Tag Archives: chess

Chisinau Marathon 2024

Sunday September 29th 2024 I ran the Chisinau Marathon in Moldova. Find below my full race coverage from this marathon and a few tourist impressions from Chisinau.

Chisinau City
I enjoyed half a weekend in Chisinau, Moldova, and had some nice walks in the beautiful city parks alongside passing various landmarks, notably the Cathedral, the Triumph Arc and such near the major streets and restaurant areas. However, I will mostly remember Chisinau for the chessplayers at one of the central squares, I spend a lot of time with them, firstly beating them up Saturday night, secondly taking the punches myself Sunday, this to the now 5 time city champion (!), Artiom Ghidicov of Moldova. It is unfortunately rare to find chess in the streets anywhere now, so a very nice asset of Chisinau indeed.

Chisinau Marathon 2024 (Moldova) - Tor Rønnow

Chisinau Marathon 2024
The event carried a multitude of distances: marathon, half marathon, 10K, 5K, fun run 1.5K, kids “marathon (400-2000m), roller marathon, the latter causing some concerns of safety on the race day as the rollers were on the route together with everybody else. Anyways, it was a fine event, the full marathon took 4 rounds including a nasty incline on the highway. So despite a principally easy route the course combined with the increasing temperatures throughout the morning the tasks of the day somehow drained your energy, this could be seen on almost all the marathoneers on the final round.
A special congratulations to fellow Marathon Globetrotter Muantawan Pei Arsrairas for completing her marathon country no. 100 this Sunday in Moldova, hats off for an impressive “career”.

Chisinau Marathon 2024 (Moldova) - Tor Rønnow

See or relive the Chisinau Marathon 2024 here (and in Romanian and Russian)

Chisinau Marathon 2024 – billeder/fotos af Tor Rønnow (Danish)
Chisinau Marathon 2024 – bilder av Tor Rønnow (Svenska)
Chisinau Marathon 2024 – bilder von Tor Rønnow (Deutsch)
Chisinau Marathon 2024 – pictures by Tor Rønnow (English)
2024 年基希訥烏馬拉松 – 圖片/照片由 Tor Rønnow(中文)提供
キシナウマラソン 2024 – 画像/写真 by Tor Rønnow (日本語)
Chisinau Marathon 2024 – photos de Tor Rønnow (Français)
Chisinau Marathon 2024 – foto di Tor Rønnow (Italiano)
Chisinau Marathon 2024 – fotos del Tor Rønnow (Español)
Chisinau Marathon 2024 – beelden van Tor Rønnow (Nederlandse)

Two Oceans Marathon 2024

Saturday April 13th 2024 I ran the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon (56K) in South Africa. Find below my full race coverage from this marathon and some tourist impressions from Cape Town.

Cape Town and Table Mountain
This was my first visit to South Africa, the country renown for Nelson Mandela and a rather noisy Soccer World Cup some years back. Also, Cape Town and the southern point of the African Continent, Cape Agulhas, should be know to many people out there. Cape Town is the most “European” city in South Africa and I was really surprised by this and the vastness of town, huge! The first and foremost tourist attraction is the Table Mountain, a flat-topped and scenic mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town. I also enjoyed the Victoria Wharf and, especially, playing the street chess players there. Lastly, I had a short visit in the colourful suburb Bo-Kaap.

Two Oceans Marathon 2024 - Tor Rønnow

Two Oceans Ultra Marathon 2024
The event carried the Ultra Marathon (Saturday) and a Half Marathon (Sunday), both with start and finish in the neighborhoods of Newlands, Cape Town. The Ultra Marathon was send of in seeded batches, I started at 05.35 AM. The attraction of the route is – as the name of the event indicates – running by the two Oceans: first the Indian Ocean and then the Atlantic Ocean and here climbing the breathtaking Chapmans Peak Drive. This was indeed a treat for the eyes but also quite a challenge for the body! As you can read in the race report, my experience with this race was somewhat destroyed by the poor – catastrophical! – race management and the so-called “cut scandal” (read more about this in the race report). However, I will keep my memories to the fact that I did indeed complete my first Ultramarathon (56K) at this Two Oceans Marathon 2024 and, as the report shows, including some unique and scenic views along the hilly and tough route. I’d say: don’t go to this race unless you easily finish in 4 hours 15 minutes in a normal city marathon.

