Tor Rønnow

6 Star Finisher 7 Continents Finisher 75 Marathon countries Author of best-seller running book Mountain hiker Off-piste alpine skier Chess player

The Jutland Triplet

Wow… what an Easter it has been ! First, Mogens Pedersen and I warmed up with the Dublet in Hamburg and Rotterdam (see previous post) and then came the triplet in Jutland, the first two marathons completed within 24 hours and the last one, the so-called toughest marathon in Denmark, Aalborg Brutal marathon, following Friday. Quite a challenge, quite a feat !

For the foreigners: Jutland is a remote part of Denmark only barely with electricity, the people speak a funny ancient dialect and are intimate with their cattle 🙂 Ahh.. well… maybe not… anyways… three runs within three days and in nice weather in these outlands… just perfect !

First, Wednesday evening… a small race near Horsens… running at the sea and on an easy, flat course… pictures here.

Then, Thursday, time for the extreme challenge in ‘Hasle bakker’ near Aarhus where we climbed the VERY big hills no less than 22 times, for sure making this one of the toughest marathons in Denmark ever and making Aalborg Brutal on Friday look like a kindergarden fun-run. Enjoy the pictures from Hasle bakker here.

Lastly – and making the Triplet complete – the enjoyable Aalborg Brutal marathon… this year in sublime sunshine and with great support from the crowds on the notorious hill on ‘Skovbakkevej’. Indeed a very tough run and more so on a day three in row !

You find the brutal pictures here.

Summertime in Hamburg and Rotterdam

Yet another wellness weekend and even taking an early peek at the Summer 2009… at least when you consider the weather in Hamburg this Saturday… 19-20 degrees and just wonderful conditions at the Ôjendorfer See ‘Alpaka’ marathon. You find the pictures here.

Rotterdam marathon 2009
Just after the race Saturday, Mogens and I endured a five hours drive to Rotterdam, Netherlands, and were lucky just to reach the gorgeous pasta party in the Euromast Tower. What an ingenious location for a runners meal ! Anyways… Sundays race in Rotterdam went well… and we could thus book another marathon doulet to the collection.

Rotterdam marathon 2009 was a great event, look for yourself here.

GARMIN Rudersdal VII

I somehow managed to complete GARMIN Rudersdal VII just after a week of near-dying of a flu. I guess I felt compelled to make the try, being the Race Director of the Event and welcomming almost 100 runners from the entire country. The short story is… I made it… and the participants had a great day on the tough route, the permanent marathonroute ‘RudersdalRuten’ just north of Copenhagen.

You find the story and the pictures here.

Poetry on Fire

I have to confess, I am not the guy reading too much Poetry these days. I did when I was younger, lots of different things and of course the unavoidable stuff like the Danish Poet Michael Strunge and the French Arthur Rimbaud. Well… who hasn’t ?

Anyways… one of my favorite poems is actually by a very unknowm Norwegian, Arnulf Øverland, whose poem “Til en Misantrop” I discovered in a very remote hut when hiking the Norwegian Mountains… my primary occupation when I was a kid and in early manhood… actually, the simiar kind of quest as running marathons. Long hard days in Nature, beautiful eyesights, lots of struggle…

I often think of this Poem, “Til en Misantrop“. My snobby and hilariously self-righteous neighbours remind me. The News on the Television reminds me. The loved ones that I have buried remind me. My own history reminds me. The Poem itself reminds me.