Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
Today the H.C. Andersen Marathon was held in Odense. Among the more than 4,000 runners was the Faroese Valborg Heinesen, who, representing Sparta, took part in the race for the Danish Championships. Before the race it was clear that four runners were better than Valborg on paper, but the margin was fairly small, and a lot can happen over a marathon distance, so there were hopes of a Danish Championship medal, even though Dansk Atletikforbund did not name Valborg as one of the medal contenders.
And it was exactly those four who pulled away from Valborg quite early on. At 10 km they were already a good two minutes ahead, but Valborg stuck precisely to the plan she had decided on beforehand. At 30 kilometres she had moved up to fourth place and was still holding an even pace, perhaps even a touch faster, while the others’ kilometre splits got slower. By 40 km she had also overtaken Dorthe Dahl and was now in third place. From there she raised the pace, while those ahead of her slowed down.
Valborg with the bronze crown and a bouquet of flowers after her superb performance
The bronze was secured comfortably, but she was only 25 seconds behind Lone Balling in second place. Valborg was by far the fastest over the last 12 km and closed in on the winner by a full two minutes. The winner was Rikke Due-Andersen, who on the day improved her personal best by 5 minutes. At the finish she was only 2:54 ahead of Valborg and was “completely spent”. There is little doubt that Valborg still has a lot more in her; with today’s result she has the fourth-best Danish time overall in 2014! The fast pace towards the end also meant that Valborg took the Faroese record over the marathon distance. The old record was held by Joan Bláfoss (2:50:27). Valborg’s time was 2:49:37.
Warm congratulations on the achievement, Valborg!
A cracking time for Marna too
Valborg was not the only one to run fast today. Down in Berlin, more than 40 Faroese took part in the big marathon there, and among them was the new Faroese rising star Marna Egholm, who trains with Sparta in Copenhagen. Marna won the Ólavsøka Run by a wide margin and has since also had very good results in races in Denmark, so it was exciting to see what she would manage in her very first marathon.
And her result was nothing short of fantastic. Like Valborg, Marna ran very evenly and with great discipline. Indeed, like a seasoned marathon veteran. And it would pay off! Out of a total of 7,000 women, Marna finished in an incredible 20th place! And that is counting all the Africans. Only seven women from Europe were ahead of Marna, and that says quite a lot! Marna’s time was 2:52:00!! Warm congratulations on the result to you too, Marna!
In Marna Egholm, the Faroe Islands have yet another trump card in distance running. She finished 20th in the Berlin Marathon!!
Pól completes the Spartathlon
In Greece, too, Faroese athletes have achieved great things this weekend. On Friday morning at five o’clock, this year’s Spartathlon started, and among the runners was Pól Sundskar, who also attempted this race last year. On that occasion it was extremely hot, and Pól stopped after 80 of the total 246 kilometres, which must be completed within 36 hours.
During the day they run in scorching heat, but at night they ran at an altitude of 1,100 metres, where it is freezing cold. Yes, the challenges are many and tough, and not least long, but at the very last moment Pól reached the finish and is thus the first Faroese to complete the Spartathlon, one of the world’s toughest ultramarathon races. Congratulations on the achievement, Pól!
