Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
In two weeks the Nordic Cross-Country Championships will be held in Reykjavík. As is well known, Faroese athletes have earned the right to compete at championships of this kind under the Faroese flag. The standard is naturally very high compared with Faroese competitions, so we don’t always take up the offer. Only once before have we had a participant at the Nordic Championships. That was in 2012, when Bjørk Herup Olsen ran the classic Nordic Challenge – NM 10,000 m – at Østerbro Stadion in Copenhagen.
At the Island Games in Bermuda, Valborg Heinesen had a real breakthrough, not just among runners but across the whole Faroese sporting world. Never before had a Faroese woman won gold in athletics at the Island Games, but that didn’t faze Valborg. She swept both the 10,000 m and the half marathon, winning fairly comfortably in both. And it is hardly an exaggeration to say that she would also have taken gold in the 5,000 m, had she run that distance too.
Valborg Heinesen crosses the finish line smiling as the 10,000 metres gold medallist at the Island Games in Bermuda
Recently Valborg ran her first 5,000 m on the track. This was at a competition in Poland, where she finished second. Valborg wasn’t entirely happy with the race, but even so her time was a good 17:49.10 min. Valborg otherwise expects to get well down towards 17:00 very soon.
Yesterday the Danish Winter Series got under way. The first round was a cross-country race at Hindsgavl Slot in Middelfart. This was naturally a welcome chance for Valborg to try a cross-country race before her big international challenge in Reykjavík. The entire Danish elite gathers for the Danish Winter Series, so Valborg could expect a very tough battle with the many strong women now found in Danish running. With an average pace of 4:00 min per km over the 6.6 km on the tough route, Valborg finished in a fine 9th place. Valborg represents the largest and strongest athletics club in Denmark, Sparta of Copenhagen, and sure enough she was also the best Sparta runner on the day. Together with two teammates she finished third in the team competition.
Valborg in the cross-country race yesterday.
The course to be run in Reykjavík is somewhat longer than the one run in Middelfart yesterday. This will no doubt also be an advantage for Valborg, whose strength lies in the longer distances. It will certainly be exciting to follow. FÍF wishes Valborg the best of luck in the competition.
