Op het intranet van zijn werkgever Genencor verscheen enkele dagen later het volgende interview met Mark.
Cycling up and down the Alpe d’Huez to raise funds to fight cancer. Mark Oostendorp from Genencor Leiden did the impossible.
The Alpe d’Huez: You may know it as one of the main Alpes in the Tour de France. It is very steep and therefore incredibly hard to cycle up. Along with over 4,000 other Dutch people, Mark Oostendorp, Global Sales Director, Genencor Grain Processing, made the impossible possible; cycling up the Alpe d’Huez as many times as possible in one day. Giving up was not an option.
Alpe d'HuZes is an initiative of a Dutch collective of volunteers that aims to raise funds to fight cancer by cycling up the Alpe d'Huez as often as possible in one day. The name of the annually recurring event is a bit of a word play. Alpe d'HuZes is a combination of the Dutch word for "six" and the name of the mountain. Mark: ‘’Six times is doing the impossible; that’s the ultimate target. However, everybody who’s taking on this challenge has his or her own target. My target was four, and for me personally, that was a stretch.’’
Many participants have personal reasons to reach the top. They cycle in memory of those who died too young of cancer and to inspire those who are fighting it. Mark: ‘’My friend Niek Krouwel asked me to participate. He is very involved in this; he lost his 10-year old son Mathijs three years ago, and he himself was cured of colon cancer during that same timeframe. He already participated in 2010 and he is a real inspiration for me. So the thing is… The only possible answer was ‘yes’."
Niek founded the Mathijs Douwe team. His son was a very optimistic boy, who fought against cancer almost half his life. A few weeks before his death in 2008, he said to his grandfather that they should visit the European soccer championships of 2018 together.
The Mathijs Douwe team 2011 consists of six cyclers; Mathijs’ mother, father, three friends and even Mathijs’ 11-year old sister Fredrieke cycled up the mountain. Every team was supported by large numbers of volunteers who were helping out with all activities leading up to the event, during the day itself and of course in the fundraising activity. Mark’s team organized lots of actions, from benefit concerts to painting workshops.
And it paid off; so far his team raised over 49,000 euro’s! Genencor participated with 1,000 euro’s and got its logo on the cycling shirts. Mark: ‘’I am very grateful to Genencor for sponsoring € 1,000 as a company. From individual colleagues I received more than € 700,-. This support felt really good and was very motivating.’’
On June 9, 2011 more than 4,000 Dutch people of all ages cycled up the Alpe. People who sign up to perform such a task, need to realize that they need to be fit to participate.
Mark: ‘’I like doing sports, so for me it was a great combination of one of my favorite hobbies and contributing to a great cause. During the week, we stayed in a small village at the bottom of the Alpe with over 20,000 people. The Dutch crowd had literally taken over the village. Everybody was very open to each other; people shared their personal stories and emotions. The atmosphere was emotional, but it was a party at the same time. People were actually celebrating because we were fighting against cancer and we knew that – ultimately – we are going to win.’’
All team members accomplished their goal. Frederieke’s goal was to cycle up until hairpincurve ten of the twenty one curves of the Alpe. Mark: ‘’This curve was dedicated to Mathijs, there was a poster of him and we had candles. We all stopped there to rest and think. Finally, Frederieke made it all the way up, together with her mother. The emotions were overwhelming and extreme. It was something I have never experienced before.’’
The ultimate goal of Alpe d’HuZes is to support the Dutch Society for Fighting Cancer (KWF Kankerbestrijding). Their vision is that within 10 years cancer will be a chronic illness rather than deadly disease. Everything is based on the absolute belief that you can attain the greatest possible satisfaction if you put your heart and soul into helping others. Mark: ‘’It’s too late for some people, but hopefully not for everybody. Giving up, is not an option.’’
Reactions:
Vince Sewalt, USA, says:
Wow....
I am speechless.
Such an inspiration for all.
Thank you, Mark !
Wednesday, 29 June 2011 19:21
Marietjie Bester, New Zealand, says:
Hi Mark!
Congratulations on your personal achievement and thank you for being there for your friends and for helping a much wider community by helping to fundraise towards cancer research. I think cancer awareness has come a long way. Decades ago cancer did not have a name - a person merely "wasted away" and the cause was unknown. These days there appears to be so many people fighting this battle, we all seem to know of at least one person, and there are so many types of cancers that it does feel like a chronic illness, which eventually kills most sufferers. Stories like these does make one realise, again, that you cannot take anything for granted and to really think twice before you grumble about what is wrong in your own life.
I think you are on an incredible journey with this family. I think they are doing amazing as they lost a child, while the father was battling cancer, and they survived all of it and appear to have come out stronger for it. They definitely have my admiration. Keep up the good work and fab support!
Kind regards
Marietjie
Thursday, 30 June 2011 00:07
antoon Tanghe, Belgium, says:
Hi Mark,
Congratulations. A blessed inspiration for all.
God Bless.
Antoon
Thursday, 30 June 2011 08:05
Michael Lykke Bülow says:
Thanks for sharing this story. A great inspiration for us all.....
Thursday, 30 June 2011 09:30
Anonymous says:
What an inspiration. Please tell me how I can contribute a donation. My thoughts and admiration go out to all.
Thursday, 30 June 2011 10:03
Kris Bosma, Netherlands, says:
Great initiative Mark, lets see what else we can do here to give more support!
To all who are looking for additional information you can check out the website:
www.opgevenisgeenoptie.nl
There is also information available there on donations etc. but the downside is that it is all in Dutch.
Thursday, 30 June 2011 15:32
André Klaassen, The Netherlands, says:
Well done Mark, Great Inspiration to balance Sport & Purpose. You have inspired me to get in Shape...
Friday, 1 July 2011 11:09
Leigh Dangler, USA, says:
Hi Mark,
What an amazing story - - both from the standpoint of why you got involved but also the actual task of riding up and down a huge mountain. It just proves the point it takes one person to spark hope around the globe !
Take care,
Leigh
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