Pediatric surgeon Horst Daniels runs 160 kilometers in 24 hours to raise money for CHD

Pediatric surgeon Horst Daniels daily sees the “marathon” that parents must endure when they have a child with CHD. This gave him an idea. On Saturday, October 5, he will run 160 kilometers in 24 hours during the Devils Trail on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug by completing a 6.6-kilometer lap every hour. To get a small sense of what parents go through and to raise money for better psychosocial support.

“My goal is to show respect to children with CHD and their parents,” says Daniels. “I will have to dig deep and try not to stop. But parents can’t stop either. Sometimes they have to endure for weeks, months. And often climb out of a deep valley multiple times, for example, because their child’s health deteriorates again.”

Fear and uncertainty

As a pediatric surgeon, Daniels performs most of the CHD surgeries at Radboudumc, one of the two CHD expertise centers in the Netherlands. He also does the follow-ups. The rare condition has become a significant part of his life and has been his main area for nearly ten years.

“All parents who have a child with CHD go through a period filled with fear and uncertainty,” he explains. “Recently, there was a child who needed to be placed on the heart-lung machine shortly after birth, and after the surgery, the child’s condition deteriorated so quickly that the parents had to say goodbye. But miraculously, the child recovered. No one understood how that could happen. Very beautiful but at the same time it is incredibly tough for the parents. You really can’t imagine it.”

160 kilometers

To get a small sense of what it is like to run such a grueling “marathon”, the fanatical runner came up with a rather unique take on a “sponsored run”: over 24 hours, he will start a 6.6-kilometer lap every hour during the Duivelse Ultra of the Devils Trail in Doorn. The total distance will eventually be 160 kilometers.

“The longest distance I’ve ever run is 50 kilometers, so it’s going to be very tough,” Horst says with a smile. “The night will be especially hard. Then I’ll only be running for 8 hours, but there probably won’t be people along the course anymore. So maybe there are people who will say: I think this is a great cause, I’ll stand by the route at 3 a.m. with a bag of Haribo.”

Living more consciously

Those who have known Daniels for a while will have noticed that he has become much fitter in recent years. The pediatric surgeon has lost 20 kilograms. “Since my daughter was born six years ago, I have started living more consciously,” Daniels explains. “I looked in the mirror and thought: this isn’t good. I also saw colleagues around me dropping out with heart problems and burnouts. That’s when I started cycling and running regularly.”

Through running he came in contact with trail running. This involves running on unpaved paths in hilly areas, with distances ranging from 5 to 160 kilometers. Daniels is going for the longest distance of 160 kilometers. “Physically, of course, you can’t train for such a distance. So it will be very tough. From people who have done it before, I understand it’s mostly about your mindset. You have to endure.”

What does he dread the most? “The breaks. If I sit down for a while, maybe close my eyes for a second, and then have to start again. That will be the real challenge.”

Want to support Daniels?

You can sponsor him via this page. If you’d like to cheer him on during the trail, come to Doornse Gat on Saturday, October 5, where the Devils Trail will take place. The start is at 4:00 p.m. More information can be found here: https://devilstrail.nl/utrechtse-heuvelrug/#ultra