Run Smart. Keep it cool.

Taking part in a running event is a unique experience, but at the same time, you are asking a lot of your body! You exert yourself, which causes your body temperature to rise. This is normal, but sometimes your body can no longer get rid of the heat. In that case, overheating lurks, which can eventually lead to a life-threatening hyperthermia. Fortunately, you can do a lot yourself to prevent hyperthermia and help other runners.

5 advices to prevent heat stroke

1. Make sure you are fit at the start
2. Let your body get used to the heat
3. Choose breathable clothing
4. Drink plenty of water
5. Watch your pace

Want to know more about how to prevent and treat heatstroke?

Read this article from Le Champion Magazine

A movie that ends well

What should have been a special day ends in hospital for Maxime Hofstede (28). She talks open-hearted about the heat stroke she suffered during the Mizuno Half Marathon.

It is 16 October last year, the Sunday of the TCS Amsterdam Marathon. As the runners trickle in, Maxime is covered by a cooling blanket and ice cubes in the VUmc. She is later told she had suffered a heat stroke.

Read the full interview

From PR attempt to heat stroke

Months of training and fit at the start, determined to sharpen his personal record at the 10 English Mile. Things turned out differently. Jeffrey Aardenburg (39) shares his story about the Dam tot Damloop and the poignant turn his race took on Sunday 18 September 2022.

Jeffrey had trained for no less than eight months for the Dam tot Damloop. 'I mostly ran 10 km twice a week. In the last two months, I expanded this further to 12 km and also ran 14 km several times,' Jeffrey looks back.

Read the full interview

Thermo clinics

Joost Fonville started several initiatives to prevent hyperthemia in runners after losing his son to a heat stroke. For instance, he started a website where a lot of information on hyperthermia in running has been brought together and runners who have had it happen to them once can share their testimony with others, to better understand how it happens to you and what it does to you. Click here to visit this website.

Another initiative is the organisation of thermo clinics, in which you can measure the (fluctuations in) your own body temperature during exercise. A thermo clinic will also give you lots of advice on how to prevent overheating or hypothermia. If you want to know more, or take part in a thermo clinic, click here.