Tor Rønnow, Author at Tor on Marathon

Danish Nature Marathons

By Tor Rønnow on Monday, June 15, 2009

We do not have very adventurous Nature in Denmark like mountains and stuff, however we do have other kinds of scenic eye-pleasers… in the landscapes, that is 😉

Last weekend I participated in the very cosy ‘Beer Marathon’ arranged by my running friend Michael Nielsen. The race was very demanding and it was only barely that I managed not to pull a DNF. There was food and party after the race, a very nice occasion to speak with the running mates… when not running. You can see pictures from Beer marathon here.

Seeland Double
Then this past weekend, my running mate Anders Munch Madsen and I closed two beautiful Nature Marathons on Seeland, Denmark. Saturday we ran GARMIN Rudersdal Cannonball 5 which was as usually a nice but also quite tough run. You find the dripping wet pictures here .

Then Sunday we ran the awaited Nature Marathon starting in Slagelse, this race being the best marathon in Denmark the past two years. Well, several other races content for that prize as well so it is difficult to be very conslusive… but it is indeed for certain that Nature Marathon is a uniquely beautiful, challenging and even fun marathon to complete. You find the 2009 pictures here.

Marathon

Copenhagen marathon 2009

By Tor Rønnow on Monday, May 25, 2009

Yesterday, I had the honor to complete Copenhagen marathon 2009 together with many, many of old and new running mates, including the two new members of the Danish Klub 100 marathon, Claus Christensen and Peter Seider. Congratulations !

During the race, however, I owed thanks to Stephan Grabow for ‘pulling’ me through to a good time in my Spiderman suit… we had a great and amusing event running side by side for 42.195 km. Well, almost.

You find pictures from the race here.

Spirituality

The Eternal Silent Scream

By Tor Rønnow on Monday, May 11, 2009

79 AD … the destruction of Pompeii… one of the most famous catastrophes in the world history. The remains of the victims still stun and horrify us even today. Even today !

I was in Pompeii at age five… two years after my Mother died. I remember reflecting that this ghost town was once a place for the living. I remember thinking… “when will it be our turn ?” … being together with my grandparents making it a quite natural line of thinking… I was thinking. “They are next”.

I was wrong. My father was next, two years after, just a month after I had turned seven. THEN later came my grandfather, and later again my adoption mother, then my grandmothers alongside with all other leading figures from my Childhood. They are all dead.

So… one day we will all scream into eternity. One day we will wake up with closed eyes and who knows what we will see ? Who knows, really ?

The point to all this is: what kind of LIFE do we live ? What kind of experiences do we go for ? What do we valúe, who do we love, what do we dare and dare risk ? Which decisions do we make ? This is the important stuff, the lines in small that most don’t read but are fed and never really contemplate, failing to realize that we are the mere products of time and our time and context, outfallen events in webs of probabilities. We think that we control ‘stuff’ … and we might do for restricted periods of time… but really… naah. We are quite insignificant.

However, we living humans possess a unique power each day of our lives: we create our own personal reality. We create things in our minds.. and THEN experience them in the external world. If we do not like our experiences, we can change our minds and beliefs… and thus change our world, our experiences, our feelings. I know this for a fact, having changed the foundations for my life over an over again since early Childhood in dramatic manners that you would not have the first clue to grasp neither the magnitude or consequences about. Thus, I have questioned and examined the point in living almost daily since age five… and I have always found the above answer… alongside with passion, curiosity and a general love of just being alive. When we really choose we can live, unlike being the living undead. Observe, analyze, decide, live and… love ! The game begins each morning.

Try to understand this… before it is your turn to scream. You will, one day.

Marathon

End of Year Five

By Tor Rønnow on Monday, May 4, 2009

My first marathon was in Copenhagen, Denmark almost five years ago, ie. the 16.05.2004.

Thus, my personal marathon year spands from the 16th of May each year. Due to rest the next few weeks, I have now completed my first five years of marathon running :

Year 1: 4 marathons – including Berlin and London !
Year 2: 12 marathons – including Stockholm, Amsterdam, Dublin, Elbtunnel, Paris and Hamburg.
Year 3: 28 marathons – including New York, Boston, Rome, Barcelona, Vienna and ‘my own’ event GARMIN Rudersdal marathon.
Year 4: 36 marathons – including Chicago, Magdeburg, Paris, Zürich as the biggest events. Notably, I collected the last of the World Majors with the completion of Chicago Marathon.

Year 5: 46 marathons ! Including marathon no. 100 and two-on-one-date (28-jun-2008) as some of the memorable events. To be highlighted is also the fantastic Swiss Alpine 42 K, Zürich New Years Eve, Budapest, Frankfurt and Dublin, Rotterdam.. and, not to forget, the recent London marathon where I ran in my Spiderman suit… with a concussion ! Will you believe that ! Madness !

You can find picture and stories from most of these races via ‘My marathons’ from the menu at the page left.

Spirituality

New trends in dying: killed by a Grande Latte

By Tor Rønnow on Saturday, May 2, 2009

So I went to see the Medical Doctor yesterday. His verdict was clear and unambiguous: I had suffered a concussion last Saturday when banging my head in the fricking and life-threateningly too low ceiling on the second floor of the Starbucks Cafe on Tottenham Court Road just opposite the Center Point.

Furthermore, it was clear that I thus had been quite tough on myself running two marathons within three days with this dangereous injury, a feat that could be fatal if not to say LEATHAL ! I still suffer severe headaches and had to cancel a pleasure trip to Jutland this weekend as well.

Morale: do NOT underestimate the potential leathal impact of a Grande Latte 😉

Ok.. more seriously so… episodes like this makes you think a bit about the values in life. Stuff can happen and steal your entire life in a second.. a blow to the head, a car crash, a stray bullet or a bad disease. We can fall short to Destiny in many ways.

My only thought this past week has been: I want to see my children ! I want to see them grow up, I want to see them live and be happy, I want to give them all the best in Life that I possibly can. I don’t want to die now ! Maybe I’m overracting a bit… but then again, ask Liam Neeson if I am, his late wife dying after a ridiculous head trauma on a skiing holiday.

Life really is precious – NEVER fall pray to triviality, complacentcy or foul play.

Live by honesty and courage !

Live !