Results from Runt Agnið, 14 November

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

So the Winter Series 2009/10 is under way! On Saturday there was a record turnout as Roysnið and Treysti organised the first round. The race was “Runt Agnið”, and let it be said straight away that it turned out to be a tough outing for most.

Before the start outside Tofta Skúli

Although the forecast had promised decent weather for the race, it came down in torrential rain shortly after the starting gun was fired. The young runners, who ran 5 km that day, did however get off fairly lightly. Whether that was because they saw the rain coming is hard to say, but in any case the youngsters’ times were excellent that day. All 5 boys finished under 20 minutes. Rúni Seloy ran under 17 minutes for the first time, and 14-year-old Marnar Djurhuus in second place ran 17:29 in his first ever race! Surely a name we will be hearing a lot more of in future. In third place came Regin Joensen, who, despite having just been struggling with an injury, managed with his 18:58 to knock a whole minute off his time from last year. Fridleivur Joensen and Hans Jacobsen also came in well under 20 minutes!

In the girls’ race we were treated to a sprint finish, as Dagmar Johannesen and Elsa Berg crossed the line together, with the former taking the win. Although both of them prefer running shorter distances and sprinting, they recorded good times. The same can be said for Hildur Poulsen in 3rd place and Jónfríð Hansen in fourth.

While the young runners’ times were very good, the same cannot be said for the adults’ times. The bad weather held them back far too much for that. Although the returning Guttorm Sørensen ran over 40 minutes for the first time, it was enough for a comfortable win. Eirikur Hansen, who won silver at the Faroese Marathon Championships in September, appears to have kept his form and was a clear number two. In third place came veteran Borgar Biskopstø, who thereby also won the veterans’ race. Here Josvein H. Olsen was second and Dan Knudsen third. Among the super-veterans, Jens Weihe won ahead of Gunnar Simonsen and Jóannes Ortind.

In the women’s race it was, as so often before, Bjørk Herup Olsen who was well out in front. Behind her came Helga Súsanna Johansen and Rebekka Fuglø. In the women’s veterans’ race Ella Áarstein was first. Second was Susan Jacobsen and 3rd Rosa Jakobsen.

Meinar Ortind won the men’s junior race, while Bjørk Herup Olsen won the women’s junior race. Here Rebekka Fuglø was 2nd.

That more and more people have discovered the joy and benefit of running is nothing new. It is pleasing, though, that this shows so clearly in the races that are organised. Hopefully the bad weather hasn’t scared anyone off, because we should ideally have just as big a turnout when the second round of the Winter Series takes place in Tórshavn on 5 December!

All the results can be found as a PDF here