Two-day Dam tot Damloop for 30th jubilee edition – New Damloop by night on Saturday evening –

Amsterdam / Zaandam, 6 March 201 – Sixty-five thousand runners are able to participate in the Dam tot Damloop on the weekend of 20 and 21 September. This is the maximum number of runners that may register from 5 April, for the largest running event in the Netherlands. One of the charming highlights of the jubilee is the new Damloop by night on Saturday evening. The event thus grows into a two-day sports festival.

The Damloop by night is going to be a real runner's festival. Dressed in special ASICS running shirts, a maximum of 15,000 runners will cover a distance of 4 miles (6.4 km) in the dark, through the jolliest streets of Zaandam. The battle of the sexes is central in the Damloop by night: men vs women. The traditional men's/women's race, where the fastest women and men will compete at top level in the 10 mile (16 km) race on Sunday, will be extended to Saturday.

Before and after the event, the men and women will be able to challenge one another in this never-ending battle. It is not merely honour that is at stake, but the ultimate winner of the battle will also enjoy several attractive benefits. This year's participants determine, for example, whether the men, or rather the women, will be the first ones to start the next edition.

The circuit of the new 4 mile (6.4 km) race crosses the traditional Dam tot Damloop circuit, to some degree. The Dam, Zuiddijk, and the finish on the Peperstraat for instance, which is visited by thousands of spectators each year on Sunday, will not be left out. New, however, is the prominent role of the watery area around Voorzaan, with the highlight being the passage of Het Eiland. A circuit that can be lit up spectacularly for this particular event. Sports, art and culture are inextricably linked. This is most apparent during the two-day festival, which is freely accessible in the Dam tot Dam Park, featuring shows by various artists this year.

Organiser Le Champion also seizes the jubilee moment to further improve the 10 mile (16.1 km) race on Sunday. With the arrival of the Damloop by night, the 4 mile (6.4 km) Damloop in Zaandam and the Run2Day Ladies Damloop in Amsterdam both fall away. By moving both short distance events to Saturday, 10,000 extra participants are able to run the 4 mile (6.4 km) race. ‘The concept is a qualitative impulse of the entire event, where sports and fun can be combined to an ideal extent. For participants and onlookers, the jubilee promises to be an event not to be missed', as per Simone Richardson, Director of Le Champion.

With this extension of the Dam tot Damloop, Amsterdam and Zaandam are characterised, more emphatically than ever, by the Dam tot Dam Weekend. With an incredible 16,000 walkers in the Dam tot Dam Wandeltocht (walking event) on Saturday, 15,000 runners in the Damloop by night on Saturday evening, 6,000 cyclists a day later in the Dam tot Dam FietsClassic (cycling event), and 50,000 participants in the Dam tot Damloop and Mini Dam tot Damlopen; a total of 87,000 sporters come into action over just one weekend. ‘For us it is simply incredible to get so many people moving, and in so doing, to contribute to a healthier and more active society', says Simone Richardson.

Simone Richardson
Director at Le Champion
 
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www.lechampion.nl | www.damloop.nl