Just like the last years, I give my you my take on the best marathons in 2009, i.e. amongst the ones I have participated in myself. Best does not necessarily mean ‘objectively best’ but does also emphasize the magnitude of the experience including ‘other’ factors such as city/nature facilities etc.

I have divided the marathons into four groups and as always, you find links to the races via ‘My marathons’ in the menu. You may notice that I have quite a lot of Danish runs on my list which both reflect that I have had most of my races here in Denmark this year… and that almost all those races have a very good level of organisation and experiences… this applies also to the races not in top 5. Keep it up, Denmark !

Incredibly, it looks like that I will reach +60 marathons completed in 2009 alone making it just below 170 in toto for me ultimo 2009.

Overall
1. Allermöher doublet + Beachmarathon weekend triplet (Germany, Denmark)
2. Zürich New Year (Switerzerland)
3. London (England)
4. Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
5. Samsoe (Denmark)

City marathons
1. London (England)
2. Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
3. Rotterdam (The Netherlands)
4. HCA Odense (Denmark)
5. Copenhagen (Denmark)

Nature runs
1. Storebaelt Nature (Denmark)
2. Rudersdal Cannonball 3 (Denmark)
3. Heide-Elbe (Germany)
4. Samsoe (Denmark)
5. Beachmarathon (Denmark)

Small races
1. Zürich New Year (Switerzerland)
2. Citroën Aalborg (Denmark)
3. Beer marathon (Denmark)
4. Vänersborg (Sweden)
5. Kalundborg 5 Taarns (Denmark)

These are lists based on my personal experiences, of course. To mentain memory of the best races ‘ever’, I  have a category of the ‘all-time best’ marathons as well. Here, the big marathons do live up to their famous names !

Best ever
1. New York (USA)
2. Swiss Alpine 42K (Switerzerland)
3. Hamburg (Germany)
4. London (England)
5. Rome (Italy)

2009 has been quite a marathon year in Denmark !

We have seen a multitude of new races, small as big, and an explosive growth in the number of people running many marathons, ie. +20 a year. We are projected with as much as six runners reaching +50 races, many with +30 and even more with +20. Only one year back this would have been unheard of, in fact my own numbers with 41-31-25 the past three years all made it tied to the maximum number of completed marathons each of those years, 41 being the current year-exit record.

But not anymore ! This is the year of the ‘Grandmaster’ (Stormesterens år), Mogens Pedersen written for 66 races as we speak and a bucketful more are to come the next few weeks. Same applies to me and a number of the other dudes, ie. a hectic but hopefully also enjoyable closure of this enormous running year.

Actually, I do look forward to stepping down from the marathon ‘hunt’. My plans for 2010 include fewer marathons – but still probably like +30 –  and increased, evil tongues would rightly say new, focus on speed work and efforts on shorter distances like 10 K races. But first and foremost I will dedicate more time to my career and my private family matters. But don’t get too alarmed, race reports will continue to appear every 14 days or so.

This past weekend was quite hectic for me. Not only were two very tough marathons to be digested, I also stood as the organizer of both ! Fortunately, I had great and invaluable help from the pacekeepers and various others making the events come true and we all enjoyed the fantastic support from the two main sponsors, GARMIN and LØBEREN as well. Thank you so much, all, participants, helpers, friends and sponsors ! Thank you !

GARMIN Rudersdal marathon 8 (HOPENHAGEN marathon)
Saturday was the ‘big race day’ with 150 registered runners from all over Denmark (!) plus our swedish usual suspect, my mentor Lennart Skoog (marathon no. 626 on the day/ #57 in 2009 !!!). We were graced by visit from GARMIN demonstrating the latest GARMIN Connect technology and we were also blessed with a perfect day for running with very mild weather and no rain (!). Yeahh !

I have received tons of very positive feedback after the event and the runners were generally extremely happy with the event… which means the world to me ! There are always a few hickups in any race and mine here was no exception… the few flaws will be dealt with as good as possible in the future. Well, in conclusion, we had a great experience Saturday at GARMIN Rudersdal Marathon 8… see for yourself here.

GARMIN Rudersdal Cannonball 13
Then Sunday came a so-called Cannonball marathon, ie. a race on modest conditions and own supplies. Nevertheless, a pack of eleven runners were up for the doublet and up for the extremely tough route in Skodsborg just north of Copenhagen. Luckily, we were once again blessed with good weather and even a bit of sunshine… and thus we all prevailed in completing the score for this challenging weekend.

You find the visual insights from this event here.

After being tied to the bed for a week – due to a flu, not fun – I somehow managed to rise and even complete the quite demanding LØBEREN Skovmarathon (Forrest marathon) this Sunday.

Afterwards, I actually felt better than before the race, tired of course but still more ‘fresh’. Thus, it was a pleasure to return to work and the nomal everyday today. I guess a good jogg can function as a kind of ‘treatment’ if administered with care. Who knows ?

Anyways… you find the delightful pictures from LØBEREN Skovmarathon 2009 here. Enjoy !

Actually, when I completed Amsterdam Sunday I did also close marathon no. 100 in two years minus one day !

It has been a busy time… and more is to come the forthcoming years. Next year is scheduled to contain fewer dublets, however with the probable run against Skövde 5-days, Bornholm-7-days and Allermöher-day-triplet things will continue to evolve.

A serious attack against those sub-4 is expected as well.