Another impulsive race: Trondheim half marathon

A truly spectacular course!

Three weeks ago, which was three weeks after the end of holidays, I got the opportunity to test how my form had survived through the summer. On an impulsive note, and just a couple of weeks before the race, Frank and I signed up for Trondheim half marathon. At the time of the race it would be a month since we had seen our son who lives in Trondheim, and we thought it would be a great occasion to spend time with him.

Trondheim showed its very best side that weekend, with incredible weather, clear blue skies and sunshine the whole time. There are several things about Trondheim half marathon which I appreciated compared to other city half marathons. First of all, the starting time is just perfect, especially for people traveling from far: 2 pm. With such a start, you can even arrive in the city the same morning. We arrived the evening before,  and it was great to have plenty of time in the morning. You get to sleep for as long as you want. You get to eat breakfast in peace and quiet. Your body gets working, you have time for your normal bathroom routine, and after all that, there is still time to go for a stroll, get warm, get a little bit hungry again and eat a little bit more, etc. And after the race there is still plenty of time for some rest and a nice dinner downtown. Just perfect from every aspect, in my opinion. The race was impressively well organized, with lots and lots of officials all through the course, lots of drink stations, and very clearly marked course. And the course was so pretty, so spectacular, and so pleasant to run, mainly on pedestrian paths along the sea or the river.

During the flight to Trondheim, we were studying the race course, and only then we realized that the half marathon runs through a 10.5 k course twice! I must admit I was very disturbed by this fact in the beginning. I find back-and-forth races quite demotivating. (As I approach the turning point, I see all the people who turned long before me, and it is like I never arrive there: "not there yet?", "not there YET?", "NOT there YET?!"... ) And I really like all-in-one-round races, like Bergen City, which is still the most beautiful course I know. So I thought I would find the two rounds challenging. But when it came to the point, it was actually much more enjoyable than I had imagined. The first round is easy as you are still full of energy, and I was mentally working with myself, like "when I pass this point the next time, there will be only 6 km left", etc. Then during the second round, I knew what was coming ahead, and it was good to be able to plan and portion the effort and the energy that was rapidly decreasing.

There were unusually many drink stations, and before the race I had planned to skip some of them. However, as the weather turned hotter than expected,  in the end all the drink stations came useful. In the second round they also handed out cold wet swamps, and they showered us with hoses, which was really helpful. I am not sure whether they had planned this in advance, or they took a quick decision due to the weather, but it was really appreciated! What I liked the most about the course is that only a tiny portion of it was on big roads. It contained mostly cozy inner city streets, pedestrian paths along the sea, pedestrian paths along the river, and a number of bridges. I must admit I don't enjoy racing on big asphalt roads, even if they are closed to traffic.

Many people ask me whether the Tromsø half marathon was more spectacular, but I would say no. Tromsø was more exotic due to he midnight sun, but the course itself contained most of the highway to the airport, and although it was along the sea, it is just not the same as running on a path surrounded with trees and greenery. Tromsø was flatter,  though, which I really liked. It was the only really flat half marathon I ever ran. Trondheim had a few peaks. In the elevation profile it didn't look so bad, but when you go through the course twice then there are twice as many peaks... But still Trondheim must be the perfect city for street running, with all those paths by the sea and along the river! Running next to water has an inexplicable relaxing and calming effect; it just makes your spirit higher. Towards the end of the weekend I even started to babble about moving to Trondheim! But then I remembered that there are no mountains there... Oh well.

I was pretty happy with my time, too: just about 45 seconds behind my PB from Tromsø. Given the heat and the peaks, I concluded that I had kept my form through the long summer holidays with non-optimal training conditions.

Trondheim marathon is Norway's oldest city marathon, and next year it will be organized for the 50th time. Give it a try?