31 July 2021

Valkenswaard: Ewoud Boom makes his mark in the marathon

The marathon cause a substantial shake up in the leaderboard of both the pair and four-in-hand divisions. Just the leaders of both classes have remained unchanged: Martin Hölle and Boyd Exell both stand in first place. It was a challenging marathon and the drivers didn't receive any help from the eight challenging and selective obstacles.


Marathonwinnaar Ewoud Boom
Photo: Krisztina Horváth

The win in the marathon went to Ewoud Boom. This was a testament to his training of this new young pair belonging to Alfons Engbers. “This was just their fourth competition,” tells Ewoud. “These horses have a lot of potential, but very little experience. In obstacle 1 I made an unfortunate error where we drove a line that wasn’t in our plan. That cost us at least 10 seconds. In obstace 5 I had some luck, but in the technical obstacles 6,7 and 8 the horses were the best. Between the boards they steer so well.” With his win in the marathon, Ewoud moves up to 12th place.

German driver Arnd Lörcher was second in the marathon and was the fastest in the spectacular ‘mountain-obstacle’. Martin Hölle was also incrediblly fast, but due to a ball in obstacle 2 finished in fourth place. Despite this, he still holds a lead of more than 6 penalty points going into cones tomorrow.

Koos de Ronde fastest four-in-hand

Koos de Ronde was able to make up a bit of ground after dressage and resolutely won the marathon today. In no less than 6 of the 8 obstacles he had the fastest time and even with two knock downs he still managed to be the fastest of the day. His horses looked as fresh in obstacle 8 as they did at the start. Mark Weusthof finished second and Glenn Geerts had to settle for third after knocking down two balls in obstacle 7.

The top three of the four-in-hand division remains unchanged. Boyd Exell and Bram Chardon both drove a solid marathon. IJsbrand Chardon had ups and downs. In the first half of the marathon his times were quick, but in obstacle 6 and 7 he unfortunately had hang ups. Despite this, he was able to hold onto his second place in the division. The close results on the leaderboard will make the cones tomorrow an exciting competition.

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Koos de Ronde heerste in de vierspanmarathon
Photo: Krisztina Horváth

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