A battle of queens and a record hunt

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

Tórshavn Marathon is not just Tórshavn Marathon. It is also the day when the Faroese marathon champions are decided. Although this year’s Tórshavn Marathon has a record number of participants, this is not reflected in the number of Faroese runners who are running the full marathon and are therefore competing for the Faroese title. Faroese runners run a great many marathons abroad, and that is a big part of the reason why so few are taking part in the Faroese Championships.

Close to 600 will take part in the marathon, the half marathon and the half marathon race walk. But of this large field, only six women and 19 men are competing for the Faroese marathon title. Only members of Faroese clubs can compete for the Faroese Championships title.

In the women’s race there will be drama galore. Ann Thomsen and Krista Nielsen of Bragdið, who have just run the Hamburg Marathon, are the favourites, while Astrid Joensen is also tipped for a place on the podium. Ann and Krista both ran close to their very best in Hamburg, where only two minutes separated them, with Krista the faster. So the two of them will be the queens of this marathon field. It will be interesting to see whether some of the foreign runners also get involved in the race. That could well happen. Rigmor N. Arge, who has won Tórshavn Marathon several times and is also the reigning Faroese champion, is currently in Sweden, where she will run the Stockholm Marathon on Sunday.

These four running friends have tackled many a steep climb together. Ann Thomsen and Krista Nielsen, furthest to the left, are now the biggest favourites for the Faroese marathon title.

In the men’s race, Eirikur Hansen is the favourite. This is despite Martin Gravesen taking part, and he has also shown good form recently. But what Eirikur showed at the Faroese Half Marathon Championships in Klaksvík recently makes him the clear favourite. And not only that. Cecil Weihe’s course record is under threat and is hanging by a thread. If Eirikur really has a good day, he could run under 2:45, which is four minutes faster than the current course record.

1:15:11 at the Faroese Half Marathon Championships in Klaksvík recently makes Eirikur Hansen the favourite for the Faroese title. Can he take both the Faroese title and the course record?

Cecil Weihe is also taking part, and while Martin Gravesen will probably be the one who pushes Eirikur hardest, it will probably be Cecil who pushes Martin hardest. But hot on their heels come the strong runners Niels Poulsen, Lau Jensen, and also Pauli Johannesen and Uni Svabo Joensen. 42 kilometres is a long distance, and with all the hills, anything can happen. Now we are just waiting out the final hours until the new Faroese champions are decided.

The start lists look like this. If anyone is missing from the list, they are asked to inform the organisers before the race starts. This can be done, for example, by phoning Hall Holm (the undersigned) on tel. 228 338

Bib no.	Name	Club	Year of birth
7116	Asta Hubeck-Graudal	Bragdið
7111	Anja Perdomo	Bragdið	1970
7098	Astrid Joensen	Roysnið	1967
7150	Ann Thomsen	Bragdið	1966
7113	Elisa Nielsen	Bragdið	1965
7018	Krista Nielsen	Bragdið	1965
Bib no.	Name	Club	Year of birth
7014	Bogi H. Højgaard	Bragdið
7109	Eirikur Hansen	Bragdið	1980
7135	Anton Højgaard	Roysnið	1977
7102	Jóhan Heiðrikur Mouritsen	Roysnið	1974
7129	Pauli Johannesen	Bragdið	1974
7107	Herluf Hansen	Bragdið	1973
7104	Rúni Simonsen	Bragdið	1973
7118	Lau Jensen	Roysnið	1972
7108	Niels Poulsen	Bragdið	1972
7016	Dan Kruse Thomsen	Bragdið	1970
7117	Uni Svabo Joensen	Frælsi	1969
7128	Martin Gravesen	Bragdið	1967
7091	Helgi Johannessen	Roysnið	1967
7132	Sofus Poulsen	Frælsi	1965
7090	Cecil Weihe	Bragdið	1965
7112	Paul Kragesteen	Bragdið	1964
7122	Christian Olsen	Bragdið	1962
7125	Páll Højgaard Vesturbú	Hvirlan	1961
7015	Hans Birgir Hansen	Bragdið	1949