Tag Archives: Marathon

Petra Desert Marathon 2019

Saturday September 7th 2019 I completed the awesome Petra Desert Marathon 2019 in Jordan. Find below my full race coverage plus a few tourist impressions from this adventure organized by Albratos Travels.

Petra Desert Marathon 2019 - Tor Rønnow

Petra and the Dead Sea
So, I was on the “deluxe” tour including a day (actually, only half a day due to my own poor research) at the Dead Sea on the Jordan side. There is something magical to be at the lowest point of the surface of the planet and to float around in that soo salty water!

And Petra ? Oh, man! It is difficult to find the words here, I’d rather have the pictures speak for themselves. I can only say that I feel very privileged to have experienced Petra and to furthermore have it in physical context of a marathon, that is pretty mindblowing. More about that below.

Petra Desert Marathon 2019
Petra Desert Marathon 2019 was a very well organized event featuring a half marathon and a full marathon. The route for the marathon was VERY HILLY and was comprised by a desert loop (the absolutely best and most funny part of the race), an out-back loop on road (nice, scenic at places, dead tough in the end) and the just-last 11 kilometers including the mountain climb that also the half marathoneers had to conquer. My Garmin said +1100 heightmeters up, +1000 heightmeters down and with temperatures reaching 27 C in the shadows – which we did NOT have the luxery of – and the highest altitude approx. 1400 meters above sea level, I was very happy to finish in 5.56. In conclusion, Petra Desert Marathon was an experience for a lifetime! If you’re a runner: get this in!

'Petra Desert Marathon 2019 - Tor Rønnow
FINISH Wizzair Petra Desert Marathon 2019

See or relive Petra Desert Marathon 2019 here (and in arabic, greek, hebrew and turkish):

Petra Desert Marathon 2019 – billeder/fotos af Tor Rønnow (Danish)
Petra Desert Marathon 2019 – pictures by Tor Rønnow (English)
Petra Desert Marathon 2019 – foto di Tor Rønnow (Italiano)
Petra Desert Marathon 2019 – beelden van Tor Rønnow (Nederlandse)
Petra Desert Marathon 2019 – photos de Tor Rønnow (Français)
Petra Desert Marathon 2019 – fotos del Tor Rønnow (Español)
Petra Desert Marathon 2019 – bilder von Tor Rønnow (Deutsch)
Petra Desert Marathon 2019 – TorRønnow(中國)的圖片
ペトラ砂漠マラソン2019-写真/写真:TorRønnow(日本語)
Petra Desert Marathon 2019 – bilder av Tor Rønnow (Svenska)


Albatros Event Video recap
Though I will be happy for your interest in my race report above, I will also draw your attention to the official video from Albatros Travel. You’ll even find me in there for some 10 elusive seconds (at about 2.50 and onwards).

White Nights Marathon 2019

Sunday June 30th 2019 I completed the White Nights Marathon 2019 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Find below my full race coverage plus quite a few tourist impressions from the amazing and incredibly beautiful city of St. Petersburg.

White Nights Marathon 2019 - Saint Petersburg - Tor Rønnow

Saint Petersburg City and the Winter Palace
Saint Petersburg may well be the most surprising, beautiful and captivating big city I ever visited. It sports incredible attractions like the Winter Palace (including The State Hermitage Museum and The General Staff Building) , stunning churches like the Savior on the Spilled Blood and The Museum Complex The State Museum St. Isaac’s Cathedral, The Naval Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Kronstadt and landmarks like the Nevsky Prospekt, the Neva Embankments and lots and lots more. Just walking around amongst the beautiful buildings of St. Petersburg is an amazing experience and really, life in Russia seems to be quite the same as in the rest of Europe.

Kazan CathedralWinter Palace Square
Peacock ClockMain Entrance Winter Palace
Henri Matisse

White Nights Marathon 2019
White Nights Marathon 2019 was a very well organized event featuring the full marathon distance plus a 10K event as well. The route for the marathon was quite flat (take away a few easy bridges) and was very representative of the city and it’s many landmarks and attractions, most notably the start and finish at the square of the Winter Palace! I’d say without hesitation that this event is one of the best and most important ones of all my marathons and I give it the very, very best of my recommendations. Just allow much more time in St. Petersburg than the sparse 54 hours I had in toto.

