Where was your team when it happened?
‘We had all completed the marathon. We had had a drink and a doughnut at a café a couple of hundred metres away from the place where the bomb went off later. We were just sitting in the metro to go back to our rented house outside town when the first photos came through on the social media.’
What did the city look like after that?
‘A total transformation. The marathon started as an incredible party. More than 500,000 spectators were cheering us on and waving banners with funny texts. A great atmosphere. After the attack I went back into town with someone else. The contrast could not have been greater. Loads of police, road blocks with Hummers with sirens, commandos with machine guns. Practically a war zone.’
The NOS news programme found you quickly enough.
‘It is incredible how quickly that goes. I spoke to de Volkskrant, NOS op 3, NRC and Omroep Gelderland. I guess it’s logical. Of the 73 Dutch taking part we were the biggest group and the one with the fastest runners.’