Five friends, seven days, 24 hours a day, 1600 kilometres alongside the entire Dutch land border, for charity! The five bearded friends will take on the challenge of overcoming this monster journey on 03 July 2020. They call themselves Beards4Life and want to make people in the Netherlands to be aware of people struggling with depression, by raising money for the Hersenstichting (Dutch Foundation for Brainresearch)

The five friends know each other from the infamous obstacle run marathons; Iron Viking, the marathon versions of the regular Strong Viking obstacle runs. Here the five bearded men have already conquered several Strong Vikings in recent years, including the Iron Viking with more than 100 obstacles. The idea for a tour of the Netherlands finally came from Ritchie Peperkoorn, who in the past has been struggling with depression herself. Luckily, by running he felt better and better, which gave rise to the idea of going all those miles for more than himself.

During the run around Holland the five men run as much as possible along the Dutch landborder as a symbol for the border that many people have to cross on a daily base, resulting in depression. The five Vikings want to draw attention to depression by making it more discussable, as one in five people suffer from this disease.

Strong Viking Obstacle Run has committed itself to the challenge as its main sponsor. "The extreme challenge that those men will face in order to be able to help others, is a unique challenge that fits our brand. Overcoming depression requires perseverance, cooperation, but also mental strength. Elements that participants also overcome every edition of Strong Viking. It's great that these five men take up the challenge and we are proud that we can make the tour around the Netherlands possible with Strong Viking. Let's hope that the initiative can make a positive contribution to the awareness of this disease in both awareness and funds". According to Strong Viking founder Jan Reijs.

For more information and/or to give your donation go to www.beards4life.nl.

V.l.t.r. Ritchie Peperkoorn, Jan Reijs (Strong Viking), Sven Weemaes, René van Laenen, Maarten Swart, Frank Buiting.