Sofico Marathon Ambassador Program

| Meet the Ambassadors 2024

Julie Goemaere

Office location: Zwijnaarde, Belgium
Program: half marathon

"Last year, I was hesitating to enter the Ambassador Program, but quickly realized this would not be a smart idea, since I didn’t do any sports at all at the time. I settled for the 11km run, and promised myself that I would apply the next year. Now here we are one year later! I still feel a bit scared, but mostly excited to tackle this great challenge!"

| Training updates

Follow Julie's journey

February 2, 2024

6 things I've learned on my running journey

Hi all, it’s been 4 months since I started as a Sofico ambassador back in October, and as someone who didn’t run much before, here are 6 things I’ve learned so far:

1. I have really gotten to know my neighborhood. I moved to the village of Oosterzele 2 years ago and never got to explore so much of the area as in the past few months. On one of my runs I came across this beautiful little windmill, just 3 km away from my house.

2. I have grown attached to my sportswatch. All the ambassadors who didn’t have a sportswatch yet received a Garmin Forerunner 255, and honestly, I didn’t think I would use it for more than running in the beginning. And here I am, wearing it 24/7, tracking my sleep, my body battery, etc. And sometimes I get insights like this one. It’s nice to know that your watch confirms you had a stressful day…

3. Dogs! I have developed the necessary skill to spot dogs already from far away. Why necessary you ask? Lots of people who don’t have their dogs on a leach, or people who do have them on a leach but let them jump on you anyway. Thankfully, there are a lot of people that hold their dogs close once they see me, which always makes me happy!

4. Running in the cold dark Belgian winter is way more fun than I expected. With some extra gear no rain, snow or darkness is too much to go running!

5. I have become one of those people who buys running snacks and running drinks. I have bought a flexible water bottle and here are some of the running snacks I have tried. Yes, I know the applesauce is meant for little children, don’t knock it till you try it! 😊

6. And last but not least: I never thought 4 months ago that I would improve so much. 21km still seems quite daunting and I will run it at a very slow pace, but it sounds way more doable now than it did before. I feel much fitter, stronger and healthier and ready for the half marathon in March!

See you at the finish line!

December 8, 2023

Brrr, it's cold!

We are currently one third of the way in our training program and at this point running in the dark or in the rain doesn’t faze me anymore. However, on Sunday December 3^rd, it was snowing in Belgium!

Our training coach Laura has created a personal running plan in the Energy Lab app for all 20 of us, and yes, that Sunday was a running day. And when the app tells you it’s time to run, then it’s time to run!

So I put on my running gear, this time with some extra clothing to keep me warm, and I was ready to tackle my first ever run in the snow.

I learned that it’s not the easiest to take pictures while your hands are freezing and your watch tells you your heart rate is too low from standing still for a minute. Nevertheless, here are some highlights of my cozy run in the snow!

While running on the crunchy snow was very satisfying, it could also be tricky at times, forcing me to be mindful of my balance.

I came back home half an hour later, tired but happy and ready to sit in the warmth again.

And afterwards, I treated myself to a delicious hot chocolate!

See you later 😊

October 20, 2023

Hi all!

My name is Julie, I am 26 years old and I work as a business consultant in the Belgium office. Inspired by the Sofico Ambassadors of last year, I decided to give the ambassadorship a try myself.

Next year in March, I will be running a half marathon, which is about 21 km. I am currently at 3 km so… I still have a long way to go!
Luckily, I have the help of Energy Lab who will be coaching all 20 ambassadors from their current running level all the way to a half or even a full marathon. We had a full kick-off day including a running test, a full-body scan (where me and some others needed therapy after reading our poor results), a core stability workout and much more!

Fun fact about Energy Lab: they are located right next to the Ghelamco football stadium in Ghent, which means you get to take group pictures with quite an epic background!

We also received a Sofico running t-shirt, of which I have a tiny collection now.

After combining all of our personal data, they provided us with a customized running schedule, of which I just completed my second run today.

If you had told me two years ago that I would voluntarily run 21 km, I would have called you crazy. So I do want to thank Sofico for giving me the opportunity to work on my health and not just sit on the sofa every evening.

2 runs down, about 70 more to go.

Let’s gooo!

Back to Ambassador Overview