Marna – the best Faroese athlete of all time

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

On Sunday 27 September 2015 the Berlin Marathon was run for the 42nd time. As usual, many Faroese took part, but for the first time ever, one of the elite runners was also Faroese. Nobody knew it until afterwards, though. Even if it was expected that Marna would take the Faroese record from Valborg Heinesen (a record that was good enough for bronze at the Danish Championships last year), very few would have expected her to run a good six minutes faster than the record.

But that is what Marna did! Her time was 2:43:15, which placed her 36th of the more than 10,000 women. And these are not just any women who run in Berlin. Elite runners from all over the world gather in Berlin, because it offers the prospect of strong competition on a fast course. It is a good opportunity for many top runners to achieve the qualifying time for the 2016 Olympics. As usual, the Kenyan and Ethiopian women took the top places, but to underline Marna’s strength and achievement, I would point out that only one – JUST ONE – German woman finished ahead of Marna!!

Another way of underlining this achievement is that the result is worth over 1000 IAAF points, by far the highest any Faroese athlete has ever scored in any athletics event at all. If Marna’s result is compared with men’s results, it corresponds to 2 hours and 19 minutes, which is nine minutes faster than Absalon Hansen’s 28-year-old record!!

These and 27,500 other men saw Marna’s back in Berlin

The reason we have not honoured Marna for her achievement here on the site until now is that she had forgotten to attach the chip to her shoe, so she was not recorded at the finish and therefore did not appear in the results list. Afterwards Marna got in touch with the organisers, who have looked into Marna’s race. Fortunately they have photos of her at all the points where split times are taken, every five kilometres.

FÍF has sent an enquiry to DAF and the German organisers to find out whether this achievement can be ratified as a national record, given that no chip time was recorded.

While we wait for the ruling, we give the floor to Marna herself and let her describe the day and this outstanding race:

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Looking back: Berlin 27/9-2015
I never felt sky-high during this year’s Berlin Marathon, even though at times it might have looked that way. Despite everything, it was the best running performance of my relatively short time as an elite athlete. After a race, I usually go back over the course in my head step by step, and I get a feeling of well-being like no other when I finally reach the finish (in my thoughts). There was a particular reason I never felt on top of the world, but fortunately everything came good towards the end.

The Berlin Marathon took place a good two weeks ago. This was the 42nd time the course has been covered, with around 40,000 runners running it every year in recent years. It was also here that Dennis Kimetto set the world record last year with a time of 2:02:57, and where I once again rounded off the summer season, running 6:22 min faster than Valborg Heinesen’s Faroese record of 2:49:37, with a final time of 2:43:15.

Running your best marathon takes time and patience, two things that don’t particularly suit me. Well aware that these are not my greatest strengths, I have worked purposefully and in varied ways to turn these weaknesses into strengths, in running too. It takes time to gain experience, to make the best decisions along the way, to learn to spread your energy as well as possible over such a long distance, and not least to build the stubbornness and endurance, mental as well as physical, that enable me to perform faster, better and stronger despite obstacles along the way. There are lots of balls in the air. That day I caught every one of them, and so once again I managed to make everything come together into a greater whole.

Copenhagen, 26 September 2015
The bag is being packed. It is Saturday morning, 08:55. We leave home at 09:00 and our son isn’t out of bed yet. We have a flex ticket for the ferry from Gedser at 11:15. But if the day is to go smoothly, we need to catch the ferry. It’s going to be tight. Good thing my husband understands how serious it is and knows when to put his heavy foot down on the accelerator. Fortunately there was little or no traffic.

It’s quite something to be able to say I’m on my way to Berlin to run familiar streets. And as safe and cosy as that sounds, I also take it easy. There’s no reason to get unnecessarily stressed. Being able to relax is the biggest part of my preparation for a marathon. Eating a good breakfast in peace and quiet, flicking through Berlingske and Børsen Weekend – and yes, pretending that the day is standing completely still and I have nothing to do.

Arrived in Berlin
It’s no secret that I have been looking forward to this day. It was right here that it all began three years ago, when I ran my “first” marathon in 3:10:38. That is, the first time I had put effort into training, which back then was at times a regular two sessions a week. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in the city centre, a stone’s throw from Potsdamer Platz and Sony Place. From there it is a 10-minute walk to the start area, which matters if you’re worn out after reaching the finish.

A heavenly day – eager, sunshine and fresh legs!
The morning starts at 05:45. I go down to the breakfast table, where I chat with an American couple who are in Berlin for the first time. They both plan to run the course in under 5 hours, and I have great respect for them being able to keep going for all those hours. My very first marathon took 4:00:00, but I don’t think I would have done it again if I hadn’t known I would surely cut a lot off that time. Back up in the room, I put on my Sparta kit. I have decided to run in it to make sure of support all the way. And I would not lack support on the route, from the many Danes who had come to cheer on and encourage the participants to the finish and to do their best.

