Tag-arkiv: August

Many, many years ago I ran a Marathon in Finland

I was going through some old papers as I am in the process of getting rid of all paper in my home if possible. Among the old items and document I found notes about my participation in Helsinki City Marathon on August 12, 1989.

I had the start number 2000 which is kind of special. I remember it to this day. As I mentioned above, it was the second Marathon I ran. The first one was in the spring of 1989. I was aiming at at time of 4 hours but I was new to the game and had to learn a hard lesson.

Me at the starting line weighing about 40 kilos less compared to my present weight

The routes for Marathon runs are unique. Where the route for Copenhagen Marathon at the time was a very flat route the route in Helsinki took us along the coastline where small hills meant that my rhythm was broken.

While a bit stressing the route passed through beautiful areas in the eastern part of Helsinki and a part of the route was in Espoo. It was actually a loop starting from the Olympic stadion going along the coast line to Espoo and then by passing several bridges to the Helsinki City center before we after a loop ran the same route back to Finish at the Olympic Stadion. It was a great experience to enter the stadion.

At the finishline I promised myself that I would try to complete marathons in different parts of the world. For work- and private-related reason, I only got Copenhagen, Helsinki and New York on my track-record but that is another story.

I will forever remember that day in August 1989 when I experienced such a beautiful background for a Marathon route. My finish time was humble but the experience was something I remember for life.