Tor on Marathon

Amy and Dostovjefskij

By Tor Rønnow on Monday, July 14, 2008

Difficult as it is I have to admit that I don’t understand everything.

Life and especially people keeps on presenting you issues just beyond comprehension. Dostojevskij was well awere of this and his books are filled with observations of the Alien-like paradoxes of the Human Nature. How can you murder someone and not care ? How can you leave behind a great love in your life and be happy ? How can you forgive a lying whore and let a new life begin (Raskolnikov) ? I can’t for sure. But Dostojevskij must have seen futher and I suspect that the Christian principle of *Love* is the key. But what is that ? I rather interpret the issues in the concepts of pure Nature… our cells renew and thus forget, the Planet and the atmosphere is subject to changes, movement and evolution each second and no feeling, weather condition or any other moment has a very long duration. Time passes. But… I still find it difficult.

Take a modern example.. Amy Whitehouse. How can you be gifted with such a great talent and voice, be known world-wide and filthy rich … and still be so self-destructive and unhappy ? Another example of the incomprehensiveness of the Human Psyche.

Yeah… or rather no… I don’t understand !

Marathon

Extreme !

By Tor Rønnow on Thursday, July 10, 2008

Yet another weekend with two marathons, even the two toughest marathons in Denmark !

Firstly, Mjoelner marathon on Saturday, a very challenging and technically difficult race. Add to this temperatures at around 28 degrees and you have a cocktail only to drink for experienced and very stubborn runners. Pictures here.

Tor Rønnow at Extreme marathon 2008. Foto: Ole Cramer.

Then, Sunday… the hardest and toughest marathon in Denmark, Extreme marathon… including 4400 height meters !!! Let’s just say that I came through… but with great difficulties due to blisters and damage on the left Achilles, unfortunately somthing that still troubles me here four days after. See the extreme pics here.

Marathon

Two marathons on One Day (28.06.2008)

By Tor Rønnow on Monday, June 30, 2008

Yeah… you read correctly… I did two of them this past Saturday. Still marathons, not bimbos 🙂

First, start in Hamburg 08.00 hours in pouring rain in the little but very cosy race “Ôjendorfer See Marathon” (www.100mc.de). As my right knee was hurting from the Double the weekend before, the soily route was perfect and gentle food for my legs and constitution… and I finished very controlled just sub-5 hours. See the pictures here.
Beautiful view at Ôjendorfer See Marathon in Hamburg, Germany

Then Anders and I drove 2 1/2 hours in car to the coastal City Bremerhaven… and were ready for the next race, Bremerhaven City Marathon, at the start 18.30 hours. The first 10 k went fine, then followed by 20 very hard kilometers for me ! On the last of the four rounds I was the last person… and was thus followed by a couple of Police motorcycles… that kinda gave me some Energy ! 😉 But then at the very last kilometer… I actually passed another runner… to my amazement … and finished in just sub 5.30 hours, two minutes to midnight ! Alas, two marathons were completed this historic day, June 28 2008 !
Anders Munch Madsen and Tor Rønnow at Bremerhaven City Marathon 2008

See the pictures here … or in this gallery.

Marathon

Double the Action !

By Tor Rønnow on Monday, June 23, 2008

Two at the same time !

“Women ?” …. no, no, no, I’m talking about two marathons in one weekend 😉 This past weekend I had the pleasure and hard work of doing two of them… marathons. First, the very tough but also very eventful “Aabenraa Bjergmarathon” in which I even ran in my Spidey-costume. You find the report here.

Tor as Spiderman at Aabenraa marathon 2008

Then, Sunday we – yes, we were actually quite a bunch doing this “double” – did Laesoe marathon, i.e. the marathon on the island Laesoe. Here the route was very flat and easy… but my legs were too sour from the day before so I could not take advantage of it and finished secondlast in a totally crap time. See the story here.

Tor is happy... at Laesoe marathon 2008

But who cares about time… when you can do two 😉

Spirituality

Vanity – Blaise Pascal noch einmal

By Tor Rønnow on Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Vanity !

In our lifetime and in the context of the radio, the television and latest the Internet – in short, the era of the Media – Vanity is clearly one of the strongest drivers in the human experience and in the Quest for Happiness, for carriers, for relationships.

On the upside people set goals, they develop themselves, they are motivated. On the downside, people might become criminals, they might envy each other (or some, at least), and – worst of all – they may forget to reflect on the very Nature of being alive ! Yes, they may live in the blinfolded and totally unconstructive persuit of pleasing the surroundings to fulfill a certain ideal… for the pure reason of it’s… image. That is Vanity ! That is a waste of a Life ! Count how many you have !

Many years ago, the Philosopher Blaise Pascal realized all this. If you read his book ‘Penseés’ (anno 1670 !)(“Thoughts”) you will find hinsights that will make you think ! Think about how fragile and how insignificant our lives truly are. Just take in a few quotes:

We are so presumptuous that we should like to be known all over the world, even by people who will only come when we are no more. Such is our vanity that the good opinion of half a dozen of the people around us gives us pleasure and satisfaction.

Or how about this one:

How many Kingdoms know not of us ?

Think about these quotations for a sec. How can one really take the Vanity game of our lifetime truly seriously once realized that it’s just… abstractions. Fact is, we live and die and become dust. We disappear.

So much for Vanity !