Marathon Archives — Page 27 of 48

Ecco BIOM B

By Tor Rønnow on Sunday, July 31, 2011

A few weeks back I had the pleasure to “win” a pair of Ecco BIOM B running shoes. They arrived this week and I took them on a 5 k run immeadiately. My gosh ! This was for sure the best ever first-time run in ANY pair of shoes. The shoes are build from yak leather and are crafted to support Natural Running, read more on the Ecco website. They have a very comfortable fit and the heel is rounded to avoid the “break” of the traditional running shoe. Just looking at the shoes is a different and intriguing experience, try for yourself below.

A rather detailed training plan is supplied with the shoes…

… however, I was to thrilled by their unique fit as to dare a full marathon in them in my run no. 2 in them, probably not something everyone should do, and I was really excited to see what that would bring ? Thus, yesterday, I completed a full marathon in my new Ecco BIOM B shoes and lets put it short: it was AWESOME !!!

It is quite clear to me that this is the shoes that I have been needing for far too long… and this is the shoes that I will use in my attempt in October 2011 to run sub 3.45 in Amsterdam Marathon. I will update my blog here with my experiences with these Ecco BIOM B shoes and will describe the shoes in more detail later as well.

For now, I send my kindest of thoughts to the World Runner Jesper Kenn Olsen who made this possible for me. Jesper is currently in the middle of his World Run II, running also in the BIOMs.

Marathon

Turning 25 again – 225.

By Tor Rønnow on Sunday, July 24, 2011

Turning 25 is always nice, today I did it again for the 9th time, marathonwise. The event was a small local race near Copenhagen and I had the pleasure of the company of Birgitte Munch Nielsen for a good part of the run, Birgitte being the most experienced female marathoneer in Danmark. Sadly, however, my out-of-form showed rather early and I had to struggle quite a bit to secure the race. Thus, my 25-list looks like this now:

25 27.08.2006 Landskrona (Sweden) Pictures
50 30.06.2007 Kristianopel (Sweden) Pictures
75 20.04.2008 Zürich (Switerzerland) Pictures
100 02.11.2008 Skovmaren (Denmark) Pictures
125 26.04.2009 London (England) Pictures
150 19.09.2009 Vänersborg (Sweden) Pictures
175 21.03.2010 Rome (Italy) Pictures
200 22.08.2010 Blokhus (Denmark) Pictures
225 24.07.2011 Skinnermarathon (Denmark) Pictures

The historical note to this weekend is of course related to the sad events in Norway and the loss of Amy Winehouse. In a larger context running marathons (as I do it) is merely like kids playing, a luxury in an often harsh and brutal world. My respect to the victims and to Amy.

Marathon Spirituality

A Few Good Men (and Runners)

By Tor Rønnow on Friday, July 8, 2011

Just watching a good “old” movie from my youth, A Few Good Men, staring Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore amongst others. Great stuff ! One of the touching points in the movie is the concept of a “code” that the Marines adhere to and the strong bonds and rules that connect the Soldiers for good and for worse.

Actually, I grew up in a kind of similar way, namely on a boarding school. There, we also had different kinds of “punishments” and we had a “code”. We were a unit. It took me many years to put these years of my childhood behind me and I missed the unique feeling of a “unit”. In recent years Im beginning to pick up on these old mates e.g. via Facebook… and I strongly feel that we somehow still have a unit, that we would help each other if needed. It happens, actually.

Running marathons have created another type of “unit” for me, also unique and also with an unspoken “code” involved… or well, maybe that is something I imagine myself. Some of the other guys believe stuff too, I guess, getting tattoos of “Marathon Klub 100” and shit… pretty strong statements if you ask me ! (still thinking what *I* should get.. and *where*). I like to belong to such groups driven by a common passion, namely the love for Running… which obviously streatches outside any country’s borders… proven by the fact that I have Facebook Running mates on nearly every Continent of the Globe.

The most famous qoute from the movie ? We all know it, don’t we ? We should perhaps apply it a bit more in our lives. Yes, we should separate REALITY from ridiculous life-lies and self-invented images. We should avoid the sad waste of Time and Life in dropping REAL experiences in Life instead of pursuing fictionary “ideals” that no Humans can live up to anyway. So if you are not known in the entire World by 25, you are *not* a genious. If your salary is less than say 200.000 $ a year, you are *not* rich. Yes, people cheat in their marriages. No, if you do not live on a Castle, you are *not* a Princess. And so on. Make the most of your *reality* instead of crying over the losses of your *vanity*. Period.

The Truth ? YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH !

Live with it !

Marathon

LGT Alpin Marathon 2011

By Tor Rønnow on Tuesday, June 14, 2011

This past Saturday 11th of June 2011 I completed the LGT Alpin Marathon in Liechtenstein, thereby adding both another mountain marathon to my list as well as a “new country”. The “LGT Alpin” was a huge experience and a great challenge and it was just bad luck that the weather really sucked: rainy, foggy, and low-hanging clouds the entire day.

Despite 1870 heightmeters up and 720 down I managed quite well, I think, in this my marathon #200 running with a camera ! Too bad that the full scenic potential of this race didn’t sparkle that day. I need to come back !

Read all about my day at LGT Alpin Marathon 2011 here.

Marathon

Copenhagen Marathon 2011 in Pictures

By Tor Rønnow on Wednesday, May 25, 2011

So Sunday 22th of May was indeed the very day for this years’ Copenhagen Marathon in, well, Copenhagen, Denmark. It turned out to be a great experience with tons of spectators in the streets and a cheerful and quite international atmosphere around the Capital. I had the honor of being a VIP runner once again and ran with a live-tracker device. Thus, you can replay my performance on www.copenhagenmarathon.dk, it’s funny to see the dots move about in different speeds.

Anyways, I had the pleasure of speaking with one of the other invited runners, the young American woman Scout Bassett, a charming woman taking a big applause for her efforts, truly an inspiration for us all ! Nice meeting you, Scout !

The Marathon itself was in the secure hands of SPARTA headed by the perhaps 2012 Olympian runner Dorte Vibjerg, you all did a great job to pull off this fantastic event for all us participants out here. Thanks !

The weather started out almost too hot and humid but after a short but intense shower the air cleared up and it all ended to our delight: sunshine and blue sky. I’ll be back to Nykredit Copenhagen Marathon next year for sure !

You find the pictures from the entire route here.