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Say hello to “Jelle’s Marble Runs,” the hypnotic, hygienic, and hugely popular series of unexpectedly gripping and fiercely competitive marble races and survival tests created and produced by the marble-ous Bakker brothers, Jelle and Dion, from The Netherlands.
Viewership is surging on the “Jelle’s Marble Runs” YouTube channel with more than 700,000 subscribers. Over the last 30 days, the stockpile of more than 130 videos of Marbula 1 (as in Formula 1 for marbles), Marble League, and Sand Marble competitions with play-by-play and piped-in crowd noise in packed “arenas” have garnered more than 6.5 million views, with nearly a million views last weekend alone.
The “sport” is a sensation, and Dion Bakker is close to stunned at the reaction.
“It’s been almost chaotic what’s happened since the virus took hold,” said Bakker, 38, from Onderdijk, The Netherlands “People like it, so that’s great that people have found relief just watching our videos. We’re thankful, and it’s amazing to experience.”
The indoor contests are filmed in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, where Jelle, 36, has built his own Marble Run Museum. Jelle, who has autism, is the creative mind behind many of the contests. He polls fans for new ideas – if there is unanimous consent, he will proceed.
The existing marble run sports landscape consists of gravity-fed courses and staging areas with three types of marble competitions.
Marbula 1, a Formula 1-like race track set-up of curved and sloping tracks with roller-coaster-like pulleys at the bottom to transport marbles back up to the top for another lap.
Here in late March, we are in the midst of 2020 Marbula 1 qualifying heats.
The Marble League (or “Marblelympics” before the IOC complained that “-lympics” was a copyright infringement) features elaborate last-marble-spinning funnel survival runs, underwater tank races, surfing, block pushing, balance beam, collision derby events, and even rafting, where teams of marbles “cling” for dear life as their plastic raft careens through rapids and bounces off patches of weeds.
In June, the 2020 Marble League kicks off. No doubt it will include opening and closing ceremonies like previous Marblelympics, with the tiny electric candle with the fake flame you used to find on restaurant tables representing the ‘Marblelympic’ torch.
Then there’s the Sand Marbles league, which is, simply, marbles racing each other down channels carved into the side of a sandy hill.
Say hello to “Jelle’s Marble Runs,” the hypnotic, hygienic, and hugely popular series of unexpectedly gripping and fiercely competitive marble races and survival tests created and produced by the marble-ous Bakker brothers, Jelle and Dion, from The Netherlands.
Viewership is surging on the “Jelle’s Marble Runs” YouTube channel with more than 700,000 subscribers. Over the last 30 days, the stockpile of more than 130 videos of Marbula 1 (as in Formula 1 for marbles), Marble League, and Sand Marble competitions with play-by-play and piped-in crowd noise in packed “arenas” have garnered more than 6.5 million views, with nearly a million views last weekend alone.
The “sport” is a sensation, and Dion Bakker is close to stunned at the reaction.
“It’s been almost chaotic what’s happened since the virus took hold,” said Bakker, 38, from Onderdijk, The Netherlands “People like it, so that’s great that people have found relief just watching our videos. We’re thankful, and it’s amazing to experience.”
The indoor contests are filmed in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, where Jelle, 36, has built his own Marble Run Museum. Jelle, who has autism, is the creative mind behind many of the contests. He polls fans for new ideas – if there is unanimous consent, he will proceed.
The existing marble run sports landscape consists of gravity-fed courses and staging areas with three types of marble competitions.
Marbula 1, a Formula 1-like race track set-up of curved and sloping tracks with roller-coaster-like pulleys at the bottom to transport marbles back up to the top for another lap.
Here in late March, we are in the midst of 2020 Marbula 1 qualifying heats.
The Marble League (or “Marblelympics” before the IOC complained that “-lympics” was a copyright infringement) features elaborate last-marble-spinning funnel survival runs, underwater tank races, surfing, block pushing, balance beam, collision derby events, and even rafting, where teams of marbles “cling” for dear life as their plastic raft careens through rapids and bounces off patches of weeds.
In June, the 2020 Marble League kicks off. No doubt it will include opening and closing ceremonies like previous Marblelympics, with the tiny electric candle with the fake flame you used to find on restaurant tables representing the ‘Marblelympic’ torch.
Then there’s the Sand Marbles league, which is, simply, marbles racing each other down channels carved into the side of a sandy hill.