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2004-02-13
2004-02-15
Sweden
3Distance today: 48.0 km (Accumulated: 2096.0 km)
Country: Sweden
Route Report: Gnesta - Molnbo - Jarna - Pershaga - Södertälge - Tumba.
48km, 5:13h incl. Mc Donalds.
Today we have recieved a mail from our friend Edit Berces - wellknown by
ultrarunners, and several times world champion on 100km. She has asked us
politely to please write more - so today I'll try to make a bit more
information about what we've experiensed 'on the road' !!
- Usually we only have a mobile phone for making the reports (by sms) and
therefore we often are too tired to make longer reports. I hope however by
the time we reach St.Petersburg to make a 2-month report with more in-dept
analysis of the running, injuries, cultures experiensed, sociology
notes, nature, climates, equiptment report, mental experienses and...
perhaps a European Hotel-review & report of variations in European traffic
culture... ;-)
Today:
We startet out from Gnesta where we yesterday had interview with the local
press and had a good Swedish dinner with "pyt-i-panna" prepared by Micke
Hills parents. The starting picture is with his parents in front of the
new buildings in Gnesta.
The conditions today were allmost ideal: +5-8 C, sun, clear sky and the
wind in the back. A great day for running !
With the help of Micke we did a good pace and he even took his turns
pushing the Charriot jogger every 3. hour despite nasty 'mountains' in the
first part of the course.
Journalists:
About halfway on our run BBC called on the mobile phone for an interview
(live). We had a quick speak with them and brought them up to date with
our situation on the mainroads of Europe.
Soon after we met a reporter from a regional newspaper and a photographer
from Runners World in Sweden. We made a short stop for pictures and also
we teamed up with the whife and young children of Micke to insure that
things were going good so far.
Mc.D.:
Then the pace picked up during the next 15-20km as we aproached Södertalje
- and the Mc Donalds. When we had the many days of rain in the first weeks
in Europe I often promised myself that once we reached Copenhagen
(Denmark) I'd allow myselves to go to the Mc Donalds and eat a bit of that
kind of food.
- Only when I finally had run my way to Copenhagen, covering about
1200km's, I had forgot about the Mc Donalds and only remembered the day
after we left Copenhagen again !! So I decided; once we reached Stockholm,
then...
And since Södertalje is veeeery near Stockholm, I judged that the time was
right for this - now allmost ritual - visit to Mc.D.
After a meal that I won't describe here (!) we collected ourselves to once
again continue the running. Obviously this food stop hadn't done Micke
much help; perhaps even the opposite ??
And surely Alexander and I are by now more used to eating heavily during
the running, so we should have considered this.
Anyhow the result was that Micke, even though running strong, made the
decition to go by car the last 8km's from 40 to 48km. But he was very fair
and took his hour of pushing the Charriot Carrier just before he stopped
for the day. Thank you !
Tomorrow he will give us compagny for the 35km from Tumba to the Ferry, so
probably his decision was well made !
Marathon
The last part of our route we ran on a old twisting and winding main-road,
where 105 years ago the first marathon in Sweden was organised. The
winning time by then was a respectable sub-3 hour for the marathon (a
marathon was untill the London Olympics that took place a few decades
later a standard 40km. After the London race it became the now wellkonwn
42km and 195meters).
12-hour Race:
The final news for today is we have just been informed by our excellent
contact in Finland, Tero, that we are accepted as participants in a
12-hour race in Helsinki in Finland at 21 February. That will be a real
"Challenge within the Challenge" as our legs is not excactly fresh after
about 2000km's of running. But we look much forward to the challenge and
the chance to meet and perhaps rejunite with old friends of ultrarunning !
Well; that was all for today then :-)
Best wishes Jesper & Alexander.
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