Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
Last weekend Rebekka Fuglø became a double Danish champion and Marnar Djurhuus won bronze at the Danish Youth Championships in Odense. This weekend the Danish Veterans’ Championships were held in Hvidovre, and once again Faroese athletes made their mark.
Both Guttorm Sørensen and Borgarhjørt Holm can now call themselves Danish veterans’ champions. On Saturday Guttorm ran the 1,500 metres. In a very exciting sprint finish he managed to hold off the others and won gold in 4:23.55 min. On Sunday Guttorm ran the 5,000 metres, but here there was one opponent he could do nothing about. Once again, though, he won an exciting sprint finish and took the silver medal in 17:02.06 min. Guttorm competes in the 40–44 age group.
Guttorm Sørensen in the green Vejle kit. As we know him: lurking, waiting for others to show weakness.
Borgarhjørt Holm also ran well over the weekend. Borgarhjørt, who lives in Ribe, runs in the 45–49 age group and was a clear winner over 5,000 metres. Her time was 20:20.49 min. So we now had two Faroese Danish champions!
Borgarhjørt Holm, gold in the 5,000 metres, and Guttorm Sørensen, gold in the 1,500 m and silver in the 5,000 m! There truly is grit in the Faroese!
And that’s not all. On Sunday Evald við Garð, from Kollafjørður, was also on the track, competing in the 800 metres in the 35–39 age group. Evald comfortably secured the silver medal in a time of 2:09.48 min. Borgar Biskopstø also wanted a medal. With an excellent time of 4:35.70 min. in the 1,500 m on Saturday, he comfortably took the bronze medal. Borgar, who runs in the 45–49 age group, raced again on Sunday. Although he ran fast, the competition was tough, and with a time of 17:26.77 min. Borgar finished 5th. It should be added that next year Borgar moves up an age group, so he will be competing against the 50–54-year-olds.
Evald við Garð, left, won silver in the 35–39 age group
In that very age group there was another well-known man, albeit only an “almost-Faroese” one: Bent Povlsen, whom we have so often seen racing at Ólavsøka. Even at 51 he still has plenty of pace. He won gold in a time of 17:02.18 min
Bent Povlsen in red and Borgar Biskopstø in the 5,000 metres.
There are many other strong veteran runners in the Faroe Islands who could easily make their mark at veterans’ competitions abroad. And age is no barrier to taking part. The oldest participant was 85, and he ran the 200 metres in 51.99 seconds. There was also a 76-year-old who ran the 5,000 m in 21:49!!
The results from the Danish Veterans’ Championships can be found at the link below. Perhaps some Faroese veterans will catch the bug?
http://www.dansk-atletik.dk/da/Resultater/2011/09/03%20vdm.aspx
