DENMARK (13.05.18)
Before my trip to Denmark I was interviewed by Lorna from The Bristol Cable and the Danish news site AOK. I also recorded a video message for the May 12th ME Awareness Day for the Millions Missing demonstration in Denmark. As part of the May 12th initiative, I was also honoured to hear that the Euromast in Rotterdam had been lit blue in dedication to my challenge and the work of Invest In ME!
When we arrived we gathered with the Millions Missing Copenhagen protest at the Black Diamond and I was filmed throughout the day by Alexander who is putting together a short-film of the challenge and race. I got to see the sights on a boat trip with Helle Rasmussen from the Danish ME Association as our guide and had a really nice Danish steak later in the evening. Overnight another £300 came in for Invest In ME's research projects and as I write it stands at £12.1K from 17 marathons (£715 per race).
Start
We walked around a mile to the start at Islands Brygge and met up with Alexander and Keith for a little more filming before the race. I walked over to the line and positioned myself near to the 4 hr marker (optimistic!) and bumped into fellow EU marathon collector Tim Teege from Hamburg. Great to see him after we've exchanged so many emails, he had done Copenhagen 6 years ago on his challenge and enjoyed it so much he wanted to do it again! Tim decided to run with me a bit and we started the race as they played Metallica's 'Moth Into A Flame' -so cool to start a race to heavy rock! After a small amount of congestion the runners spread a little as we climbed Langebro and down the long Hans Christensen Andersen's Boulevard. There was some terrific support with people holding signs saying 'Kom Sa' (Come On!), rattling clappers and generally enthusiastically wailing at us. Almost immediately any clouds in the sky had evaporated and it felt pretty warm. Still a bit crowded, particularly on the tight corners, we missed the chance to run under a shower and opted to skip the first water station. Probably the right call as it was absolute carnage; once again an unprepared water station on only one side of the course.
There was the first of a few 'Power-zones' where there were people letting off confetti bombs, playing garish euro-dance and cheerleaders for a 50m stretch or so -a great idea! There was a nice lap of Memorial Park which had a smattering of sunbathers and people with appetizing picnics and a band with a great choir singing 'Come Together' by The Beatles. Quality! An hour in and just under 7 miles done, we were running fairly comfortably and chatting about various marathons and plans for future races, a bit of a first to me to be chatting whilst running a marathon but it took my mind off the sweaty task at hand nicely. At around 11km I saw Alexander in the crowd filming me and gave him a wave, next target was Cat at 13km but unfortunately she didn't see me in time to grab a photo. Crossing Christian IV's Bro there were balloons and Danish flags fluttering which was a pretty cool sight and the road flattened out for a long stretch before the first of a few 'switch-backs' which began at Sonder Blvd. At this point there was a live camera which got a wave and another band playing some metal, they get rock-hands from Tim and I.
Middle
We got to halfway in a little bit over 2 hours which was pretty good going as the temperature was rising fast. I said farewell to Tim and let him to go chase down the 4 hr pacers as I needed to grab a few drinks and quickly use the toilet, my head was feeling a bit fuzzy so knew it was the sensible thing to do. He'd finish 20 minutes ahead of me, I was just sorry I couldn't keep with him as having a chat was distracting me nicely as the miles ticked by. The course approached Norrebro which was a pretty part of town in the North-Western area, another couple of 'power-zones' came and went with people blowing whistles, more cheerleaders gyrating in heels and even the marshals with their red flags bellowing at the runners to keep going. At this point I'd decided to set a new goal for the race, to run my best time of the year so far, which meant sub 4.33. That would be easy in most other races as I'm usually a 3.55-4.10 runner but as it was hot yet again it seemed like a realistic target to fight for.
I saw Cat just after 29Km and stopped for a brief moment for a photo and to grab a pre-mixed electrolyte drink which was a real god-send. I put down some Ibuprofen and salt tablets with an organic energy gel and immediately felt stronger. The route overlapped with the first half quite a bit now and I felt for the runners facing us as they had to see us a few km ahead. We passed the Botanical Garden and the lake at Faelledparken with even more sunbathers and families enjoying the hot weather. Some kids were squirting water pistols at the runners and obliging with high-fives, it was a nice atmosphere despite the heavy legs and mental battle. A few people around me were walking a fair bit in the middle of the course which was a bit frustrating and there was an increasing number of casualties by the side of the road, some hooked up to drips, others with people in the crowd cradling their heads awaiting help. Nothing unusual there for a warm marathon but a reminder as always not to push too hard and keep fueling and drinking.
