Marnar Djurhuus wins his first senior Faroese title in his first half marathon!

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

Almost calm and mild, while the sun tried without success to push its way through the cloud cover. These perfect running conditions, together with the road Yviri við Strond, so well known in running circles, formed the setting for the Faroese Half Marathon Championships, where no fewer than 55 runners had lined up.

The start

This was also the last chance for our distance runners to beat the qualification standards for the Island Games and so earn a seat on the Island Games flight to the Isle of Wight on 25 June. Marnar Djurhuus has already secured his ticket, while Guttorm Sørensen and Sam Vang were trying for this final chance. These three were also the ones who fairly quickly took the lead in the race, with the veterans Henry Olsen and Borgar Biskopstø a little way behind.

Marnar, Gutti and Sam lead here as they round Café Natúr for the second time

At 10 km the three leaders were a little under 36 minutes. That is a good pace, but still a touch too slow to make the qualification standard. And now Guttorm also began to fall back, so the question for the Faroese title was whether Marnar’s young debutant legs would manage the long second half against Sam, who seemed in better shape than he had been for a long time.

The two leaders kept up the high pace and were also level right up to the last 100-200 metres. But although Sam is quick, Marnar managed to break away from him and so ran to the finish to win his first senior Faroese title in his first ever half marathon. Marnar’s time was 1:15:13, which has to be called an exceptionally good time for a debutant! Sam, who came in seven seconds later, also ran his best ever time, but unfortunately fell just under a minute short of the Island Games standard.

Guttorm Sørensen had one of his bad days, and in the second half he lost two minutes on the leaders. He did, however, manage to hold on to third place, finishing in a time of 1:17:12.

Henry ran well and set a personal best over the distance

The veteran Henry Olsen has run well this winter and spring. He was not far behind the leaders, and when he saw Guttorm struggling at the front, he had something to run for. He did close in somewhat, but not enough to make the battle for bronze exciting. He did, however, get a fine personal best with a time of 1:17:25 and so won the Faroese title in the veterans’ category. Borgar Biskopstø also ran well on Saturday. With a time of 1:19:57 he won silver among the veterans, while also finishing 5th overall. It was a familiar face of old who took the bronze. Hjalti Gunnarstein was the third veteran, with a time of 1:27:13.

The women’s race was rather hard to call beforehand. Astrid Joensen and Gunnhild Helmsdal, who did well in the Winter Series, and Dagmar Johannesen, who finished 3rd on Flag Day, were among the candidates for the Faroese title. It turned into an exciting race. At first Dagmar was in front, but she ran into trouble early on. Astrid then took the lead for a while until Gunnhild finally moved to the front. And throughout the whole race Margreta Knudsen worked her way further and further forward, so far, in fact, that she was only a short 100 metres from catching Gunnhild, who nevertheless held on to the lead and so became Faroese champion in a time of 1:44:50. Margreta won silver in 1:45:10 and Astrid Joensen won the bronze in 1:46:55.

Margreta became Faroese champion among the women veterans. Morid Jacobsen, who was also right up near the front in the open category, finished 2nd in a time of 1:48:59 and Karin K. Petersen finished 3rd in a time of 1:54:01.

Óli always runs well and once again won the super-veteran category

As usual, the super-veterans gave it everything. The men came in to the finish dripping with effort, but the order was the same as it has been recently. At the moment it is hard to see anyone who can knock Óli Olsen off his perch. He won the Faroese title among the super-veterans in a time of 1:28:58. Jens Weihe finished 2nd in a time of 1:40:55 and 3rd was Gunnar Simonsen in a time of 1.4305. Jóannes Ortind was unlucky enough to fall during the race and injure his face. That did not make him lose heart, though. But he was not a pretty sight when he reached the finish. On the results list he will be placed 4th, but he certainly showed that he is a winner!

After the race there was coffee, cake and hot soup on the premises of Trygd, where the medals and trophies were also presented. It is always nice to sit down together after a race for a friendly chat.

All the results from the half marathon can be found in the .pdf here: FM ½-Marathon 2011

The leading women from left: Astrid Joensen (3), Gunnhild Helmsdal (1) and Margreta Knudsen (2)

The leading women veterans from left: Morid Jacobsen (2), Margreta Knudsen (1) and Karin K. Petersen (3)

The leading super-veterans from left: Jens R. Weihe (2), Óli Olsen (1) and Gunnar Simonsen (3)

The leading men veterans from left: Borgar Biskopstø (2), Henry Olsen (1) and Hjalti Gunnarstein (3)

The leading men from left: Sam Vang (2), Marnar Djurhuus (1) and Guttorm Sørensen (3)

The photos from the race were taken by Árni Jacobsen and the photos from the medal ceremony were taken by Guttorm Sørensen.