STOCKHOLM (04.06.16)
Stockholm Marathon was my 6th of 28 on the challenge and it was a truly memorable one. Prior to the race I was in close contact with RME (the National Society for ME patients in Sweden) and I interviewed them to find out more about what it was like for the 40,000 or so people with ME in the country (interview here). I didn't know before I flew out but I was also to meet up with two ME patients (Susanne Froroth and Catharina Rosenberg) after the race for drinks and a chat, this I enjoyed very much.
I flew off from Gatwick arriving in Stockholm late afternoon and able to just about check in at the rather quiet Expo to pick up my race number and register. I went to visit Skansen Park and the island of Fjaderholmarna the day before (doing a lot of ill-advised walking) in temperatures that almost hit 30C, I must admit I was concerned I was going to melt and struggle in the heat. I woke up pretty early even though I wasn't due to race until midday and was delighted to see that we'd just about topped £3500 raised over the 5 marathons so far for Invest In ME. I had a breakfast of mostly cereal and bananas, a fight almost broke out for those trying to grab the latter much to the dismay of the staff, runners eh?! After some stretching and a short walk up to the stadium I saw lots of Brits and had a nice chat with a few, all of which were suitably worried about the Vasterbron bridge and the rising heat.
Start
The start was noisy, crazy and pretty tense. I was in wave F (the 6th of 10 groups) and there were some proper runners in there that's for sure. There were approx 14000 runners this year and after the excitement of the klaxon, it became difficult to get into a stride for the first 2-3 miles as everyone was bunched up. I got away OK although I very quickly found it pretty hot, hurtling towards the shady bits with the other smart runners and trying to keep around 8.45 min/miles as we worked our way down Strandvagen to the harbour. I took on water early, memories of Helsinki's 18 mile point meltdown still fresh where I'd underestimated the heat and hit the wall. Annoyingly for such a well organised race, they were giving out half full cylindrical cups of water and 'sports drink' -not easy to drink from without making a mess on yourself when attempting to run. Weaving over the bridge towards the long coastal route along Soder Malarstrand I could see the infamous Vasterbron coming up fast and quickly understood what the fuss was about. A sign saying 'F*ck The Bridge' made me laugh as I started to attack it. Maybe what I hadn't realised was how amazingly fun it was to run down once over the peak, incredible views of the river and city that were quite breathtaking. Don't get me wrong though, this was a tough opponent -not because of it's height but more the mile long drag of the incline that saps energy. As we made it to 10 miles, I was feeling pretty good, it was all going to plan, I'd got through what I often find as the hardest part as it takes me a while to find my rhythm. I'd also caught up the 4 hour pacer and was making good in-roads into a possible PB.
Middle
Towards the midway point we were sent off the roads into a park which was a nice relief from the city bustle. There were lots of sunbathers and people eating nice picnics, I wished I could have been one of them! Turning the corner at the halfway point I looked down to see 1hr 54 mins on my watch and still felt optimistic about getting under the magic 4 hour mark, though in truth I knew that anything under 4hrs 10 mins was the realistic target for this one. One of the drinks stops was handing out pickled gherkins! I'd seen this before in Finland but didn't want to risk trying anything new on the run. They looked like slugs as they were dropped onto the road and I had to hop over them without taking a calamitous slip. The course then took us around Skansen (which is brilliant and well worth a visit) and past the Abba museum which had 'Dancing Queen' belting out to everyone's amusement. Heading back towards the harbour again and it was starting to get really warm. I was grabbing two drinks at each drinks stop now and it seemed to be working out fine as I was still posting below 9 minute miles and keeping it steady. When we made it back to the harbour again, there was a really good crowd and with 10 sure-to-be-painful miles ahead I knew I was going to need them. Another drinks stop and this time they were giving out Coca Cola and coffee, not seen that before but I made my way over and guzzled as much as I could grab. We were then sent under the Centralbron into a tunnel which was blissfully cool out of the sun and then back towards the Vasterbron for the more painful second climb at the 20 mile point.
End
At this point I was at 3hrs with less than 6 miles to go and thinking it's pretty tight for 4 hours but I'll definitely break 4 hrs 10. Having done my maths I decided there's no way I can go home having walked any part of this bridge and I vowed to run all of it, however slowly. There was a runner lying on the hard shoulder with paramedics around him, I looked over but they'd got him sorted and I carried on. I had my emergency playlist on the go and was distracting myself thinking about some of the ME patients that I was running for. I've only got an hour more of pain I thought, they're not so lucky. There was a pretty good rock band playing White Stripes 'Seven Nation Army' as we headed back towards the centre, I gave them 'rock hands' and battled on. I'd slowed up quite a bit at this point, my calves were burning and my hips had forced my running form into more of a jog, things were starting to hurt a bit. The 4 hr pacers came past, the yellow flag they carry taunted me as I tried to chase it for a bit to keep up. Ah, nevermind, let's try for sub 4hrs 5 mins, that's still a massive improvement on last year's hot race afterall and would be my 3rd quickest. More weird food at the drinks stops and it was grapes coated in floury sugar, hmm no ta! One mile to go and I'd found something from somewhere to run my fastest mile for ages. We ran almost all the way around the outside of the stadium and finally make it to the entrance. I was on the track and there was hundreds of people cheering, what a rush! A few around me broke into a sprint finish, I tried to keep with them, desperate to come in under 4 hrs 6 mins, luckily I made it and punch the air with what little energy I have left. I was over the line, 5200th out of around 13400 finishers, medal around neck and with non-alcoholic Erdinger in hand. Job done, a toughie but the views and atmosphere have been top draw. Now for steak and beer.