Two Oceans Marathon 2024 - Tor Rønnow

See or relive the Two Oceans Marathon 2024 here (and in Zulu, Xhosa, Africaans and Swahili)

Two Oceans Marathon 2024 – billeder/fotos af Tor Rønnow (Danish)
Two Oceans Marathon 2024 – bilder av Tor Rønnow (Svenska)
Two Oceans Marathon 2024 – bilder von Tor Rønnow (Deutsch)
Two Oceans Marathon 2024 – pictures by Tor Rønnow (English)
2024 年兩洋馬拉松 – 圖片/照片由 Tor Rønnow(中文)提供
ツー・オーシャンズ・マラソン 2024 – 画像/写真 by Tor Rønnow (日本語)
Two Oceans Marathon 2024 – photos de Tor Rønnow (Français)
Two Oceans Marathon 2024 – foto di Tor Rønnow (Italiano)
Two Oceans Marathon 2024 – fotos del Tor Rønnow (Español)
Two Oceans Marathon 2024 – beelden van Tor Rønnow (Nederlandse)

Capital City Marathon 2020

Below my race report from the Capital City Marathon 2020, Argentina, the second race of four in the Southern Hemisphere Challenge 2020 series. In addition, the report features my arrival in Argentina and various tourist impressions from the argentinian capital Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires
My dearest memory from the experiences and landmarks in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is first and foremost the vistit to the grave of the renowed danish chessplayer GM Bent Larsen. And likewise was the visit to the Recoleta Cementary featuring the grave of Eva Peron (EVITA) a special thing. Buenos Aires is just an extremely big city and I probably only saw a few of the many landmarks on the bucket list there, but there are for sure some nice shots amongst my pictures as you can see in the race report below, including the Plaza de Mayo, the EVITA-building and the Parlament.

Capital City Marathon 2020 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Southern Hemisphere Challenge 2020 - Tor Rønnow
Capital City  Marathon 2020

Capital City Marathon 2020
As you can read more detailed in the race report itself, the Capital City Marathon 2020 in Buenos Aires was the second of four races in the Southern Hemisphere Challenge 2020 and it was, moreover, the second marathon within the time span of less than 24 hours (cf. the Colonia Cost Marathon 2020 race report). In other words: we had a quite tough job in front of us when the race started out at 5 AM Wednesday morning in the argentinian capital. Add to this: heavy rain and an unparalleled thunderstorm lasting for 5 hours!

The race itself was actually pretty easy: completely flat, drink station at every mile and the group was in good spirit. The race report covers it all.

Capital City Marathon 2020 - Southern Hemisphere Challenge 2020 - Tor Rønnow
Capital City  Marathon 2020

See or relive the Capital City Marathon (Buenos Aires, Argentina) 2020 here:

Capital City Marathon 2020 – billeder/fotos af Tor Rønnow (Danish)
Capital City Marathon 2020 – pictures by Tor Rønnow (English)
Capital City Marathon 2020 – foto di Tor Rønnow (Italiano)
Capital City Marathon 2020 – beelden van Tor Rønnow (Nederlandse)
Capital City Marathon 2020 – photos de Tor Rønnow (Français)
Capital City Marathon 2020 – fotos del Tor Rønnow (Español)
Capital City Marathon 2020 – bilder von Tor Rønnow (Deutsch)
2020年首都馬拉鬆比賽-TorRønnow的圖片(中文)
首都マラソン2020-TorRønnowの写真(日本語)
Capital City Marathon 2020 – bilder av Tor Rønnow (Svenska)