Nine personal bests in nine races

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

The running went exceptionally well on the first day of VU Spelen. The 600 and 800 metres were on the programme, and the day ended with a 3000 metres for Valborg. Maria Biskopstø was the first of ours on the track, in the 600 m. She had ended up in the B final for girls aged 12. It was full speed from the very first step and a hard-fought race all the way. She finished fifth in 1:51.38, a personal best by about three seconds. Overall, Maria finished 15th.

Maria Biskopstø Oddvør Josephsen

In the girls aged 13 we had Oddvør Josephesen and Elisabet Holm Simonsen. Oddvør was in the strong A final, where she really got a taste of what top-level running is like. In the first 10-15 metres she was hit by two unfair tackles, and after that she was at the back. From there she battled with all her might to work her way forward, but had to settle for second-to-last place, even though she ran her best outdoor time. Overall, she finished 12th. Elisabet ran in the B final, where she ran the first 400 metres at the back. But with a very good finishing sprint she worked her way up to the middle of the field, and her time of 1:50.22 min was enough for a new personal best.

Elisabet H. Simonsen

Pauli Høj and Andreas B. Antoft competed in the boys aged 12 600 m, Pauli in the A final and Andreas in the B final. In a very strong race, Pauli fought and battled his way to sixth place. With a time of 1:44.37 min, Pauli managed to cut three seconds off his best time. Andreas’s heat was also close, and many ran together right up to 400 m. Andreas was fairly far back at that point, but with a blistering finishing sprint he passed everyone but one. Overall, Andreas finished 10th, and his time – 1:46.48 – is by far the best he has ever run.

Pauli Høj Andreas B. Antoft

Then the 800 m was on the programme, and Steingrímur Hallsson was to compete in the C final for boys aged 16-17. The first lap was a little faster than planned, but this did not do much harm. The race was close all the way, and right up to the finish there was someone to chase. Steingrímur’s time stopped at 2:03.36 min, which was good enough for 25th place overall and a personal best by about three seconds.

Steingrímur Hallsson

We also had two strong cards in the 800 m for girls aged 15. Katarina, who won bronze in G14 last year, was again seeded into the A final this year. Here she was also part of the battle for the medals, but in the end had to settle for fifth place. Her time was 2:17.61 – a few 1/10 of a second better than her time last year, when she set a Faroese record, which, however, only stood for 24 hours.

Katarina Høj

Karin Holm Simonsen has made huge progress this winter and spring, and has greatly improved her results over the short distances. And today came the breakthrough in the 800 m, when she won the B final convincingly. With her excellent time of 2:23.01 min she also beat most of the runners in the A final, and finished 7th overall! Karin improved her personal best by 4-5 seconds!!

Karin H. Simonsen

Our last runner on the track this evening was Valborg Heinesen, who was trying the 3000 metres for the first time. The shortest distance she has otherwise raced on the track is 10,000 m. No fewer than 22 runners were sent off at the same time. Valborg ended up fairly far back in a big field. After a good half of the distance she began to push her way further forward, and at the finish she was ninth in a time of 10:21.24 min., which is an excellent result at the first attempt.

Valborg Heinesen

So we got nine personal bests in nine races on Friday. The competition continues on Saturday, when our sprinters will also be in action.