Pics
Gallery Pics Here
Official Pics
Video
Weather
Hot with an occasional cool breeze, 18C rising to 24C by end of the race.
I flew off from Gatwick arriving in Stockholm late afternoon and able to just about check in at the rather quiet Expo to pick up my race number and register. I went to visit Skansen Park and the island of Fjaderholmarna the day before (doing a lot of ill-advised walking) in temperatures that almost hit 30C, I must admit I was concerned I was going to melt and struggle in the heat. I woke up pretty early even though I wasn't due to race until midday and was delighted to see that we'd just about topped £3500 raised over the 5 marathons so far for Invest In ME. I had a breakfast of mostly cereal and bananas, a fight almost broke out for those trying to grab the latter much to the dismay of the staff, runners eh?! After some stretching and a short walk up to the stadium I saw lots of Brits and had a nice chat with a few, all of which were suitably worried about the Vasterbron bridge and the rising heat.
Start
The start was noisy, crazy and pretty tense. I was in wave F (the 6th of 10 groups) and there were some proper runners in there that's for sure. There were approx 14000 runners this year and after the excitement of the klaxon, it became difficult to get into a stride for the first 2-3 miles as everyone was bunched up. I got away OK although I very quickly found it pretty hot, hurtling towards the shady bits with the other smart runners and trying to keep around 8.45 min/miles as we worked our way down Strandvagen to the harbour. I took on water early, memories of Helsinki's 18 mile point meltdown still fresh where I'd underestimated the heat and hit the wall. Annoyingly for such a well organised race, they were giving out half full cylindrical cups of water and 'sports drink' -not easy to drink from without making a mess on yourself when attempting to run. Weaving over the bridge towards the long coastal route along Soder Malarstrand I could see the infamous Vasterbron coming up fast and quickly understood what the fuss was about. A sign saying 'F*ck The Bridge' made me laugh as I started to attack it. Maybe what I hadn't realised was how amazingly fun it was to run down once over the peak, incredible views of the river and city that were quite breathtaking. Don't get me wrong though, this was a tough opponent -not because of it's height but more the mile long drag of the incline that saps energy. As we made it to 10 miles, I was feeling pretty good, it was all going to plan, I'd got through what I often find as the hardest part as it takes me a while to find my rhythm. I'd also caught up the 4 hour pacer and was making good in-roads into a possible PB.
Middle
Towards the midway point we were sent off the roads into a park which was a nice relief from the city bustle. There were lots of sunbathers and people eating nice picnics, I wished I could have been one of them! Turning the corner at the halfway point I looked down to see 1hr 54 mins on my watch and still felt optimistic about getting under the magic 4 hour mark, though in truth I knew that anything under 4hrs 10 mins was the realistic target for this one. One of the drinks stops was handing out pickled gherkins! I'd seen this before in Finland but didn't want to risk trying anything new on the run. They looked like slugs as they were dropped onto the road and I had to hop over them without taking a calamitous slip. The course then took us around Skansen (which is brilliant and well worth a visit) and past the Abba museum which had 'Dancing Queen' belting out to everyone's amusement. Heading back towards the harbour again and it was starting to get really warm. I was grabbing two drinks at each drinks stop now and it seemed to be working out fine as I was still posting below 9 minute miles and keeping it steady. When we made it back to the harbour again, there was a really good crowd and with 10 sure-to-be-painful miles ahead I knew I was going to need them. Another drinks stop and this time they were giving out Coca Cola and coffee, not seen that before but I made my way over and guzzled as much as I could grab. We were then sent under the Centralbron into a tunnel which was blissfully cool out of the sun and then back towards the Vasterbron for the more painful second climb at the 20 mile point.
End
At this point I was at 3hrs with less than 6 miles to go and thinking it's pretty tight for 4 hours but I'll definitely break 4 hrs 10. Having done my maths I decided there's no way I can go home having walked any part of this bridge and I vowed to run all of it, however slowly. There was a runner lying on the hard shoulder with paramedics around him, I looked over but they'd got him sorted and I carried on. I had my emergency playlist on the go and was distracting myself thinking about some of the ME patients that I was running for. I've only got an hour more of pain I thought, they're not so lucky. There was a pretty good rock band playing White Stripes 'Seven Nation Army' as we headed back towards the centre, I gave them 'rock hands' and battled on. I'd slowed up quite a bit at this point, my calves were burning and my hips had forced my running form into more of a jog, things were starting to hurt a bit. The 4 hr pacers came past, the yellow flag they carry taunted me as I tried to chase it for a bit to keep up. Ah, nevermind, let's try for sub 4hrs 5 mins, that's still a massive improvement on last year's hot race afterall and would be my 3rd quickest. More weird food at the drinks stops and it was grapes coated in floury sugar, hmm no ta! One mile to go and I'd found something from somewhere to run my fastest mile for ages. We ran almost all the way around the outside of the stadium and finally make it to the entrance. I was on the track and there was hundreds of people cheering, what a rush! A few around me broke into a sprint finish, I tried to keep with them, desperate to come in under 4 hrs 6 mins, luckily I made it and punch the air with what little energy I have left. I was over the line, 5200th out of around 13400 finishers, medal around neck and with non-alcoholic Erdinger in hand. Job done, a toughie but the views and atmosphere have been top draw. Now for steak and beer.
Pics
Gallery Pics Here
Official Pics
Video
Weather
Hot with an occasional cool breeze, 18C rising to 24C by end of the race.
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Ratings
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