White Nights Marathon 2019 - Saint Peterburg - Tor Rønnow
 White Nights Marathon 2019

See or relive White Nights Marathon 2019 here (and in russian):

White Nights Marathon 2019 – billeder/fotos af Tor Rønnow (Danish)
White Nights Marathon 2019 – pictures by Tor Rønnow (English)
White Nights Marathon 2019 – beelden van Tor Rønnow (Nederlandse)
White Nights Marathon 2019 – photos de Tor Rønnow (Français)
White Nights Marathon 2019 – fotos del Tor Rønnow (Español)
White Nights Marathon 2019 – bilder von Tor Rønnow (Deutsch)
白夜馬拉松2019 – TorRønnow(中國)的照片/照片
White Nights Marathon 2019 – TorRønnowの写真/写真(日本語)
White Nights Marathon 2019 – foto di Tor Rønnow (Italiano)
White Nights Marathon 2019 – bilder av Tor Rønnow (Svenska)

London Marathon 2019

Sunday April 28th 2019 I completed the fabulous Virgin Money London Marathon.
Find below my full race coverage plus a few tourist impressions from the beautiful city of London.

Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 - Tor Rønnow

London City
I had only Saturday to make a few tourist impressions, but this was ok as I have been many times in London previously. Of course I needed to visit Covent Garden and the flagship store of Paul Smith and that was pretty much it, well, Picadilly Cirkus, Regent Street, Oxford Street and New Bond Street and Old Bond Street also came in handy. London is simply a very nice methropole to visit.

Virgin Money London Marathon 2019
Virgin Money London Marathon is one of the six World Marathon Majors and as such one of the most prestigeous and famous marathons in the world. This year was actually my fourth show at this event but this year still very special as I ran the whole race together with my wife-to-be, Maria. And you will find more interesting details in the race report about that too. So about the race itself: just awesome! So many people out there in the streets supporting and cheering and the finish at The Mall is incredible each time!

Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 - Tor Rønnow

Virgin London Marathon – selected pictures

Virgin London Marathon by the Miles

Mile 8 - Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 - Tor Rønnow

See or relive Skopje Marathon 2019 here :

Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 – billeder/fotos af Tor Rønnow (Danish)
Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 – pictures by Tor Rønnow (English)
Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 – beelden van Tor Rønnow (Nederlandse)
Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 – photos de Tor Rønnow (Français)
Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 – fotos del Tor Rønnow (Español)
Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 – bilder von Tor Rønnow (Deutsch)
Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 – TorRønnow(中國)的圖片
ヴァージンマネーロンドンマラソン2019 – TorRønnowの写真(日本語)
Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 – foto di Tor Rønnow (Italiano)
Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 – bilder av Tor Rønnow (Svenska)

Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019

Sunday May 19th I completed Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019. Find below my full race coverage with pictures also from the Breakfast Run in the Tivoli Gardens Saturday morning.

Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 - Tor Rønnow

Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 – 40th edition
Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 took of at Islands Brygge 09.30 AM in the Danish capital. The race day in Copenhagen was once again very warm for running but nevertheless event records were set both on the male and female side. There was furthermore a record 11.497 participants crossing the start line in Copenhagen making this 40th edition of the event a truly outstanding and memorable one. You will understand all this much better by reading my full race report below. My best of congratulations and applause to Sparta for this 40th anniversary Telenor Copenhagen Marathon!

See or relive Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 here :

Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 – billeder/fotos af Tor Rønnow (Dansk)
Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 – pictures by Tor Rønnow (English)
Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 – fotos del Tor Rønnow (Español)
Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 – bilder von Tor Rønnow (Deutsch)
Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 – TorRønnow的圖片(中文)
Telenorコペンハーゲンマラソン2019 – TorRønnowの写真(日本語)
Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 – photos de Tor Rønnow (Français)
Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 – foto di Tor Rønnow (Italiano)
Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 – beelden van Tor Rønnow (Nederlandse)
Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 – bilder av Tor Rønnow (Svenska)

Telenor Copenhagen Marathon – 40th

Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2019 - Tor Rønnow

Telenor Copenhagen Marathon – my precious
2004
Telenor Copenhagen Marathon – this is where it all started for me, in 2004. After nearly 2 years of training and preparing I had my marathon debut at this wonderful race and I was hooked right away! At the expo I saw the boot for Marathon Travel Club and purchased a trip to Berlin Marathon the same year, also 2004, and boy, this did me in for good. Life has not been the same since. As you can imagine from reading off this blog and my marathon race reports. Wow!

