A new client

 

Shortly after returning from China, I got a new business client. At the end of August, she asked me to attend an accounts meeting, where her boyfriend would also be coming along. The meeting was to be held at her boyfriend’s house which lay less than a kilometre and a half from my home.

 

A coincidence

 

I immediately noticed the name Morten Fenger on the boyfriend’s post box. This name had been chiselled into my mind during The Great Wall Marathon in 2007. He was the man coaching the disabled runners, and he had urged me to lose 15 kilos.

 

It could, of course, just have been a coincidence and be two entirely different people who had the same name. But it was strange that precisely this name should come up just after I had finally got around to losing weight.

 

This Morten Fenger certainly looked athletic, and he was wearing sports clothes. When he turned his back to me to take some coffee, I saw the logo and the name Widex on the back of his jersey. Now I only had to hear if it was “the” Morten Fenger – and it was. It’s a strange world we live in. We had been living close to each other for all these years and now, after I had finally taken note of his message, fate brought us together once more.

 

 

Professional triathlete

 

In his youth, Morten had been an elite triathlete and a professional with a European championship triathlon on his CV. Now he was 47, but still active in the sport. He ran a sports consultancy company and was the Secretary General of the Danish Triathlon Association.

 

Training collaboration

 

During a subsequent conversation, I told Morten about my failed attempt to train for an Ironman. Morten managed to convince me that membership of Roskilde TRI might be an advantage to me. We entered into an agreement that he would arrange my training, which he did for the next year or so. During that period, Morten planned my training for one week at a time. The schedule went on to my Garmin web page, and I uploaded the training results from my heart rate monitor on an ongoing basis. This obligation motivated me not to leap over where the hedge was lowest.

 

Buy the book here.

 

Meeting at the bank

 

The 42 kilometres I had run in China hadn’t aggravated my injury. I had expected things would get worse and had calculated with this as an unavoidable cost. The tenderness still persisted after I got home, however, and I was most frustrated and upset that there didn’t seem to be a solution to the problem.

 

However, in mid-July I had a meeting at the bank and was wearing a jacket with a logo of the marathon on it. This led to an invaluable conversation with my bank adviser. He had been running for some time but had given up. He had stopped because of a foot injury but had found a quick cure for it at a sports clinic on Amager, the island south of Copenhagen. I wanted to hear more about that, and later in the day I received an e-mail with details of the clinic. I immediately called on the phone and got an appointment in the middle of August.

 

Holiday plans

 

In our family, we didn’t usually devote holiday to sport. My marathon trips were considered to fill the quota for that kind of thing. But in 2011, Karin thought we should go to Club la Santa, a holiday and sports resort on the Spanish island of Lanzarote. None of the children wanted to come, so we went on our own.

 

During the summer holidays, we usually relax, eat lots of good food with good wine to go with it, and we do not miss out on ice cream and sweets. But before this holiday, Karin told me that now we were going on sports holiday, so we should control ourselves. It took me a while to sink that one, but then I decided that it was now or never! I went into training mode the week before our departure and kept well away from alcohol and sweet things, went cycling, and ate lots of healthy food.

 

Club La Santa

 

On 24^th July we left on a wonderful trip to Lanzarote. For one whole week, we got up early every morning and spent a lot of time doing sport. We got totally bitten by mountain biking and since then we have rented bikes together and been on a mountain-biking weekend in Sweden. We have now bought our own bikes and have found a sport; we can do together. We played tennis and squash every day, as well as trying a lot of the other things on offer at the resort.

 

I was very particular about my diet throughout the week, steering well clear of beer, soft drinks, crisps, ice cream or sweets. We usually swilled down supper with water, although we did drink a little wine on a couple of evenings. I couldn’t see any weight reduction on the centre’s scales, which rather frustrated me, although it didn’t put me off.

 

Kilo after kilo

 

On the other hand, I did continue to pursue my new lifestyle after we came home. At the same time, I went on so many bike rides that I began to lose weight. I gradually lost kilo after kilo. This motivated me to continue, and so did my weight loss.

