Machine-translated from Faroese and not yet reviewed. Read the original.
So the first round of the Betri Winter Series is over, and the turnout in Toftir suggests that we are in for another well-attended competition this winter. More than 100 participants took part in this first round, Runt Agnið.
The women’s race was awaited with great anticipation, as neither Rebekka Fuglø nor Rigmor N. Arge was taking part this time. Young Oddvør Josephsen has moved up to the junior women and thus into the open category, but she was not taking part either. Beinta Hoydal Joensen has run extremely well over the marathon distance this past year and was therefore tipped as a possible winner.
But then there was also Súsanna Skylv, whom we have not seen at a running race for years. She represented the Faroe Islands at the Island Games in Åland in 2009 and won the only athletics medal the Faroe Islands won. She did this by finishing second in the 10,000 m in a time of 37:59.33 min. So even though that was a good eight years ago, a classy time like that will always make her one of the favourites in a Faroese running race.
Súsanna came back, saw and conquered, and enjoys the moment of victory on the finish line
It was Súsanna who set off hardest, but early on the climbs Beinta caught her and opened a small gap. Once down on Rituvíkarvegur, Súsanna again had to chase Beinta, who managed to hold on until some way past the roundabout. There Súsanna caught Beinta and ran 18 seconds ahead of her by the time they reached the finish in Toftir.
Ann-Mari av Skarði from Bragdið was some way behind the two leaders, but fairly safe in third place ahead of Astrid Joensen.
The top ten women in the open category:
1. Súsanna Skylv, Hvirlan, 44:25
2. Beinta Hoydal Joensen, Bragdið, 44:43
3. Ann-Mari av Skarði, Bragdið, 47:35
4. Astrid Joensen, Roysnið, 48:12
5. Hallbjørg Danielsen, Roysnið, 48:38
6. Petra Weihe Mikkelsen, Roysnið 50:20
7. Sigrun Kallsoy Kristiansen, Bragdið, 51:48
8. Svanna V. Lutzen, Treysti, 51:52
9. Marita Andrasardóttir, Hvirlan, 51:58
10. Eydna Weihe, Bragdið, 52:01
With Jan Elmari Sørensen on the injury list, the stage was set for a duel between Julian Gregersen from Treysti and Andrias Hansen from Bragdið, with the latter as favourite. Andrias is in very good shape at the moment, and so he should be able to make life hard for the middle-distance runner. And Andrias did just that, breaking away as early as the first climbs. All the way he had more speed than Julian, and at the finish there was a minute and a half between them. Julian was nevertheless safe in second place, a minute ahead of young Gunnar Sivertsen, who stepped onto the senior podium for the first time. It is very pleasing to see Gunnar’s progress.
The top ten men in the open category:
1. Andrias Hansen, Bragdið 37:17
2. Julian Gregersen, Treysti, 38:42
3. Gunnar Sivertsen, Treysti, 39:40
4. Regin Thomsen, Roysnið, 40:46
5. Hjalmar Sjóvará, Bragdið, 40:57
6. Lau Jensen, Roysnið, 41:23
7. Uni Svabo Joensen, Frælsi 41:26
8. Heini Gregersen, Treysti, 42:04
9. Regin Mittún, Bragdið, 42:18
10. Alex Troleis, Roysnið, 42:26
Andrias Hansen carries on where he left off last season, when he won the last Winter Series as well as the Faroese 5,000 m Championships.
The children
To make the race a little more interesting for the children, this time they started 20 minutes after the adults’ start. This meant that they set off roughly when the leading runners came past them. As a result they found themselves racing the adults, and everyone finished more or less at the same time as some of the adults. Whether this was the reason for the good results is hard to say, but these very young runners posted very good times on their five-kilometre course. The results were as follows:
Girls:
1. Anna Katrina Mikkelsen, Roysnið, 20:46
2. Vibeka Eihilt Sivertsen, Treysti, 20:58
DNS Maria Biskopstø, Treysti
Boys:
1. Hans Erland Thomsen, Bragdið, 18:33
2. Ingi Johannesen, Roysnið, 19:30
3. Rúni Samson Vang, Bragdið, 20:22
Hans Erland Thomsen from Bragdið won the boys’ category last year and again this year. (20 min. must be subtracted from the clock)
Anna Katrina Mikkelsen wins the girls’ category, and Regin Thomsen gets his best ever result in the Winter Series by finishing 4th – behind them you can make out Vibeka Sivertsen, who was 2nd among the girls, and Hjalmar Sjóvará, who was 5th in the open category but won the veterans’ category.
Ultra-veterans
As something new, we have started a trial year with so-called ultra-veterans. This is the 65+ age group, or those born in 1952 or earlier. One woman and five men took part in the first race, and history was made when the first ultra-veteran crossed the finish line. Not unexpectedly, this was Jens Weihe from Frælsi, who also managed to beat all the super-veterans!
Jens R. Weihe from Frælsi became the first ultra-veteran ever to finish. It is Rói Herup Olsen (54) who wants to be in the historic photo
And the first female ultra-veteran was (of course) Jóngerð Høgnesen from Bragdið. Celebrating the moment with her are Anna Sofía Kristiansen from Bragdið (66) and Anna Christiansen from Roysnið.
Elisabeth Rasmussen from Bragdið won the women’s super-veterans
John Egholm from Hvirlan won the men’s super-veteran category
All the results can be seen HERE
And photos taken by Helgi Johannesen with Jóannes Poulsen’s camera can be seen HERE
Wolles and Elna from 3-2 got a good account of the race
Mr. Roysnið, Arnfinn Johannesen, and the rest of the Roysnið team did a great job of the organisation, as always
Many new faces were to be seen on Saturday. Here it is Alex Troleis, one of our international FIFA referees. He can do more than just blow the whistle. It earned him a fine 10th place. And nobody shouted at him.
The host club Roysnið has been very active lately, and that showed again in the first race this winter. The colour green was very much in evidence all the way Runt Agnið
The Winter Series is also a good opportunity for athletes from other sports to try their hand. Here it is Island Games cyclist Hilmar Hansen pushing hard across the finish line
Photos
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