A rare post from Stepler...
I wrote this for The Houston Striders newsletter
Stridelines and thought it would be worth posting here. Some photos at the end.
My Midnight Marathon
One of the goals I had for myself when we moved here to Stavanger, Norway was to run a marathon somewhere in Europe. I can check that off the list after having run the Midnight Sun Marathon in Tromsø, Norway on June 19th. Tromsø is almost at 70˚ North latitude, about 3 degrees above the Arctic Circle. The summer sun doesn’t set there from the end of May to the end of July. With this marathon on the closest Saturday to the Summer Solstice and race time at 8:30 PM you will be running in light at midnight, even if it’s cloudy and raining, but more on that later.
For all the marathons I’ve run, five now, I set out a list of goals and this one was no different. Here they are from the fundamental to the challenging:
A – Finish the race.
B – Run every step of the race.
C – Finish under 4 hours.
D – PR
E – Get under 3:45:00
Getting ready to face those goals was part of what made this marathon a little trickier than the other four.
Everyone that has trained for, or attempted to train for, a marathon knows it is a time commitment and sometimes finding time to run can be difficult. However, for this marathon I needed to run long runs late since the start time was late, and that just happened to be the best time of the day to run. After Rory was in bed I could go out for a run. As the year progressed into the summer and my long runs lengthened I could run into the night with plenty of light.
The real training challenge was in the early part of the training when Stavanger was having its coldest winter in more than a decade with the snow to match. Looking back at the weather statistics recorded by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute the average temperature for the whole months of January, February, and March were 28, 30, and 38˚F respectively. Also, from late December into March there were several inches of snow on the ground that was continually packed and refrozen to ice on most the sidewalks and walking/running paths. Luckily, and it’s dumb luck, I only fell once while running in these conditions.
I also got used to wearing more than a singlet and shorts to run in. I even had to run in tights, which was not something I was looking forward to and still am not a fan. They’re just too… well… tight. But now I know I prefer to wear shorts when it’s above freezing,
I need a knit hat up to about 35 degrees, gloves to about 40, and long sleeves up to about 55. Things you may never need to know but a couple of days a year in Houston.
The actual training runs went well though, and as the year progressed the weather became quite delightful. I didn’t train as much as I planned, started off wanting to do a Jack Daniels inspired program but ended up doing Furman’s FIRST program. But I still felt comfortable with my runs, my pace, and the hills.
Finally race weekend came around and Stacy, Rory and I were ready to head North. Unfortunately, the airport security workers weren’t quite ready for us as they went on strike and lines at security were relatively horrible. It took us an hour and a half to get through security and luckily they had held the plane for us and several others. Keep in mind that the population for the entire country of Norway is the same as Houston, and that I have been able to go from curb to gate in 10 minutes here at the Stavanger airport.
Now with the stress of getting to the plane wearing off we had no problems the rest of our trip from Stavanger to Oslo and then onto Tromsø. I knew the race course went near the Tromsø airport and after just a few minutes in our taxi I saw that familiar blue road stripe marking a marathon course. I was happy to see the blue stripe head off one way as we went into a tunnel (Norwegians love their tunnels) that seemed to go on forever and even had multiple exits and a round-a-bout in it.
We got to our hotel and head into town to pick up my race packet. I knew it wouldn’t be an expo but did know they had race shirts and memorabilia, and since there was to be no finisher shirt for this race, I had to get a shirt. Now I’m a bit superstitious, picky might be a better word, about race shirts. First off I want a finisher shirt, secondly I better have finished if I’m going to wear it and finally I don’t want to know what the shirt looks like until I’ve finished. This all comes from starting running with the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia where the finisher shirt is a trophy, the design of which is held under tight secrecy until they are handed to finishing runners. So I was a bit leery about buying a shirt for a race I hadn’t finished yet, but I wasn’t going to not have a shirt from this race.
Next, we rode a cable car (Rory refused to call it anything other than ‘table car’) up Mt. Storsteinen. We had to take in some of the scenery of blue waters and snow capped mountains of the Lyngen Alps.
Race morning we woke to rain and a forecast of nothing but rain. That was a concern but I had the day to get used to it. So what do you do for a day as you wait around for an 8:30 pm start? Take it easy, walk around town a bit, watch the marching bands, eat a plain lunch, take a nap… wait marching bands?! Right down the main street in town kept coming marching bands of all ages and no police stopping traffic (foreshadowing for the marathon?). The few cars around would just take their time behind the bands until the band turned off to go to the plaza where the stage was for stage performances by the bands. But while one band was on the stage another would just march across the plaza. That’s cool - do your thing. This was just outside a small mall, and with the rain, we went in as did all the other bands that weren’t marching or performing. It was band mania!
A nap, oatmeal for supper (it works in the morning), more rain and it was time to head on out for the start. I got to the starting area and I’ve never seen so many people warming up for a marathon, I thought I was at a 5k. I did a little stretching, but my attitude is save it for the race. Lining up for this one was certainly an international experience with so many countries represented (22 just in my age group). I was straining my ears to hear an American accent and on the lookout for a US flag, but no luck. Italians were the loudest, and as it turns out a Kenyan was the fastest, who would have guessed.