 

Hydrodilatation

 

I also used the bike when I went to the clinic on Amager. It was a long ride, but that was no problem and the weather was perfect. I got there a bit early but then cycled round a bit until it was time for my appointment.

 

The doctor examined me and recommended that I be given a hydrodilatation. This involves the injection of an adrenal cortex hormone into the heel. This concerned me a bit because, as a devotee of natural treatments, I was not keen about this form of intervention. However, he convinced me that the dose was very small and very local, which meant that the risk of complications was minimal. I accepted the treatment and was given the injection before cycling home again.

 

I had been warned that the hydrodilatation might be painful later on but that this was perfectly normal. I wasn’t much bothered by it, but the tenderness abated and my optimism began to flourish.

 

Cured

 

A month later, I went back for a check-up and on this occasion insisted myself on another injection for safety’s sake. At a subsequent final check-up, I felt completely fit, and this was confirmed by a scan.

 

I cannot describe how glad I was. I began running again soon after, ten months having passed since I had run without a tender heel.

 

23 kilos lighter

 

My resolutely healthy lifestyle combined with my running and cycling activities help me lose 23 kilos in 120 days. I had now achieved my goal, and “all” I had to do was to keep my weight at that level. I have since discovered just how difficult that is; how you constantly have to watch your weight and your lifestyle.

 

Buy the book here.

 

Meeting Jamie again

 

As had eventually become a tradition, I travelled to China on the Tuesday before the marathon, arriving in Beijing on the morning of Wednesday 18^th May. As I came out of customs, I immediately caught sight of Jamie, who was standing there photographing me, and we took a taxi together to my hotel. I understood from Jamie that my group had been informed of this, although I wasn’t so sure and had rather a bad conscience. I was afraid the group would miss me. As it turned out, my sense of foreboding was not entirely mistaken. I had misunderstood Jamie and the group had not been informed. But this wasn’t a problem because our guide had recognised me and seen me leaving with Jamie, so the group wasn’t delayed.

 

That year’s hotel was one of the old familiar ones. Several years had gone by since I last stayed at the Dong Fang Hotel, which was central and a very good place to stay.

 

Herbal medicine

 

My Chinese doctor in Denmark had prescribed some Chinese medicine that was cheap in her homeland, and I had e-mailed the list to Jamie, who had bought it for me. It tasted awful, that’s for sure, but I was willing to do anything to get rid of my heel problem. I faithfully took the required dose within China and after my return. I continued until there was none left.

 

Doggy bag

 

For supper that evening I had Peking duck with Jamie at a restaurant, where they served up so much food that I was fit to burst. We were given doggy bags afterwards. I didn’t want to take anything back home with me, but they insisted. I politely accepted the bag, though I threw it into the bin when I got back to the hotel.

 

My guardian angel

 

During the period leading up to the run, Jamie had promised to follow me all the way through The Great Wall Marathon. She had wanted to be my guardian angel, protecting my injury and getting me through the marathon in one piece. It turned out, however, that Jamie had not applied for a running number in time. It didn’t matter, she said. Her time and the medal meant nothing to her. She would accompany me without a running number and a chip.

 

 

Wildcard

 

On inspection day, I asked Lars from Albatros if he could get Jamie a wildcard. I would pay for her running pack. He promised to get me a wildcard to Jamie but refused to allow me to pay for it.

 

1999–2011 – Mr Great Wall
Until that year, the running numbers also bore the runners’ names and nationalities. I liked that, because it helped to engender the contact between runners. This practice had been abandoned, so runners had only numbers.

 

My own running number that year was rather special.  It simply read 1999–2011 with Mr Great Wall underneath. I have been given the same number in subsequent years, though of course with the current date. And as the only runner in the race, I still have my name and nationality beneath the number.

 

The inspection walk across the Wall was a bit tough that year. I could feel that I was not in the best condition. On the other hand, I was pleased that my heel didn’t actually hurt, although it was still a bit tender.

 

 

Yuyang again

 

After the fiasco of a hotel the previous year we were now back at the old familiar Yuyang Hotel in Jixian. Although it still was not impressive, it certainly was an upgrade compared to 2010. I got a lovely double room, but the Internet didn’t work. A crowd of people turned up once in a while to fix it, and they finally got it to work.

