Bjørk and Marna win the first Faroese medal

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

Marna Egholm and Bjørk Herup Olsen just after the medal ceremony at F. B. Fields

It turned into a dramatic day for the Faroese runners when the first event of the Island Games, the ½ marathon, was on the programme. Although Valborg Heinesen is sitting at home with an injury, the team was still very strong with Marna Egholm and Bjørk Herup Olsen. Bjørk was not meant to run the ½ marathon, but Valborg’s withdrawal meant that Bjørk was put on this team, which was tipped to have a good chance of winning gold.

And for a long time it looked that way too. Two gold medals were as good as in the bag. Marna was in the lead and Bjørk in sixth. Everything went exactly to plan. Then Marna ran into serious problems with stomach cramps and also a slight touch of heatstroke. Marna did get back on her feet, though, and got her legs moving again. The lead was gone, however, and some 14 women were now ahead of her. One of them was Bjørk Herup Olsen, who, without any ½ marathon training, still held firm, did her job and crossed the line in fifth place in a time of 1:24:42.

Things also began to go well for Marna. She overtook one runner after another, and in the end she still finished up in 9th place. Her time was 1:28.

Marna still in the lead after 13 km – a little later she came to a complete stop.

But nobody knew what position Marna had finished in. Nor did anyone know the order of all the other runners. So it was very uncertain whether the Faroese team had run well enough to earn a medal. There was therefore great joy and emotion when word came that the bronze had been saved after all.

Bjørk ran very well today, and with her fifth place the Faroe Islands managed to win bronze in the team competition. Here the drinks helper from Hvannasund refreshes Bjørk with water.

Although it is hard to get away from the fact that this was a disappointment, we in the squad are delighted that we still managed to win the bronze in the team competition. We are pleased with and proud of our runners for battling so well today. Bjørk without any mileage training and Marna with heatstroke – yes, then it is an achievement in itself to win a medal among all the strong runners who raced in Jersey today.

The Faroese women are not finished yet, though. They both have two events left. On Tuesday evening Bjørk runs the 3,000 m steeplechase and on Wednesday evening Marna runs the 10,000 m. On Friday they both run the 5,000 m.

Position	Bib	Competitor	Island	Result
1st	49	Kim Baglietto	GIB	1:21:35
2nd	138	Hannah Howard	IOM	1:22:45
3rd	110	Louise Perrio	GUE	1:23:21
4th	152	Laura Brackley	IOW	1:23:41
5th	45	Bjørk Herup Olsen	FAR	1:24:42
6th	169	Andrea Banks	JER	1:26:10
7th	129	Nikki Boyde	IOM	1:26:14
8th	149	Rachael Tewkesbury	IOM	1:26:32
9th	42	Marna Leila Vandsdal Egholm	FAR	1:27:56
10th	14	Deon Breary	BER	1:28:46
11th	183	Jane Grace	JER	1:28:52
12th	56	Allison Edwards	GIB	1:30:21
13th	20	Rose-Anna Mc Shane-Hoey	BER	1:30:55
14th	206	Sylvia Thompson	JER	1:31:34
15th	18	Victoria Fiddick	BER	1:32:32
16th	164	Sarah Kavanagh	IOW	1:32:47
17th	310	Sarah Livett	YSM	1:32:50
18th	274	Alanna Goddard	WES	1:32:52
19th	39	Caroline Drew	FAL	1:35:49
20th	92	Chantal Green	GUE	1:37:28
21st	165	Julie King	IOW	1:37:30
22nd	278	Morina Macdougall	WES	1:42:29
23rd	38	Teslyn Barkman	FAL	1:43:59
24th	279	Sarah Louise MacIsaac	WES	1:51:34
25th	48	Sara Eline Gaasø	FRO	1:54:20
DNF	246	Charlotte Black	SHE
DNF	97	Rebecca Le Maitre	GUE

 

 

Position	Team	Members	Result
1st	Isle of Man	Nikki BoydeHannah HowardRachael Tewkesbury	9
2nd	Gibraltar	Kim BagliettoAllison Edwards	13
3rd	Faroe Islands	Marna Leila Vandsdal EgholmBjørk Herup Olsen	14
4th	Jersey	Andrea BanksJane GraceSylvia Thompson	17
5th	Isle of Wight	Laura BrackleySarah KavanaghJulie King	20
6th	Bermuda	Deon BrearyVictoria FiddickRose-Anna Mc Shane-Hoey	23
6th	Guernsey	Chantal GreenRebecca Le MaitreLouise Perrio	23
8th	Western Isles	Alanna GoddardMorina MacdougallSarah Louise MacIsaac	40
9th	Falkland Islands	Teslyn BarkmanCaroline Drew	42