Amina Maatoug & the fine art of chilled running
On any given Wednesday at Leiden Atletiek, Amina Maatoug, cuts a diminutive figure. Softly spoken, she makes her way through the loopscholing drills with balance and focus. Then, during the technieklopjes, he speed is revealed. Amina’s feet lightly touch the ground, before springing further down the track. Her co-ordination, refined technique, being testament to the […]
Irene Gabriëlle Ergün & the privilege of being healthy
“it’s the subtle things that I get from my runs. I never come back without feeling different from at the beginning of my run. It makes me on one level physically satisfied for the rest of the day.” ** Running is so full of numbers. There is a proliferation of digits. Athletes are categorised by […]
Dominic Bersee
It’s a strangely warm Wednesday evening at Leiden Atletiek. The warm up consists of a gentle run through the Leidse Hout which neighbours the track. Running through the little woods of the Leidse Hout, I somehow fall into stride with Dominic and somehow we get talking about Sweat Elite – a running YouTube channel and […]
Of Tracks and Shoes
There is a book, Swimming Studies, by a Canadian author Leanne Shapton, which documents her notes on swimming and the shapes of pools she swims in. The book also contains photographs of the swim-suits she has collected over time as a swimmer – both serious and recreational. She writes of the smells of pools and […]
The Overhead Lockers Landed in a Sunflower Field
Fragments /1/ There is a Ritual Salts bag lying in a field in Eastern Ukraine. The farmer, Valeriy Sulyivka who picked it up and who saw the suitcase in which it was packed fall, doesn’t care for Breestraat in Leiden, but that is where the passenger Hans Noteboom bought his gifts for his wife. He […]