The start
This time I was in group B. To my left I saw the ponytail of my friend, Rikke Due Andersen, who last year became Danish champion in the marathon. She was among the elite runners who could warm up on a cordoned-off stretch, while the rest of us, who had earned a place fairly near the front, stood packed like sardines waiting for the race to be started.

Clearly, standing there as the only woman so far forward in the field, I feel the thrill of being among some of the best distance runners in the world. The mood was good and we were all excited – you could really feel it.

While I tried to warm up with a few strides, I greeted friends and acquaintances. Quite a few Danes come to Berlin to run on this day. And then to think that after two years as a runner, I am already so far into this sport that I know most of them, or at least we have seen each other before; if not in Berlin then in Tokyo or Copenhagen, on a fallow field in Strib or just in photos.

Despite the missing chip, Marna manages to concentrate 100%

Once I was ready, I ran up to corral B, which was already full of participants. Getting in was a difficult task. But that’s when it’s good to be a woman, small and light. Having got as far forward in corral B as I thought possible, all I could do was wait as the time ticked by. I closed my eyes and asked dear Jesus to be with me and my loved ones and to bring me safely to the finish, when I suddenly realised that the digital chip was missing from my shoe.

Bang! And without remembering what went through my head in those at least 10 minutes before the starting gun, I was carried along by the crowd towards the arch with a clock that showed 00:00:22 as I passed through the first gate.

I set out to keep up with my friend, who I knew was several seconds ahead of me from the start. I decided to watch the crowd, find my rhythm and gradually close in on her. I knew she was aiming to run around 2:40:00, which I in no way expected to manage that day, or at all. But after 2 km, with a split of 3:42, I chose to slow down. I kept in mind the whole time that my strength had to last for the final kilometres to the finish.

After 2 km I had to admit that my thoughts kept going back to the chip lying at home. Is there any point in running when I can’t be sure that my time will be recorded?

I felt how my thoughts were constantly trying to take control of me. That lasted until, at around 22 km, I saw my friend’s back right in front of me. Yes, now the thoughts of quitting were suddenly pushed aside. I could see that she was not in good shape physically at all. Sometimes you need to see your situation in perspective. And here I saw it. I was going around with defeatist thoughts of quitting, while physically I have never been in better shape – while my companion was buckling physically. I take this as a sign, and I know I rarely meet a more stubborn person than myself. I would only end the day with a DNF if I was carried off on a stretcher.

I might have been able to work better with my pace and speed, as well as my movement, if my thoughts had not been getting in the way. But all in all, this race taught me a great deal about myself, and it still stands very strongly as a milestone in my life as a runner so far.

I reach the 35 km marker and look at the time. Yes indeed, I am still running at exactly the same pace. But now it is all about keeping a cool head and keeping the pace up, listening carefully to my body. Without feeling the slightest sign that my strength is giving out. I am now running with a Swede and an Italian, who are both fading. I have been tucked in behind them for the last 3–4 km, so now it must be my turn to play. I move past them at around 37 km, and they can’t go with me. I had escaped the strong headwind on the course, and only moved to the front when the wind was right at my back.

The final stretch to the finish was run at breakneck speed

I have to admit I have never felt so good so late in a race, neither in a marathon nor over any shorter distance – a finishing sprint of a different kind. I overtook everything in front of me and passed at least 3–4 women on this stretch. I kept speeding up and ran the last kilometre before the finish at an average speed of 16.3 km/h.

I saw the Brandenburger Tor. The columns rising out of the concrete, and I knew there were now 200 metres to the finish. I closed my eyes and fought to raise the pace even more over the last metres. Once over the finish line, I was far from spent. A handshake for myself, a thank-you to the Lord for his protection, and a new personal best in the bag. My best time on this course and over the marathon distance as a whole. My best time on this course before that day was 2:52:00 (2014). So I cut 8 minutes and 45 seconds off my best time.

The time gave me 36th place overall, 23rd European – the field was strong this year.

And finally, on 2 October 2015, the time has been registered.

I don’t feel the same as the first time I ran Berlin, though. I’m not ready to sign up again for next year, when I would have the chance to be in the elite group – with a low bib number and “elite” on my chest.

But who knows, maybe I’ll be standing at the Brandenburger Tor again in a year. Next time with the chip in my shoe.

A big thank-you to Mikatiming.

Here is the results list: http://results.scc-events.com/2015/?pid=list

/Marna

A medal and a well-deserved beer after a huge effort

 

 

Photos