In the United States, soccer is still considered a “pay-to-play” sport, and to break through that barrier, Boston Scores gives every young person the opportunity to play soccer and they also support them in their development. For more information, you can always visit their website at www.bostonscores.org. A program looks like this: And Kom op tegen kanker is my second project because I think it is very important that people with cancer are supported and defended and that the research for cures against cancer continues.  To many people still fight the battle against cancer every day.  The fact that more survive and get cured is because of the support and funding that organizations such as Kom op tegen kanker receive.

Where did this passion for running actually came from? The story starts in 2011, when I signed up for the 2012 edition of the Paris Marathon. The reason was that I was jealous of marathon runners, and what they accomplished seemed ridiculous to me because I thought I could never do it myself. But I’m someone who perseveres and always wants to prove and reinvent myself.

Being jealous of others isn’t something that fits with who I am, so I asked my two role models, Filip Meert and Frans Piessens, for a training plan. Their advice was to start with a half marathon, but I thought, if I don’t enjoy this, I’ll never run a marathon, so why not go for the full marathon right away? Filip’s nutrition advice was, “Drink beetroot juice, but be careful.”

And indeed, after several liters of beetroot juice, I thought I was bleeding out when I went to the bathroom. You encounter quite a lot on your first marathon. It was a leap into the unknown. I ate a kilogram of pasta before the race and drank 5 liters of water. I must have seen every tree in Paris trying to get rid of the water weight. That’s where my passion for running began. It’s like a healing blanket that transports me to another world during times of stress and difficulty.

Then, in 2014, I was successful in the lottery for a major race, the Berlin Marathon, and again in 2016 for the Chicago Marathon. This motivated me to set the goal of achieving the “six star” status. I registered with MMC, an enthusiastic marathon club that guided me to Tokyo and New York.

In the meantime, I also managed to run London, bringing my total to five major marathons. Number six was almost within reach because I had a race number, but then, one month before the race, the pandemic hit, and I lost my number.

Now, I have the opportunity to support a great cause that shares the same values I do, a cause that seeks to give children confidence through sport. This project mirrors many of the lessons that sport provided me as a young adult.