Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
Valborg Heinesen represented the Faroe Islands today at the Nordic Cross-Country Championships. The competition took place at the sports grounds in Laugardalur in Reykjavík in the finest winter weather: zero degrees, little wind, and the sun peeking out now and then. And the opposition was very, very strong. Only the very best from the other Nordic countries took part: 5 Danes, 3 Swedes, 3 Norwegians, 5 Icelanders and one Faroese. The race was 5 laps of one and a half kilometres, 7.5 km in total.
In races like this there are rarely any tactics. The runners go flat out from start to finish, and so it was in this race too. Already after the first lap the field had split up in many places. Our Valborg was in 12th place, ahead of all five Icelandic women and some 50 metres behind Nanne Bagger of Denmark, who 14 days ago beat Valborg in a cross-country race in Middelfart. After the second lap the situation was almost the same. Valborg was now well ahead of four of the Icelanders, while the remaining one was the same distance back. The gap between Valborg and the Dane Bagger had not grown, if anything the opposite, and hopes began to rise that Valborg would catch the Dane.
Our photographer’s pictures didn’t turn out very well, but here is a borrowed photo from Deca Text & Bild. Here Valborg is closing in on the Dane Nanne Bagger.
And when they came round for the third time, Valborg had run right up to the Danish girl. Valborg was unsure whether to surge past straight away or wait a moment and gather her strength. There was no longer any threat from behind, so things looked good. Throughout the penultimate lap Valborg stayed in her shadow, getting ready for the finale. Going out on the last lap she raised the pace a little. The Danish girl now seemed somewhat refreshed and kept up well. Throughout the last lap they took turns trying to break away from each other, but both were equally stubborn. Not until the final downhill towards the bend, 50 metres from the finish, did Nanne Bagger manage to get a few metres clear of Valborg. And when they went round the bend it was too much to close. In the end Valborg finished in 12th place in 27:39 min – 4 seconds behind Nanne Bagger in 11th place. Valborg was on the whole very pleased with the race, but promised with clenched fists that next time it wouldn’t only be Icelanders behind her.
The winner was Charlotte Fougberg of Sweden in 25:41 min, 2nd was Inger Liv Nielsen, NOR, 25:43, and 3rd was Simone Glad of Denmark in 25:51 min. In the men’s race the Dane Abdi Hakim Ulad regained his Nordic title with a sprint victory over the Norwegian champion Ørjan Grønnevig. Third was the Dane Michael Nielsen.
The Nordic Cross-Country Championships are a superb opportunity for our very best to test themselves. A junior race is also part of the event, with an age limit of 20. Hopefully the number of Faroese at this competition can grow somewhat in the coming years, and it would be great if one day we could also take part in the team competition.
Poor photo of the results list. It will otherwise be published at www.fri.is – a link will be added here later.
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