Home turf
During the Rudersdal Marathon, a man by the name of Jan Marott Behrens from a club called Run for Your Life had told me about a project. He and three other people had to run 12 marathons in 12 months. He had heard of runners, who had done 100 marathons in a year, although their own goal as fitness runners was no mean target. They had decided that one of the 12 runs should be done at home and intended to organise a Run for Your Life Marathon, which would be Roskilde’s first, last and only of its kind. True enough, it was the town’s first marathon, but whether it will be the last and the only is anybody’s guess.
Tireless Jan
Run for Your Life was established by Jan, who has been its chairman throughout its existence. Jan is a tireless person who does a tremendous job for fitness running in Roskilde. He has actually won several prizes on that account.
The town’s fun run
Run for Your Life held its first fun run on the second Sunday of January 1997 in Roskilde’s Folkepark. They have held one every month ever since and as such have organised more than 200 runs. These are always held on the second Sunday of the month at 10 a.m. One exception to this is in August, when it is run on the third Sunday to make room for another regular event the week before.
It costs 10 Danish kroner to participate in the run. This means that anybody can take part, and families can share something without it costing too much. The course in the Park is 1.6 kilometres long, and it is up to the individual to decide whether they want to run one or up to five laps, in other words up to eight kilometres. After the run, there is water or cordial to drink and a prize draw. With such a low starting fee, there is obviously no money in the race. The prizes in the draw are provided by sponsors, and Jan always gets it to break even.
Festive events
At various times of the year, they organise something special. Early in the year is the Shrovetide race, when people run in fancy dress. In the April Fool’s Day race, they make fun of the runners, and it goes without saying that there is always a Christmas Hat Race in December. This is very festive, and up to 500 runners turn out in red hats with white bobbles on.
Not many people ran in the first fun runs, but they have grown over the years. It is not unusual for several hundred Roskilde people to turn out. You will often see three generations of runners having fun together.
Training
The club trains on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Runners meet at Jan’s carport and run along set routes. Everybody is welcome, and you don’t have to be a member. The club has no subscription, so no money is involved. There are bottles of water and cordial for everyone after training, and every once in a while Jan will offer chocolates that one of the sponsors have given him.
Battle song
I first became acquainted with Run for Your Life at the Five Towers Marathon in 2002. I recognised Jan and the other runners, having seen them around town back home. It was highly amusing to see and hear these happy people running the half marathon. They ran in identical white jerseys with the club logo on, and Jan ran with a flag in his hand, as they sang their Battle song to the tune of “Side By Side”, which goes like this:
We are the club, who likes to run for our lives
We want to help each other all the time
We stand together in a pack
We run really well
Side – by – Side
Intimate run with no expenses
Of course, I was going to run a marathon in my hometown and signed up immediately. The run was to be an intimate affair without very many runners. The number of participants was limited to 100, so you had to be quick off the mark to get a running number. As was typical of Jan, no money would change hands and participation would be free of charge. However, the event did involve a certain amount of expenditure and Jan got a bank, Sydbank, to sponsor each participant with 100 kroner. To avoid people signing up and then not turning up a 100-kroner fee was charged. Participants could then pick up their hundred kroner at the Sydbank tent near the start. Of course, Jan had also secured sponsorship in the form of fruit and cordials.
Route through Folkeparken
The Run for Your Life Marathon was run on Sunday 7th March 2010. The motto of the run was: “The Folkeparken run – just a bit longer.” The start, from Louisevej near the entrance to the park, was the same as the monthly fun run.
The course went through Folkeparken, out onto Kong Valdemarsvej, up Frederiksborgvej and along Dronning Margrethes Vej, taking us back to Louisevej. This course was to be run ten times. On the day, there was quite a lot of snow and frost, and running through Folkeparken was thus considered dangerous. Since they didn’t want this festive occasion to result in injury, the course was re-routed at the last moment. The part which went through Folkeparken was shortened, and we had to run 13 laps instead of ten.
Frederiksborgvej hill
The run was a social marathon with speed groups with finishing times of 4:00, 4:30, and 5:00 and I decided to join the last group. Things went very well for me for a long time. Of course running down Kong Valdemarsvej was a piece of cake, but Frederiksborgvej demanded a bit of energy. The latter section went fine to begin with, but became more strenuous later on. Unfortunately, I had to walk up the hill on the last couple of laps. The group split up a bit in the end, and my own official time was five hours, although I think it took me a bit longer than that.
Not all the 100 people who had signed up turned out. About 70 people completed the run, while eight dropped out. The run was well executed, as was always the case when Jan Marott Behrens organised anything. Jan ran one of his 12 marathons at this event, so for once he was not the one standing there at the Folkeparken finishing line. Others were there to make sure that the runners got plenty to eat and drink during the run, including water, cordials and chocolate cake. Inge’s hot dog stand was in the finishing area throughout the day, so that spectators and runners crossing the line could get something to eat.
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