 

 

Jamie thrilled

 

On the morning of the run on Saturday 21^st May, Lars gave me an envelope with Jamie’s running number and chip. Now I was anxious to give it to her.

 

 

I gave her the envelope when she arrived at Yin and Yang Square. She was thrilled to bits and very surprised. Afterwards, she disappeared for half an hour, showing off her running number to all her girlfriends.

 

A fateful day

 

As I was standing at the start, it felt as though I was facing a possible death sentence. Perhaps this would be the year that I fell and had to drop out of the marathon that meant so much to me? My heel injury was the crux of the matter. The fact that I had not trained enough was secondary. This day would be a veritable ordeal.

 

 

Despite the reality and limited ambitions, Jamie and I were in starting group 1. It would be good to have ten extra minutes for the two deadlines we had to meet on the run. Again, it was my heel I was thinking about.

 

My heel was painful from the first step and continued to be so throughout the 42.195 kilometres. But it wasn’t unbearable, and things went more or less according to plan up the mountain and across the Wall.

 

Dead battery

 

On the way round the fort at Yin and Yang Square my GPS watch indicated that its battery was almost flat. That somehow didn’t tally, because I had been charging it for several days. I went into a bit of a panic, but was pleased that my wristwatch was waiting for me at Yin and Yang Square.

 

Jamie and I got separated on the way across the Wall because she had been taking photographs. We did find each other again, though, and didn’t leave each other’s side for the rest of the run.

 

Ice cream and chocolate

 

Apart from my sore heel, everything was going very well. It was hard to believe that I had done practically no training for six months. For the rest of the marathon, I was in good spirits and knew that we were keeping good time.

 

On the way up the mid-way mountain, Jamie regretted the fact that she hadn’t brought any money with her to buy an ice cream. But I had some on me, and we had both ice cream and chocolate. I also had two power bars and to energy drinks with me, so we were well supplied throughout the run.

 

A good run

 

We arrived at Yin and Yang Square at around 12.45, which meant we had almost three hours in which to finish the run. Second time round, the Wall was unusually “easy”, and I remembered many other years when this stretch had been much tougher.

 

 

With a time of 7:27:52, Jamie and I ran across the finishing line hand-in-hand, just less than an hour before the gate slammed shut. It was a great victory for me to get through the run, considering the conditions I had faced beforehand. I later found out that I had actually crossed the line with a worse time than this for the previous three years.

 

This was Jamie’s third marathon in eight months. She had now become thoroughly bitten by the sport and subsequently ran the Xiamen Marathon.

 

Leg amputee

 

That year’s sunshine story on the Wall was that of the 35-year-old American woman, Sarah Reinertsen, who travelled the world as an ambassador of sport for the disabled. She was born with a defect in her left leg, which was amputated above the knee when she was seven years old. Despite this, Sarah has run 17 marathons as well as completing a Hawaii Ironman, and in her youth she ran the 100 metres at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics. Now she was about to conquer the Wall with her prosthetic limb. A few days before the marathon, Sarah held a seminar for disabled Chinese people.

 

 

Home victory

 

The fastest runner of the year was a local man, 24-year-old Hu Jianyon, who came in with a time of 3:18:36. His time was the fastest since the first year of the run, when the course had been considerably easier.

 

Back at the Dong Fang Hotel, I was given a very special room of a kind I had never seen there before. It was a very charming room in the old style.

 

 

Poor tailoring service

 

In the evening, we went to the Silk Market to have the final adjustments made to a suit I had ordered the day I arrived. I had also left a suit with them for repair. Neither was satisfactory, however. The trousers were way too tight, though that could be adjusted, and my jacket wasn’t finished, although they assured me it would be. We ended up making an agreement to have 2011 to be sewn on my jersey and a slight repair made. It would all be ready on the Monday.

 

School visit

 

Sunday I was out and about with Jamie and had a delicious lunch at her college together with two of her friends at a restaurant that served Japanese and Korean dishes. Afterwards, I was given a guided tour of the school, and later we had a massage. It was a very deep massage but at the same time very good treatment.

