24 Hour Run
What is this?
The "24-Hour Run" is perhaps the most well-known and popular student sports classic. It’s a relay race between different university clubs, dorms, and colleges in Leuven, where each team tries to complete as many laps as possible in 24 hours around the athletics track at the sports center! The upcoming edition starts on Tuesday, October 22 at 8 PM and ends on Wednesday, October 23 at 8 PM. Get ready to either join the Speedyteam for some fast laps during the 24-hour run or come loudly cheer on our runners! You can also enjoy delicious food prepared by the Existenz team or marvel at our fabulously decorated stand. And don't forget to soak in the fun, sometimes competitive, but always enjoyable atmosphere that lasts throughout the 24 hours!
We want to win again!
As a top team, VTK aims for nothing less than victory every year. In 2023, after an extremely close edition, we just missed winning. We ran an incredible number of laps—over 1000! But our biggest competitor, Apolloon, managed to complete just one more lap. This year, we aim to run at least as many laps and reclaim our trophy! Be sure to join us to witness this legendary moment and help us run or cheer our way to victory! Make no mistake, Apolloon will go down this year!
Running Trainings
To stay competitive with Apolloon, it's essential that everyone can run the famous 530m lap as fast as possible. We want to help you maintain and improve your fitness and strengthen your muscles so you can get faster! (And therefore, have a better chance of winning awesome prizes). To get you to the perfect level in time for the 24-hour run, we've created a training schedule that we'll follow during the sessions. Additionally, there will always be sports drinks available at the training sessions. After each training, you’ll have the opportunity to record your time and possibly join our famous Speedyteam (see below). We'll also regularly practice baton exchanges since every little bit helps. Join the training sessions, and before you know it, you'll be flying around the track!
There’s a training session every Monday through Thursday at 8:45 PM during the weeks leading up to the 24-hour run. We gather at the entrance of the athletics track next to the De Nayer building.
There are always three running sessions:
- Steady pace run (5-6km)
- Easy pace run (8km)
- Interval training
The interval training depends on the week's schedule. It can range from 800m to 100m or other types of training. If you want to test your speed, it's best to do so after an easy pace run or with a good warm-up.
Testing
Testing is always possible after every training session. If you've participated in the training, you can join in the test. If you want to come later and skip training but still do the test, that's also possible. We recommend coming around 9:30 PM. Just talk to someone from Sports or the Working Group, and they’ll gladly help you out!
Speedyteam
As the name suggests, the Speedyteam is VTK's 'elite' team. Runners in this team must complete a lap in under 1 minute 23 seconds. The selection is made during the training sessions, so be there! This team is our core group of runners for the 24-hour run, making it a real honor. As a thank you, you'll receive a unique Speedyteam T-shirt, which will be given to you during the training sessions. While the name might sound a bit exclusive, don't be afraid to join the training—everyone is welcome! You might find yourself meeting that time goal! If not, you can still help by cheering loudly, which makes a world of difference to the runners.
Prizes
For all those laps, we of course want to thank our runners. This year, there will again be guaranteed prizes for completing 1, 3, 6, and 9 laps, as well as group and individual raffles!