meantime the clock was ticking. The time to complete the lap in an hour became shorter and shorter.” In the end, it was a supporter who took the first care of her. “She had hired a cabin on the holiday park the trail was on, to support one of the runners. She saw me sitting there and took me in. When she saw I was okay, she walked over to the organisation to tell them I was staying with her. I could have called the organisation myself. The emergency number was on my bib number, but at that moment my head wasn’t clear anymore. I just didn’t think of it.”
Three weeks after the Backyard Ultra she is still bummed that she had to leave the race due to menstrual cramps. “I ran 110 kilometres. I never ran that far. Normally after 50 to 60 kilometres I’ve had it with running, but this time it was different. I think I was high on my own hormones. I felt so strong. It wasn’t until I got home that I realised how tired I was.” Half of September, in Ghent, Belgium, Van Welie is giving it another go. “I want to run at least 24 hours. I like that idea. I know I could have done it this time. My legs were up for it. Sometimes it’s unfair to be a woman.”
Twenty four hours of running, would mean 100 English miles (160 kilometres). A more than serious distance for somebody who isn’t running ultras for a very long time. “I did run, but never anything longer than 20 kilometres. My focus was on kickboxing and Krav Maga. About a year and a half ago, somebody I loved very much, died. The day after I heard the news, the walls were closing in. I needed to get out of the house and I went for a run. I returned two hours later, feeling a bit calmer and in control of my emotions again.” “Running is the way I process emotions. The monotonous rhythm of running, stills my mind. When I’m out running in nature, there is nothing else I can do than focusing on my run. I might worry for an hour, but then the train of thoughts stops and I feel in control again.”
In her daily work in psychiatry Van Welie uses the power of movement as well. “I would love to go for a run with my clients, but that’s an utopia. However, I do take them for walks. A lot of clients feel more comfortable talking about their mental problems walking side by side, instead of facing each other. Being active helps people heal. That and a healthy diet, good sleep and a daily routine. Everybody in my line of work is convinced of that. The problem is the pharmaceutical lobby. The big pharmaceutical companies will make less money if all healthcare professionals start to work in a more holistic way.” Running doesn’t only help Van Welie to deal with her emotions, it also helps her deal with her eating disorder. “I’ve had serious problems. I can still get obsessed with eating healthy. Running allows me to snack. To eat things that are maybe not super healthy. It forces me to eat regularly, as I need the calories for my runs.”
Her tendency to overcontrol the things she does, is also the reason Van Welie is running without a training schedule. “If I would have one, I would feel obliged to strictly follow it. I’m afraid I would lose the joy of running. Now, if I feel like running, I go, if I don’t feel like it, I don’t.”
“During the week, I run – mostly – every other day. 10 to 20 kilometres a day. On the weekend I do my long run. More or less 30 kilometres. I try to hit the gym once a week. If I don’t, my hips and hamstrings are bothering me. And I focus on my flexibility, as I’m very inflexible by nature.
The Backyard ultra in Ghent and the Amerongse Berg Ultra 50k are the only two races Van Welie has planned for this year. “If there is an option to do a race abroad, in the mountains, I will probably do that one as well, but that’s it. I don’t need a race to push myself. I can do that, without spectators watching me and without a medal at the end. Online I see runners preparing for months for the Rotterdam Marathon. That’s not for me. A race every now and then is fun, but for the rest …. I just run for the joy of running.”