End
Heading down the really long Strandboulevarden I was finding it quite tough and resolved to run to each water station then walk with my drinks and go again. A pretty good tactic I thought which would still give me 10-11 min miles but the water stations seemed to be 4-5km apart so it was tougher than it should have been. I'd reached for the ipod and got a boost from some 80's classics, deciding that the band playing would be personally insulted if I dropped to a walk, so I kept going! The route tracked the edge of the star-shaped military fortress of Kastellet which was pretty cool then even better, we got to run along Nyhavn with it's iconic multi-coloured houses and harbour. People were hanging out of bars and offering the last fingers worth of beer, I obliged from one kind gentleman and got on my way. Hitting 20 miles felt like an achievement, now I just had to maintain my (slow) pace to come in with a respectable time.
As usual this last hour or so felt like an eternity but I was in good spirits and enjoying the views, architecture and vociferous support. There weren't many sections without someone there cheering, calling out the names of the runners from their bibs or slapping clappers on their thighs. With a couple of miles to go I started to recognise where we were and knew it wasn't far at all once we'd gone under the bridge (the last water stop) and past the last rock band on an open DHL truck. Along Christian's Brygge past the Black Diamond once more it was a quick turn to climb the final bridge and I could see the finish over on the right. Looking at the watch, it was going to be tight so I tried to pick up and gave it a decent push to finish in 4.29. It was a relief to be done and off the course especially only 3 weeks since running in 32C in Vienna. With a 4 month break until Tallinn in September, I knew there would be plenty of time to train in heat (hopefully) over the English summer and run better (as I always do) in the Autumn races.
To sponsor me please visit: www.justgiving.com/mikeseumarathons
Pics
Gallery photos here
Weather
Starting temp was 16C in cloudless skies rising to 23C by 2pm as I finished. Light breeze over the bridges.
Ratings
When we arrived we gathered with the Millions Missing Copenhagen protest at the Black Diamond and I was filmed throughout the day by Alexander who is putting together a short-film of the challenge and race. I got to see the sights on a boat trip with Helle Rasmussen from the Danish ME Association as our guide and had a really nice Danish steak later in the evening. Overnight another £300 came in for Invest In ME's research projects and as I write it stands at £12.1K from 17 marathons (£715 per race).
Start
We walked around a mile to the start at Islands Brygge and met up with Alexander and Keith for a little more filming before the race. I walked over to the line and positioned myself near to the 4 hr marker (optimistic!) and bumped into fellow EU marathon collector Tim Teege from Hamburg. Great to see him after we've exchanged so many emails, he had done Copenhagen 6 years ago on his challenge and enjoyed it so much he wanted to do it again! Tim decided to run with me a bit and we started the race as they played Metallica's 'Moth Into A Flame' -so cool to start a race to heavy rock! After a small amount of congestion the runners spread a little as we climbed Langebro and down the long Hans Christensen Andersen's Boulevard. There was some terrific support with people holding signs saying 'Kom Sa' (Come On!), rattling clappers and generally enthusiastically wailing at us. Almost immediately any clouds in the sky had evaporated and it felt pretty warm. Still a bit crowded, particularly on the tight corners, we missed the chance to run under a shower and opted to skip the first water station. Probably the right call as it was absolute carnage; once again an unprepared water station on only one side of the course.
