Cross-Biathlon Bilstain

About the race

Cross-Biathlon Bilstain is run near Limbourg, in the hilly east of the province of Liège, setting off from Au Pairon. It is not an ordinary cross-country race but a biathlon: running over unpaved ground interspersed with shooting. That makes it a contest of two opposing skills — you have to go hard enough to gain time, yet be able to lie still at the range straight afterwards and bring your breathing under control. There are two distances, 5 and 10 kilometres, plus a series for children. The field stays small, which suits a discipline where most participants know one another.