Challenge the 3athlon.be editors in the BAIK X-duathlon

Seppe Odeyn taking the lead in the BAIK X-duathlon (picture Melissa Gillisjans)

Sunday March 4th, there is the unique oportunity to go head-to-head with the 3athlon.be editors in the BAIK X-duathlon at Nossegem. Even though our editor in chief is not in the best of shapes, he will be in the starting grid to support Karen Northshield. The proceeds of the offroad race will be donated by BAIK to the Karen fund, supporting the elite athlete who was severely injured during the Zaventem terrorist attacks. Gert-Jan D'haene will appear at the start as well.

The BAIK X-duathlon made its way into the busy cross duathlon calendar, especially by its unique course in the shadow of Brussels International Airport. It just doesn't get more symbolical than that. Yolanda Witteveen came in contact with American personal coach Karen Northshield, who was the last victim to remain in the hospital after the terrorsit attacks, and decided to donate the proceeds of the race to her fund. Later on, we will bring an exclusive interview with Karen.

"It stimulated me to do that bit more," tells Hans Cleemput. "Yolanda and BAIK have put a bright orange Cannondale F-SI Carbon 5 at my disposal so I put on my MTB shoes and discovered that my technique is not all that. Nevertheless I will participate with a minimum of training. Added bonus is a gift of €2 for each athlete finishing in front of me and a €5 gift for each athlete finishing behind me. I hope to gain some places here..."

With Nicolas Auverdin, Nicolas Vermeulen, Sam Willems, Dirk Buellens, Stijn Roelens, Wout Moreel, Laurens Verluyten, Tim Vijverman and Davy Vos there are quite a few top-names on the starting list. In the women's race we look forward to the battle between Birgit Wauters (last weeks winner in the Light distance in Westende), Delphine Vanneste (last weeks winner in the Inferno), Joni Meere, Hannah Verhaeghe, Kirsten Polet, Kaat Van Eynde and Inge Roelandt, winner of last years Hel van Kasterlee.

(http://baik.be/nl/events/baik-xduathlon-2018)

All info can be found on the BAIK website and inscriptions via the Triatlon Vlaanderen inscription site.

Original article posted on 3athlon.be by Hans Cleemput on 23/02/2018
Translation by @T0v3