Grenå 6 hours Endurance Race

Let me say one thing first - after the race it was an incredible feeling: the planning, the training, and executing a race of more than 41 miles in 6 hours is almost as good as getting kids and get married. The feeling of victory runs through your body and you just feel like sharing it with the rest of the world. But it wasn’t only me who last Saturday felt fantastic. Together with 110 runners we managed to get through 6 hours, and even though running is a very individual sport, the team spirit between runners, volunteers and spectators made it an incredible and unforgettable experience.

Last Saturday I participated in my first endurance race of 6 hours. The objective was 40.4 miles (22 laps) and the strategy was clear. Same pace as HCA Marathon for the first 27 miles and then I would have almost 9:30 min per mile for the last 13+ miles.

The weather was perfect for running – 50F, no wind, and partly overcast. The course was 3363 yards to be completed as many times as possible. The tent at the start/finishing area was the central point for registration, encouragement from the volunteers and supplies. The course was flat (highest climb was 1.6 yards, quickly named: Mount Ventoux) and paved and gravel paths.

We started at 9:30am – and according to my strategy I should run with pace 7:44 per mile for the first 7 laps (13.4 miles), meaning I should pass the tent the 7 th time at 1h44m. No problems experienced, and I managed to eat and drink according to my schedule which I believe eventually saved my race. I would have been worried if I would have any problems in this part of the race.

The next 8 laps were scheduled to be done in pace 8m21s per mile, so I should pass the tent after 15 rounds in 3h50m – it happened. I had practically no serious issues, so I passed 2-3 mins before the plan. But when I passed the marathon mark (27 miles) I started getting problems with my stomach. The gel-energy and water started to not want to stay where it should and I did a couple of laps without eating anything. That was not a doable situation, so I did something I always discourage other runners from doing in a competition: to experiment. I have never used cola in any of my training exercises, but in a mild state of panic, I started drinking cola and eat bananas.

The remaining ”planned” 7 laps should be easier – I had given myself the freedom to run a pace of 9:40 per mile. When I passed 15 laps, I started to have to struggle to keep myself going (probably expected at this time in the race). And I continued to have challenges to eat and drink. Whatever I did, it wanted to get up again. So I started to walk 1-3 mins while drinking my cola and eating, and then run in a relative high pace for the remaining lap back to the tent. It worked and lap after lap I got closer and closer to my goal

40 mins from the end, the officials started distributing tokens with our racing numbers – to be placed on the ground when the finishing signal sounded. When I passed the starting line the second last time, they offered me the token, but I refused forcing me to run pretty fast to get to the starting line again and get it. It gave me an enormous boost of adrenalin to know that I, despite beginning muscle cramps in thighs and calfs, had to get back to the starting line to get the token to get my result. And when I passed the starting line for lap 22 I was pretty high on andrenalin. There was still 11 mins left, so I knew I was not able to finish the lap. I ran straight through the tent without any treatment and “sprinted” toward the last lap. On the edge of total shutdown I managed to run additional 1.6 miles, and at the end I paced with one of the better runners. Fantactic feeling to be sprinting to give absolutely everything after 6 hours of running!

When they sounded the finishing signal, I was just overwhelmed with a warm feeling, and I had again to fight against “runner’s high” . The thought of my family, finishing, fatigue and the adrenaline was almost too much, and all of sudden you find almost find yourself sobbing in a forest in a remote part of Denmark.

It was fantastic to walk back together with the other runners – congratulating, sharing war stories – and in general just getting ”home” to the tent at the finishing line. When the final result became public, it showed: 41.734 miles - Wow – a little more than expected, and my legs didn’t feel worse than after a marathon.

So, a couple of days of rest and then I am sure a new "project" starts to materialize.