2006, 2007
I did not participate in 2005 as I was running London Marathon that year only a few weeks before and Stockholm a few weeks after. This was before the “madness” kicked in. However, I was back in Copenhagen in 2006 and again in 2007 where I made my first photo race report from this event. It was back in the days where the route finished at the Black Diamond in Copenhagen, a lovely day and many nice shots along the route; read here. The photo with my friend Claus Høier finishing in 3.45 in his tiger costume is just amazing!

2008
This was the year we celebrated marathon no. 400 for Erhard Filtenborg, the first dane to achieve this landmark. 30-40 runners accompanied Erhard all the way, and a special wagon had been made to celebrate this extraordinary feat. It was yet another absolutely marvelous day in Copenhagen! Read all about it here.

2009
A year with mixed weather and also the final year on the “old” route. I had my debut in the Spiderman costume and realized how much fun and good energy such spreads. Eventwise it was becoming clear that changes were needed to grow the race further. The report from year 2009 is very enjoyable and can be read here.

2010
The year of the new route and the first year of the transformation of the Telenor Copenhagen Marathon from being a small local event to become a true international event and competitive as such. Logistics were greatly improved with these changes and the route… the route was just outstanding! I was lucky to shoot one of my best photos ever during this race, the one with the cobblestones.
Find the entire race report from year 2010 here.

2011
The event was still improving and especially on the spectator front things were taking off. You could really feel the love all around the route in the danish capital and it was clear that Telenor Copenhagen Marathon was now on the brink to become a world class event. Good job, Sparta!
You find my pictures from this beautiful day here.

2012
I was happy to celebrate my marathon no. 250 this year and there was quite a media take on this as well. Year 2012 also marks the only time I have managed to run a sub-4 in Copenhagen and would you know, on this very marathon day I made the first date with Maria, now the proud mother to our 2 lovely children. Yes, marathon running can open many doors, especially those to peoples feelings. In many ways this very race day ranks amongst my best ever, anywhere! The atmosphere in the streets was just electric as you can tell from my pictures; find my impressions from the amazing, truly amazing, Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2012 here.

2013
Honestly, this was an off-year in many respects. First and foremost the weather was really bad, rain, warm and humid at the same time, very bad for running. Personally, I was stupid enough to run with a injury (small stress fracture). The event was nicely organised, obviously, so all in all, let us just move on. If you insist you find the report here.

2014
My report states “cloudy and rain showers”, I guess this was another not-one-of-the-greatest years. However, the pictures gives mixed impressions: lots of cool stuff, very beautiful pictures, good vibes, happy runners. And yes, wet runners at the end / finish. It happens. Everywhere.
The report is here.

2015
I was a spectator in 2015, so no photographs from my hand. However, I crafted a spectators guide, very amusing and funny, find it here.

2016
So happy to be back in the streets of Copenhagen and wow, this year was just phenomenal. It was quite warm, yes, but there was sun and just such good energy out there, unbelievable! Add the fact that Telenor Copenhagen Marathon objectively has one of the best and representative of all city marathons in the world. Take my word for it! Or see for yourself, here.

2018
So, in year 2017 I was nearly killed in a car accident three days before the race; so, no marathon for me, sadly. However, I was back in 2018 and in for the very warm day at the “office”. The day became truly unique for me personally as I had the honor of unexpectedly to spend the evening with the winner of the Telenor Copenhagen Marathon 2018 William Morwabe of Kenya and his friends Paul Chege (multiple winner of H.C. Andersen Marathon in Odense) and Kirui Kosgei. Surely, in my 2018 race report you find the most beautiful and bright pictures from the Telenor Copenhagen Marathon you could ever imagine! Really. The link is here.

2019
So now the 40-years celebration is here. I wish good luck to all runners, see you on Sunday May 19th in the streets of Copenhagen. Or perhaps even already Saturday at the fun run in Tivoli ?
Do come !

Kind regards, Tor Rønnow