 

The gala party that evening was held at the Beijing Hotel where we had agreed to meet a journalist. With Jamie as interpreter, I was interviewed in Mao’s relaxing room. Very fancy indeed.

 

Rice brandy

 

During the party, my former guide, Jakob, came over with a present for me which he felt I deserved after running The Great Wall Marathon 12 times. It was a bottle of rice brandy. I remembered well that evening in 2005 when I got thoroughly sick on this local drink and deep inside I remembered the awful sensation and thought: “Oh no”. But of course I couldn’t say that to Jakob, who had been so kind as to give me a present. Whether I felt like drinking rice brandy or not at that time was irrelevant. What did matter though was that Jakob honoured me with a present.

 

 

After a while, a guy called Daniel in my group asked me what was in the bottle on the table. I told him and asked him if he would like to have it. He certainly would.

 

The after-dinner party was held at a place I had never been to before. The group had gathered outdoors and at some stage Daniel announced that it was now time to drink rice brandy. Some small glasses were procured, and the bottle did the rounds twice. Because it was now dark, I was able to pretend that I drank, although, in reality, I tipped the disgusting drink onto the grass under the table.

 

 

Dear Jakob. If you are reading this book, I would like to apologise for the way I treated your present. You should know that the thought behind it meant a lot to me.

 

Facebook

 

That year, I became seriously aware of the technological developments that had taken place since the first time I was there. The first year, some of the runners sent each other prints or borrowed each other’s negatives. In later years, photos were exchanged by e-mail, and one year a participant made a website on which participants could post their images for sharing. But this evening, it was proposed that a Facebook group be created for people to upload their photos. I, unfortunately, had to admit that I wasn’t on Facebook, but one of the people present said: “Well, it’s about time you were”. And that’s what I did afterwards.

 

Stalked

 

During the evening, I felt I was being somewhat harassed. Whether I had been chosen by chance, or because of my status as Mr Great Wall, I don’t know. But a thoroughly inebriated Australian female runner was stalking me pure and simple. First she wanted to dance, to which I agreed. She literally just hung on to me mumbling something I couldn’t understand. Her far from sober but much more conscious brother did what he could to free me of his intrusive sister.

 

Hot Pot

 

On the Monday night, Jamie and I ate at a restaurant called Hot Pot. Hot Pot is a Chinese version of a fondue which basically involves boiling your own ingredients in a pot. You buy what you want to of meat, veg, eggs, shrimps, etc. You buy the sauce separately in the flavour you want. The food and the company were most enjoyable. I would like to have taken pictures of the place, but that was not permitted. I did, however, manage to take one picture before I became aware of this rule.

 

 

Really poor tailoring service

 

Later that night, we went to the Silk Market to pick up my clothes from the tailors. I had been there in vain earlier in the day, and the same thing happened that evening. Some of the things were not finished, and those that were had been shoddily done and were full of mistakes. This made me very angry, and I let them know, to the great embarrassment of the lady in the shop. After trying to find various solutions to the problem, it all ended with an agreement that Jamie would pick up the clothes the following morning.

 

 

I was leaving the following day, and things got rather stressful. Jamie didn’t come to the hotel as expected and when I tried to call her there was no connection. She called me back shortly afterwards, however. There had been problems at the Silk Market. My jacket and jersey had not yet arrived. But they soon would do and then she would pick me up by taxi. Jamie was further delayed, however, and the clothing was far from properly finished. I have not used the tailors at the Silk Market since.

 

Incredible hostess

 

Jamie came with me in the taxi to the airport, where we went to a cafe and had tea and fruit. She paid the bill, just as she had done all week. I found this most unreasonable, but there was nothing I could do. Jamie had been an incredible hostess throughout my visit.

 

Ash cloud

 

I got home without any problems, although I did experience a flashback from 2010 on the day before I left. The Icelandic volcano, Grimsvönt, had sent an ash cloud 20 kilometres up into the air, threatening air-traffic once again. Whereas the departure situation in 2010 had been critical, I simply shrug my shoulders at the current circumstances. What’s a week here or there, I thought. What mattered was that I had completed my marathon. Already at that time I was looking forward to the prospect of a year of running without being plagued by injury.

