This past Saturday 11th of June 2011 I completed the LGT Alpin Marathon in Liechtenstein, thereby adding both another mountain marathon to my list as well as a “new country”. The “LGT Alpin” was a huge experience and a great challenge and it was just bad luck that the weather really sucked: rainy, foggy, and low-hanging clouds the entire day.

Despite 1870 heightmeters up and 720 down I managed quite well, I think, in this my marathon #200 running with a camera ! Too bad that the full scenic potential of this race didn’t sparkle that day. I need to come back !

Read all about my day at LGT Alpin Marathon 2011 here.

So Sunday 22th of May was indeed the very day for this years’ Copenhagen Marathon in, well, Copenhagen, Denmark. It turned out to be a great experience with tons of spectators in the streets and a cheerful and quite international atmosphere around the Capital. I had the honor of being a VIP runner once again and ran with a live-tracker device. Thus, you can replay my performance on www.copenhagenmarathon.dk, it’s funny to see the dots move about in different speeds.

Anyways, I had the pleasure of speaking with one of the other invited runners, the young American woman Scout Bassett, a charming woman taking a big applause for  her efforts, truly an inspiration for us all ! Nice meeting you, Scout !

The Marathon itself was in the secure hands of SPARTA headed by the perhaps 2012 Olympian runner Dorte Vibjerg, you all did a great job to pull off this fantastic event for all us participants out here. Thanks !

The weather started out almost too hot and humid but after a short but intense shower the air cleared up and it all ended to our delight: sunshine and blue sky. I’ll be back to Nykredit Copenhagen Marathon next year for sure !

You find the pictures from the entire route here.

Sunday 1th of May 2011 is a historic day !

For Vancouver Marathon, the race celebrated its 40th year anniversary. For me personally because I finally broke the sub-4 hours in a marathon. It only took me 218 attemps, kind of a Chaplin approach to that 3.xx.xx feat. Historic for the World because this was the day that Osama Bin Laden was killed – EKIA – on the orders given by President Obama of the USA thus hopefully putting an end of the terrorism by the Al-Qaeda (sooner rather than later).

Anyways, back to beautiful and stunning Vancouver Marathon where I had the pleasure of chatting with Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to participate and complete the legendaric Boston Marathon (as written also in “ELSK AT LØBE”).

Lets use the words with prudence: Vancouver Marathon 2011 was FANTASTIC ! It was an extremely scenic route with superb views on the City skyline, the distant mountains, the blooming fruit trees and passing the proud Stadion for the Vancouver Canucks, the city’s ishockey team still playing for the Stanley Cup here in 2011. I took so many nice pictures thus it is difficult to single out a few… but take a look at this one:

and this one:

… the latter giving credit to my running mate Vagn Kirkelund for acting as my personal pace setter this day, indeed an invaluable part of the outcome for my part. Vagn is a very strong runner with several sub-3 hours (!) marathons, +210 km in 24 h races and a completed Spartathlon, so thanks, Vagn, for slowing down and running Vancouver together !

You find the complete picture and photo story from Vancouver Marathon 2011 here, including footage from the Capilano Suspension Bridge and skiing at Grouse Mountain. What’s not to like ?

Last weekend I had the extreme pleasure of visiting Barcelona, Spain, for two great events: FC Barcelona – Zaragoza (1-0) on Camp Nou Saturday evening and, not to neglect, Barcelona Marathon 2011 Sunday.

In short, it was a spendid trip. It became a weekend with sun and a twist of spring and in company with runners from all over the world, not to mention the company of Leonil Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Bojan, Villa etc. all showing off their exquisite soccer skills. I can easily recommend the cocktail of soccer and marathon and in Barcelona we had the toughest drink in the world: The Messithon !

It was a HUGE experience to watch FC Barcelona on Camp Nou !

Sunday was perfect for running, 15 degrees Celcius, sunny, no wind. This is from the start at Espanya.

One of the highlights in the race, Sagrada Familia by Gaudi.

Lots of Danes had found their way to this marathon, they were all over.

Other top features of the race included the part by the beach,

this Portal,

Carrer de Ferran,

and of course reaching the goal, always a delight in a marathon race and a beautiful one at Espanya with the fountaines and the Castle in the horisont. Just perfect !

You can see the entire set of pictures from Barcelona Marathon 2011 here.