High tension in the Winter Series

Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.

The 4th and penultimate round of the Winter Series was run in Hvannasund this morning. Conditions for running were decent: showery weather, a light breeze and 7 degrees. Nothing to frighten a runner. 33 runners lined up down on the shore, where the start of the 10 kilometres was.

Guttorm Sørensen set off at a terrific pace and went straight into a safe lead. Regin Zachariassen, Jan Elmar Sørensen and Sam Vang tried to catch him, while Eirikur and Borgar lost contact rather early. Guttorm’s hard opening took its toll, and the pace dropped somewhat. Regin saw this and tried to reel Guttorm back in, while at the same time pulling away from Jan Elmar and Sam. It was clear that Sam was struggling over the first 6-7 kilometres, and now he could not keep up with Jan Elmar either. But suddenly Sam came to life, and the race was exciting again. He caught Jan Elmar and went after Regin. Now it was Jan Elmar who had to let go. With one kilometre left, Sam had also passed Regin, and he had pulled a hard-working Jan Elmar up alongside Regin. That was how things stood going into the last kilometre. Sam was now chasing Guttorm, who still had a fairly safe lead, and Jan Elmar and Regin were dead level.

It turned out, however, that the ground Sam had lost was too much to make up, and so Guttorm could cross the line first, 18 seconds ahead of Sam, who had 10 seconds to spare over 3rd place. That was decided in a sprint, where age no doubt made the difference, as 17-year-old Jan Elmar pulled away from 48-year-old Regin.

The women’s race also started hard. The question of whether Súsanna Skylv Sørensen could give Bjørk Herup Olsen serious competition was answered early. Bjørk shot off like the wind, and all the way round she extended her lead over Súsanna. Rannvá Djurholm came third. Both Súsanna and Rannvá are expected to give Bjørk more of a fight later on. Rannvá has long been hampered by an injury, while Súsanna has just returned from a skiing trip.

The men’s veteran race was won by Regin Zachariassen. In the next places came the two Klaksvík runners Borgar Biskopstø and Pól Sundskarð. Jens Weihe from Sørvágur, of Frælsi, was a clear winner among the super veterans. Here Steindor Hjaltalin was 2nd and debutant Gunnar Simonsen from Norðdepil was 3rd. Eyð Matras of Treysti was the only participant in the women’s veteran category, and was rewarded with a gold crown.

The boys’ category was won by Rúni Seloy, well ahead of Regin Joensen and Hans Jacobsen, who on the other hand were fairly even. Regin was, however, 12 seconds ahead. All three represent Bragdið. Rebekka Fuglø of Treysti won the girls’ category ahead of Hildur Poulsen of Bragdið.

The 5th and final round of the Winter Series will be run on the fast 10 km route in Runavík on 28 March. Although several categories already have their overall winner, there is high tension in the men’s open category. Here a real thriller is in store between Sam Vang of Bragdið and Guttorm Sørensen of Treysti. The better man on the day will also be the overall winner of the 2008/9 Winter Series.

All of today’s results can be found here and the overall standings are here.