I went with a group of friends and Smurfs was our chosen comic. I have done the event once before, and our group was a mix of those who had done it and some first timers. Saturday was registration, pasta party, and a chance to try some of the beers. Saturday was also hot and the chat quite often turned to discussions on how quickly our blue body paint would sweat off or if it will be better to apply suncream before or after the facepaint - not your usual pre-marathon concerns.

Sunday was an earlyish start getting dressed up and a bit of back and forth between hotel rooms sharing face paints, make-up sponges, and deciding which way round a smurf hat should be worn. 0830 we set off from the hotel and gradually joined up with an assorted array of recognisable and not so well know Belgian comic characters - Tintin, Asterix, and Smurfs where in good number. Pre-race nerves focussed around how long my smurfette wig and hat would last, would Papa smurfs beard make it, would brave smurfs sideburns stick, and still the how long would the facepaint last.

0930 and we were off. It was crowded, but soon enough into a steady rhythm. Breakfast stopped passed and at 6.5k it was the first beer stop. All runners get a running belt with an event cup and clip. No cup = no beer. So any dropped cup results in frantic shouts as people try to reconnect cups and owners. You get about 100ml of beer at a stop, some chose to have more. Have a quick dance, some water, a snack, and run on. The stops are loaded towards the end of the course, to keep folks moving along. The first part of the course is flattish out a long the river and back. Mostly tarmac but some trail.

The kms tick along and the stops come more frequently. It is a lot of fun, greeting other smurfettes in any common language, a bit of banter with some tin-tins, and chat on costume attributes. The route comes back in to the city, you run through the main train station, around the cobbled streets, and down some very narrow lanes where the route becomes a bit congested. And there are the steps - the Montagne de Bueren to be precise, 374 stone steps at a 30% incline. It is brutal, but equally a landmark of the event. And then it goes up some more to the top of the hill overlooking the city. From there it is a narrow staircase down for part of it, which included chatting to an Obelix with bad knees who was going down backwards.

The final bit is a long the waterfront and into the finish for your hard earned medal. In the marquee the music is pumping, the beer is flowing, and it is dance party until 1800 when the brass band strikes up to close out the event and escort everyone from the venue.

I can report that the costumes faired well, it was as lot cooler (about 15 degrees) the facepaint mostly lasted, my wig and hat completed the run, papa smurf breard needed some running repairs but made it, and the only costume casualty was one brave smurfs sideburn.

Would you recommend this event to others in the club and why?
It would not be everyones thing, but I loved it and we had an absolute blast!