The gun sounded and the 404 eventual finishers headed out with a moderate crowd lining the streets. I fumbled with my Garmin going across the start, but got it started knowing whatever my watch said would be a touch short. This was important to me as the markers on the course would be in kilometers and counting down from 42 to 0 and I still can’t think running in anything but miles. That little fumble behind me it was time to enjoy the crowds before we left the town and keep my eye out for Stacy and Rory. I found them where we had planned getting my little high five.
Pace time, settle in and don’t let people passing me bother me, 8:35… 8:35…8:35. I learned my lesson about feeling too good at the start and not sticking to the plan before, I wasn’t going to do that again. On to the bridge for the biggest hill of this pretty flat race, a climb of about 145 feet. We’ll go back across this bridge at the half way point, but for the outbound it was closed to traffic, the only road closure for the race besides the finish.
Run down the other side of the bridge past the Arctic Cathedral (the iconic landmark for Tromsø) and into a residential area. It was raining still and it kept all but a few of the committed spectators, or balcony partiers (it was Saturday night after all), in their homes. But those that did come out were appreciated and I quickly learned that “Hey-ya! Hey-ya! Hey-ya!” is the Norwegian national cheer.
At about mile 4.5 I heard a song pumping out of car by the side of the road. A song that gives me chills when I hear it running in Texas. Sweet Home Alabama taking me back to the south and adding a bounce to my step. Turn it up!
On to the turn around at about 7 miles and I’m doing well banking close to 50 seconds relative to my 3:45:00 goal time. Now it’s back through the residential area with a few more “Hey-ya! Hey-ya! Hey-ya!”’s and if it ain’t Lynard again when I go by that same car. Back on to the bridge and at the half way point just over the crest of the bridge and I’m feeling pretty good and I’m still under my goal time.
Just into town and in front of our hotel Stacy and Rory are waiting for me. I got their attention and Stacy waved and cheered, while Rory stood there grinning ear to ear in her oversized rain suit and Stacy’s big rain hat on, up way past her bedtime. This was one of the highlights of the trip getting to see them there.
Into the heart of town Tromsø was living up to its party reputation as the bars were filling up. Wanting to hear some cheers to help power through I was a bit disappointed as the revelers were focused into the bars and not even watching us go by. To give them some slack we runners were spaced out pretty good at this point with only a couple of us each block, so we really couldn’t have been that exciting to watch.
Going out of town again, this time in the other direction I came to the surreal moment of the race. As I watch the intersection ahead I saw two semis cross it and another plus a bus waiting their turn pointed right at us. There was a race volunteer directing traffic, but not us really and with no cones or barriers several runners just ran on between the bus and the semi, others, including me, ran around them. The drivers were completely patient, and the whole loose feel of race course access control just reflects the Norwegian attitude and the fact it was almost 10:30 on a Saturday night.
Still banking time and starting to pass some of those that had passed me earlier, I made a mistake. I started eying the runner ahead and watching them in. I didn’t realize I was doing close to a 7:30 pace as I was ‘chasing’ this older guy for the early part of mile 20 until I looked down at my watch. I slowed down and focused on doing my pace again. But it was probably too late as I made my second mistake right after this by taking a flavor of Gu I’d never had before at mile 20. The tired legs I was fairly ok with, but then my stomach started to grumble about the Gu. All the little things started to be amplified, the continuing rain and the rhythmic chant of the “Hey-ya! Hey-ya! Hey-ya!’s. I started to get negative and I started to take withdraws from the time bank. Mile 24 was my slowest and I was able to regroup and speed up a hair after that, but not back to my goal pace.
Coming into the finish I already knew I had missed my goal of a 3:45:00 for the 4th time… but I could still PR! I took all the cheers I could hear and powered into the last couple of blocks that had barriers up with scattered spectators along the way. I usually have an excited attitude coming into the finish, but this time I had more of a quiet satisfaction. So I just doffed my cap to the hardy souls that were out there and got a well appreciated cheer in return. I crossed the finish line under cloudy skys still lit by the sun having run the whole way with 3:48:30 as my official time. It was a new PR by a minute flat and more than five years after my previous PR!
I got my medal, returned the chip (the race’s first year with a chip), then it hit me… it’s frigg’n cold out and I’m soaked! It was around 40˚F out, good temps to run in, NOT good to stand in wet and tired. I headed straight to the hotel got a grand welcome from Stacy, ate showered, and shivered myself to sleep.
I’m certainly proud of this marathon. I’m also extremely thankful for the support of Stacy and Rory at the race and, more importantly, during training. Will I do another marathon? I don’t know, I’m still relishing this one, while 3:45:00 is still out there with a world to see.
Some Photos
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View of Tromsø riding down the cable car from the top of Mt. Storsteinen. Bridge crossed in the marathon and The Arctic Cathedral are visible. |
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Stacy and Rory on top of Mt. Storsteinen. |
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| Stacy and Rory winning it outside of packet pick-up |
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The all ladies drum line |
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| Saying hello to Rory just after the start. |
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Saying hello to Rory at the halfway point. |
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The day after at the Polarium |
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The day after at the Polarium in the underwater tunnel through the Bearded Seal tank. |
