“Now It’s Happened”
The 35th edition of the Triathlon Holten is a special one, especially for Ferdie de Boer. More often than not, he was at the start. After this year, he will no longer appear at the start in Holten. After twenty years, the sportsman from Losser thanks the Holten residents for their hospitality.
Somewhere in the nineties, De Boer started his career as a triathlete, and today he ran his last triathlon in Holten. He managed to complete the Triathlon Holten successfully no less than twenty times, but after this edition, he calls it a day. The 71-year-old athlete is struggling with a worn-out hip, which mainly protests while running. “Swimming and cycling are fairly okay, but running is very tough.”
The discomfort will hopefully come to an end soon, as Ferdi will undergo hip surgery this year. “Actually, that surgery was supposed to take place earlier. As early as January, the specialist saw that I needed surgery, but I postponed it.” Ferdie couldn’t bear to miss his twentieth edition for a new hip, so he completed the Triathlon with his bad hip.
Once he reached the finish line, the realization set in. “That was it,” sighed De Boer, “now it’s really happened.” In Holten, spectators will no longer see him at the start, but on October 5th, Ferdi will once again take the plunge. In Turkey, he will participate in a 1/8 Triathlon. “But that’s a short distance, it won’t be a problem at all.”