There was the first of a few 'Power-zones' where there were people letting off confetti bombs, playing garish euro-dance and cheerleaders for a 50m stretch or so -a great idea! There was a nice lap of Memorial Park which had a smattering of sunbathers and people with appetizing picnics and a band with a great choir singing 'Come Together' by The Beatles. Quality! An hour in and just under 7 miles done, we were running fairly comfortably and chatting about various marathons and plans for future races, a bit of a first to me to be chatting whilst running a marathon but it took my mind off the sweaty task at hand nicely. At around 11km I saw Alexander in the crowd filming me and gave him a wave, next target was Cat at 13km but unfortunately she didn't see me in time to grab a photo. Crossing Christian IV's Bro there were balloons and Danish flags fluttering which was a pretty cool sight and the road flattened out for a long stretch before the first of a few 'switch-backs' which began at Sonder Blvd. At this point there was a live camera which got a wave and another band playing some metal, they get rock-hands from Tim and I.
Middle
We got to halfway in a little bit over 2 hours which was pretty good going as the temperature was rising fast. I said farewell to Tim and let him to go chase down the 4 hr pacers as I needed to grab a few drinks and quickly use the toilet, my head was feeling a bit fuzzy so knew it was the sensible thing to do. He'd finish 20 minutes ahead of me, I was just sorry I couldn't keep with him as having a chat was distracting me nicely as the miles ticked by. The course approached Norrebro which was a pretty part of town in the North-Western area, another couple of 'power-zones' came and went with people blowing whistles, more cheerleaders gyrating in heels and even the marshals with their red flags bellowing at the runners to keep going. At this point I'd decided to set a new goal for the race, to run my best time of the year so far, which meant sub 4.33. That would be easy in most other races as I'm usually a 3.55-4.10 runner but as it was hot yet again it seemed like a realistic target to fight for.
I saw Cat just after 29Km and stopped for a brief moment for a photo and to grab a pre-mixed electrolyte drink which was a real god-send. I put down some Ibuprofen and salt tablets with an organic energy gel and immediately felt stronger. The route overlapped with the first half quite a bit now and I felt for the runners facing us as they had to see us a few km ahead. We passed the Botanical Garden and the lake at Faelledparken with even more sunbathers and families enjoying the hot weather. Some kids were squirting water pistols at the runners and obliging with high-fives, it was a nice atmosphere despite the heavy legs and mental battle. A few people around me were walking a fair bit in the middle of the course which was a bit frustrating and there was an increasing number of casualties by the side of the road, some hooked up to drips, others with people in the crowd cradling their heads awaiting help. Nothing unusual there for a warm marathon but a reminder as always not to push too hard and keep fueling and drinking.
End
Heading down the really long Strandboulevarden I was finding it quite tough and resolved to run to each water station then walk with my drinks and go again. A pretty good tactic I thought which would still give me 10-11 min miles but the water stations seemed to be 4-5km apart so it was tougher than it should have been. I'd reached for the ipod and got a boost from some 80's classics, deciding that the band playing would be personally insulted if I dropped to a walk, so I kept going! The route tracked the edge of the star-shaped military fortress of Kastellet which was pretty cool then even better, we got to run along Nyhavn with it's iconic multi-coloured houses and harbour. People were hanging out of bars and offering the last fingers worth of beer, I obliged from one kind gentleman and got on my way. Hitting 20 miles felt like an achievement, now I just had to maintain my (slow) pace to come in with a respectable time.
As usual this last hour or so felt like an eternity but I was in good spirits and enjoying the views, architecture and vociferous support. There weren't many sections without someone there cheering, calling out the names of the runners from their bibs or slapping clappers on their thighs. With a couple of miles to go I started to recognise where we were and knew it wasn't far at all once we'd gone under the bridge (the last water stop) and past the last rock band on an open DHL truck. Along Christian's Brygge past the Black Diamond once more it was a quick turn to climb the final bridge and I could see the finish over on the right. Looking at the watch, it was going to be tight so I tried to pick up and gave it a decent push to finish in 4.29. It was a relief to be done and off the course especially only 3 weeks since running in 32C in Vienna. With a 4 month break until Tallinn in September, I knew there would be plenty of time to train in heat (hopefully) over the English summer and run better (as I always do) in the Autumn races.
To sponsor me please visit: www.justgiving.com/mikeseumarathons
Pics
Gallery photos here
Weather
Starting temp was 16C in cloudless skies rising to 23C by 2pm as I finished. Light breeze over the bridges.
Ratings
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