Marathoning In Mermaid Waters
Kobenhaven Marathon , Denmark Marathon # 73 / 18 May 2008
A mid-race water stop
Copenhagen is located on the island of Sealand and is the largest city in Scandinavia , and it was the venue for my coming of age ( 21st ) international marathon . That ’ s not a bad achievement just under three years after completing my first foreign race in Prague , especially considering that only two of the 21 were planned more than a few weeks in advance . ( Ah , the joys of last-minute work travel .)
The race had a strange entry system in that non-Danish runners register online ( with no financial obligation ), and then you pay at the expo when collecting your race number . This trust-based system seemed to work reasonably well , with about 6500 finishers from 8500 registered runners . ( I ’ m not sure how many actually started .) The entry fee of 525 Krone ( about R800 ) is about what one expects for a big city marathon , but the race pack was a bit disappointing , as it consisted of a T-shirt and not much else .
Mermaid Mania
Springtime in Scandinavia can be unpredictable , but race day was pleasant and I could get away with wearing just a vest ( although it was a little chilly waiting for the 9:30am start ). The route was very flat , with a total altitude differential of only 10 metres , and consisted of three loops ( two of which were virtually the same ). Although this allows spectators to easily support their runners on multiple occasions over the route , it does lack a bit in the imagination department . However , the course is scenic and passes by the highlights of the city , like Tivoli Gardens , the Carlsberg Brewery ( by some way the ugliest building in the city ), the Kastellet , Geifon Fountain , Nyhavn harbour district and of course that watery tart , the Little Mermaid .
The Danes seem to have a weird fascination with this spectacularly unimpressive statue , which is not even particularly old – it was only erected in 1913 . Yet every website that has anything to do with Denmark displays her motif , and without exception , she is listed as “ the most popular tourist attraction in Denmark .” ( Although you are not allowed to post her picture on Facebook , because it violates their nudity rules !) Perhaps her popularity is down to the fact that she has survived sporadic decapitation attempts and intermittent paint jobs ( more here ). Anyway , I kept a few busloads of tourists amused by taking a detour of a few hundred metres during the race to pose in front of her while getting one of the afore-mentioned tourists to take the photo .
Unique Pacing
The race provides pacesetters in 15-minute intervals all the way from 3:00 to 5:00 hours , but what is different from the norm is that the pacesetters just run a relay leg , instead of the whole race , thereby providing better predictability on their goal time . Personally , I don ’ t like running in a large bus , and find it even worse getting stuck behind one – and this problem is exasperated in Denmark , because the local terminology for pacesetter is “ fartholder .” The thought occurred to me that getting stuck behind a large squadron of fartholders might redefine what it means to ‘ blow badly ’ ( and I did wonder afterwards how they blew up their balloons denoting their goal times ).
The Danish word for pacesetter excluded , many Danish words bear quite a close relationship to Afrikaans . For example , the airport is “ lufthaven ,” and a pharmacy is “ apotek .” Therefore , it seemed rather appropriate that the finish line was emblazoned with the word “ MAL .” At the end of the race , yoghurt , fruit , baked goods and seed bars were handed out , and I was overjoyed to see a stand handing out “ Free Beer !” Unfortunately , my joy was short-lived when I realised that the word “ Alcohol ” appeared before the words “ Free Beer .”
Generally , my opinion of alcohol-free beer is that it ’ s like listening to the Stones without Jagger , or the Grateful Dead without being stoned . However , I had worked up a good thirst and therefore decided to sample a bottle of Erdinger ’ s “ alkohol frei ” beer on my walk back to the train station . As “ making love in a canoe ” beers go , it wasn ’ t too bad – I would compare it to drinking a Miller ’ s Lite , only with a much fuller flavour , and more of a kick .
Soothing Drinks
Having run a very relaxed marathon , my legs were still good to spend the afternoon sightseeing . There are plenty of open-air pubs in the city , and I was able to enjoy a couple of cold Carlsbergs over a long Baltic evening whilst watching other marathon runners walk by – easily identified as they were proudly wearing their race medal around their neck … which of course was emblazoned with a picture of the Little Mermaid !
Copenhagen conquered , with the obligatory Mermaid pic
Sidenote : For fairies and those interested in their tales , Hans Christian Anderson has his own marathon in September , in his hometown of Odense , which is about 200km from Copenhagen . More info here .
The pacesetters ’ kit made an impression !
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