“I love spending time outdoors. Being born and raised in Belgium I had to find a way to make this part of my daily life. It started out with trekking during my holidays, mostly on my own in Scandinavia and the UK. On those trips, it always took me a week or so to get in shape. So after a few holidays in the mountains I started to take up running as preparation. Once I got fitter, I noticed I started going faster and with less gear – more in the direction of fastpacking. And back home, I started enjoying the running as a goal in itself. I also discovered trail running is a thing by looking up the GR20 and coming across Kilians FKT across Corsica. I figured out I could take food and water with me on a run and found myself in the sweet spot between tramping and running. Then I ‘discovered’ a whole community around Legends Trails (an organisation of ultra trails, mainly in the Ardennes over some gnarly terrain) where I found myself coming home among friends.
Since then I’ve moved from Belgium, via Dresden, Germany to Wanaka, New Zealand, to make the outdoors part of my daily life – instead of a yearly holiday destination.
I don’t consider myself ‘a runner’ (whatever that is) but I do enjoy being outside on my own pace, connecting with the Real World and leaving the artificial, made-up world of iPhones, cars and fancy houses behind. It’s about being in tune with my body, feeling the strength in my heart, legs and mind, being allowed in the mountains. It’s about connecting with that ancient running animal(s) that’s somewhere hidden underneath these layers of society. The faster our world burns on an empty tank, the more I find it a necessary antidote to go back to my own pace, powered by my own energy. Treading lightly, but strongly.”
Mervyn @vermyn.runs
(Wānaka)
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Portraits of Runners + their stories
@RunnersNZ
