Former chain smoker wins marathon: ‘I thought maybe I should start training’

“I still don’t quite believe it,” says a smiling Björn on the phone from Austria. “It’s pretty unreal. Everything just made sense yesterday.”

It took 2 hours and 11 minutes to cover the 42.195 kilometers in Vienna. A personal record. He is immediately one of the best runners in the Netherlands. “It’s really unbelievable. After the finish I called the home front via the group whatsapp. Everyone was crying. They were home so excited.”

‘At the finish I already had 600 texts’

His family had watched the standings via the computer during the match. “They were really excited. I thought that very few people in the Netherlands had gotten it, but when I crossed the finish line I already had 600 texts. I think I need all week to answer everything.”

So they cried. From joy, perhaps relief. “My family also knows where I come from, of course. That is extra fun.”

Because Björn’s performance can be called striking. The picture is usually like this: a runner starts his career as a ten-year-old in athletics. They will then be shot put and hurdled, he explains. “And then at some point you choose the all-around or a specific discipline such as running. None of that has been the case with me.” He did play handball. “There I was especially good at running to the other goal as quickly as possible.”

What he was good at at the time: hanging out in the pub. A chain-smoking pub tiger, NRC Handelsblad described him last week. A pack a day went through. He was in the disco “until the rooster crowed.”

Until he sat on the terrace with his parents at the age of 21. “My father said he was going to participate in the Singelloop in Breda, the ten kilometers. I said: well, then I will do the five kilometers. Then I smoked and drank. I walked it in 20 minutes. nice, I was 60th or so out of a few thousand men, “he says nonchalantly.

‘I thought: maybe I should train more often’

The next time Björn participated again. Then he had trained. Well, what you call training. “Two or three times. I ran another minute faster. I thought: maybe I should train a little more often.”

He didn’t really know exactly how that worked. What is a good training schedule? “I also still smoked, but I already reached 17.50 on the five kilometers. So with a very unhealthy lifestyle. Then I decided to quit smoking and I saw a real progression. I quickly reached 15.50. that same three miles. “

Fastest Dutchman

Also on longer distances Björn appears to be able to maintain the high pace. A month and a half ago he participated – as an amateur – in the half marathon in Dresden. Time: 1.02.44. The fastest Dutchman of the year.

And then journalists know where to find him. They rekindle his unhealthy lifestyle from the past. Somehow he understands that. “Yes, that is very often emphasized. I prefer to look to the future, which is more useful to me than clinging to the past. I do notice that a lot of people recognize themselves in the story, I get a lot of positive reactions. have smoked and quit. That I inspire people, that’s fine. That’s nice. “

You cannot change the past, he says. He does not regret his choices at the time. “I think the past has made me the person I am today.”

He no longer speaks to friends from that time. That was a ‘different time’. He has now built a new life. His best friends are now from running world. And they will look with awe at his performance.

‘It continues to suffer’

Incidentally, he did not sit in his cold clothes. “I can feel what I did yesterday, say. It remains a marathon. You go very deep. It continues to suffer. During the last three kilometers I was already running with cramps. I thought, if I run one second faster, then it shoots. in my leg. “

That is why he has decided not to drive the long stretch to the Netherlands immediately today. Sitting in the car all day does not do his body any good.

Speaking of sitting still: Björn works full-time as an account manager at a company that delivers soft drinks to the catering industry. That industry has been at a standstill for some time due to corona. For runner Björn not that bad at all, although it was not easy to find a marathon that continued.

The Athletics Union can add Björn Koreman to the list of Dutch people who have run the marathon below the Olympic limit. Besides Björn, these are Adbi Nageeye, Bart van Nunen and Frank Futselaar. Small problem: three men may be sent. “We made it difficult for the Athletics Union.”

Text from the union

Today he has a telephone appointment with the union. They had also sent an app. “I had already caught that out”, laughs Björn.

He will read the other texts quietly. “It is all still very fresh and unreal. It still has to settle down a bit. For now I will enjoy this and hope that the muscle pain will disappear soon.”