12 Steden Plog (12 City Plog)
My first truly epic adventure as a professional plogger
May 2025 - I did it. A crazy plogging adventure around the Netherlands
For the ENTIRE month, I ran at least a marathon each day, running through each capital of the 12 provinces. Here are the stats:
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1472 KM
31 MARATHONS
12 CITIES
1 MONTH
2 BANANA SUITs
350KG TRASH
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I have put the entire completed route into one activity on Strava - here it is
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Over the next week I will put up all the media and details​​
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Here are some highlights of the national/local attention I got
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Many more to come!
But let's look at it in detail now..
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THE DETAILS!
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The Places in bold and white include an organised cleanup
​​Each day will have a minimum of 42km running/plogging, but some days are 65km!
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Last day: a full marathon around Haarlem itself before finishing in the grotemarkt at 6pm
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Click on the cities in this list to find out more details (cleanups, route, livestream and hotels)
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Thu 01 - Haarlem > Leiden > The Hague
Fri 02 - The Hague > Rotterdam
​Sat 03 - Rotterdam > Hellevoetsluis
​Sun 04 - Hellevoetsluis > Burgh
​Mon 05 - Burgh > Middleburg/(Veere)
​Tue 06 - Middleburg(Veere) > Goes
​Wed 07 - Goes > Bergen op Zoom​
​Thu 08 - Bergen op Zoom > Breda
​Fri 09 - Breda > Den Bosch
​Sat 10 - Den Bosch > Eindhoven
​Sun 11 - Eindhoven > Thorn
​Mon 12 - Thorn > Maastricht
​Tue 13 - Maastricht > Roermond
​Wed 14 - Roermond > Horst
​Thu 15 - Horst > Nijmegen
​Fri 16 - Nijmegen > Ede > Arnhem/(Velp)
​Sat 17 - Arnhem/(Velp) > Apeldoorn
​Sun 18 - Apeldoorn > Zwolle
​Mon 19 - Zwolle > Meppel
Tue 20 - Meppel > Assen
​Wed 21 - Assen > Groningen​
​Thur 22 - Groningen > Leeuwarden
​Fri 23 - Leeuwarden > Terschelling
​Sat 24 - Terschelling > Leeuwarden
​Sun 25 - Leeuwarden > Balk
​Mon 26 - Balk> Lelystad
​Tue 27 - Lelystad > Almere
​Wed 28 - Almere > Utrecht
​Thu 29 - Utrecht > Amsterdam
Fri 30 - Amsterdam > Haarlem
​Sat 31 - Haarlem > Haarlem
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The spark of an idea
When I plan an adventure I ask myself "How can I make it the toughest yet?"
This is a good example of that; I could simply get on a train and do a cleanup in each of the 12 cities. Job done!
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But I need to push myself.
I want people to see that I put my heart, soul and every molecule of my body on the line for it. To inspire by doing something truly astounding.
For myself, I need to come up with something that really will push me to the limits. I need to start it unsure and unconfident that I can do it.​​
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"If I can do something as ridiculously tough as this, then hopefully it can inspire people to bend down and pick up a single piece of trash"
That's all I want. I don't want you to give money to a charity or do the same as me. Heck no!, I just want you to pick up a piece of trash next time you step out the door and think about how it makes you feel.​​
​Originally my idea was to run the entire border of the Netherlands. It was an idea I had had for a couple of years. But then a friend told me about a mountain biker who had done this 12-city tour, and the spark ignited. "Wow!", I thought, "What a great idea!" - it meant I would visit real cities and could arrange events in those places. And of course, one of those capitals is Haarlem, where I live! A perfect start and end to the adventure.
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The plan in detail
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The Netherlands is made up of 12 principalities and each principality has a capital city.
I want to plog my way to and from each one.
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I will start at the stadhouse (city hall) of each city and then just go and run to the next one.
That could be 150km away! So I will break each down into a marathon.
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In total it will be as a minimum, a marathon each day, for an entire month.
(31 x 42 = 1300km)
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On the map you can see the order of the cities I will run to. I will start in my home city of Haarlem and work my way down to Maastricht, before heading north to Groningen and then back to Haarlem.
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But it isn't just 12 cities.. I have tried to go through as many cities as I can!
​In each of the 12 cities I will organise a cleanup event (and some of the other cities too)
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Self-supported
The biggest challenge is actually going to be that I want to do it self-supported (without help). So I need to take all my gear with me. To make this possible I will have a baby jogger (provided by Hamax). This will hold all my gear as well as bags hanging on the side for the trash I collect - I will be continuously plogging.
In the evening I will stay in a hotel or B&B.
All weather
Yep, it tends to rain here. I need to accept that many days I will just be soaked.
Some good waterproof bags are a must haha
Join in? ABSOLUTELY!
I will be sharing my route as well as having a live tracker. I am hoping that it is going to be a Forest Gump type adventure; maybe no one at the start with me, but by the end I will have people joining me for sections (or maybe even an entire day!!
Marathon not a Sprint
This is not a race. So don't expect 4hrs marathons. I suspect that each day will take around 10hrs at least. So I will be jogging, but often walking. And always plogging.
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Documentary and Filming​​
Is it my imagination or is this adventure.. documentary worthy? The kinda epic YouTube film you see with 'shown at eco festival' on it?
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I tried to get funding for a film, but it just didn't work. So instead I am trying to film it myself - why not add another layer of difficulty hahaha
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Just the first!
I think that if I can pull this off, then I will have made one heck of a start to my vision as a professional plogger.
I want to do something epic each year like this (in 2027 I have the ultimate goal - but that is a surprise)
And each time.. bigger and crazier!
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Any questions? Then just email me or use the contact form
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