12 Steden Plog
An adventure of a lifetime
1,472 KM
31 MARATHONS
1 MONTH
2 BANANA SUITS
350KG TRASH
My first truly epic adventure as a professional plogger
May 2025 - 31 Days, 31 Days of Impact
During May I ran at least a marathon day (sometimes I needed to do 70km!)
I did it in a banana suit, and pushing all my own gear in a buggy.
And.. of course.. picking up trash the entire time!
The stats speak for themselves
1472 KM - 31 MARATHONS - 1 MONTH - 2 BANANA SUITS - 350KG TRASH
The adventure took me through each capital city in the 12 provinces of the Netherlands.
A round trip covering all of the Netherlands.
Why? To encourage people to pick up a single piece of trash.
With the hope that that single piece of trash sparks a change in behaviours, a change in attitudes, a change in the future of the planet.
I am currently putting together more content for this page so please check back soon.
In the mean time here are some great links from the media (so many more than this to collect)
A great video by media student, Jasmin Quanjer
She asked me if she could make a short film about me for her coursework.
It is a beautiful short documentary that covers the 12 Steden Plog
Sponsors
I only able to do adventures like this through the support of my sponsors.
They are the ones who are making it possible for me to make an impact. I am so grateful for their partnership
I had a few specific sponsors helping me for this adventure, which is why I want to call them all out here
Main Sponsors
Providing funding
Supporting brands
Providing equipment and support
Another YouTube video. This time from The Running Dutchman
This talks more about my own story, but features the 12 Steden Plog details and clips from when he joined me for a day.
I have put the entire completed route into one activity on Strava - here it is
The remainder is content from the build up of the even that covers some background and the plan..
THE DETAILS!
The Places in bold include an organised cleanup
Each day will have a minimum of 42km running/plogging, but some days are 65km!
Last day: a full marathon around Haarlem itself before finishing in the grotemarkt at 6pm
Click on the cities in this list to find out more details (cleanups, route, livestream and hotels)
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
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!
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.
"If I can do something as crazy as
this is, then I hope it will inspire people to go outside 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.
The plan in detail
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.
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.
In total it will be as a minimum, a marathon each day, for an entire month.
(31 x 42 = 1300km)
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.
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)
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.
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?
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
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!
Any questions? Then just email me or use the contact form