 

Buy the book here.

 

Tender heel

 

I didn’t run for the first few weeks after I got home from Amsterdam. I was exhausted and groggy and in need of restitution. After a couple of weeks, I noticed that my right heel was tender. To begin with it only hurt when I got up in the morning and walked about indoors. It wasn’t so much pain as much as tenderness, which I wanted to get rid of, because I was afraid it might develop into something more severe. I tried running a couple of times, and to begin with doing so had no effect on my tender heel. After a few runs, however, I could feel that running wasn’t a good idea.

 

Shockwave

 

I started going to a physiotherapist, who after a few treatments started using radio shockwave therapy. This involves the use of an apparatus, which fires high-energy shockwaves in rapid succession into the area to be treated. These shockwaves are purely mechanical and not an electrical treatment form.

 

Treatment produces an inflammation-like reaction in the treated tissue. The body reacts by increasing the blood circulation and metabolism in the area, thus stimulating and accelerating the body’s own repair processes. The shockwaves break down the damaged tissue, which is then replaced by new tissue.

 

Fitness centre

 

It was now 2011, and I hadn’t done any sport for several months. I began to get concerned about my up-coming marathon in China. Would I have got over my injuries and would I be able to manage the marathon in purely physical terms without training? I started going to a fitness centre to do spinning, aka. Indoor cycling, and weight training.

 

At the same time as physiotherapy, I also went to craniosacral therapy. I couldn’t just sit there doing nothing and had to do what I could to get myself ready for my spring classic.

 

Sports physician

 

The treatment given by my otherwise excellent therapists didn’t work in this instance, so I sought alternatives. I found a sports clinic, the owner of which was the physician of the Lyngby Boldklub football team. He ascertained that I had damaged the sinew at the point, where it attaches to the bone. He explained that it wasn’t jogger’s heel (Plantar fasciitis) although it was related. There most certainly was hope, and he assured me that I would run again.

 

This sports physician also gave me shockwave therapy, but his equipment was much more powerful and this time the treatment hurt a bit. The doctor also recommended that I buy new individually designed inserts for my running shoes, which I then ordered. For a while, I thought it was helping, but then the problem returned. After seven treatments, the doctor and I agreed that this was not the right treatment for me.

 

Acupuncture

 

While I was receiving shockwave treatment, I also consulted a Chinese doctor who gave me acupuncture and suggested some changes to my diet. Although the heel injury hadn’t cleared up, I attended her clinic for the most part of a year and found that her treatments were good for my general well-being.

 

No plan B

 

Unfortunately, the injury didn’t just disappear. I had no plan B, but I was determined to do The Great Wall Marathon cost what it may.

 

On 21^st April, I ran for the first time that year, which was tough going even though I only ran five kilometres. Within the next week and a half, I had increased in my distance to 24 kilometres. It was still not easy and took a long time. But it boosted my self-confidence to be able to run that far.

 

I went for a long run 13 days before the marathon, but after 13 kilometres my heel started to hurt again. I didn’t want to challenge fate, so I went home and decided not to run one more metre until the big day. I had hope, but I was still seriously worried.

 

Buy the book here.

 

Reunited with China acquaintances

 

In both 2009 and 2010, I was in China in the same group as Michael, and in 2010, we were together with John. He is the runner who lost a lot of weight I wrote an article about. The two of them were going to run the Amsterdam Marathon on 17^th October and asked me, if I wanted to join them.

 

Lads’ trip

 

I certainly did want to run in the Netherlands capital and asked Steffen, if he would like to join us. He said he would like to go to Amsterdam, but had other ideas entirely. Together with two of his mates, he wanted to spend Friday and Saturday on the town drinking beer and all that went with it. Emil didn’t want to go but I insisted. The trip fitted in with the autumn half term, so he wouldn’t miss a school day the following Monday.

 

Doubts about running

 

When I signed up for the marathon three months before the event, I was in good shape and looking forward to the experience. But in the meantime, my period of dizziness in September had put me out of the running for a while, and I was in doubt as to whether I would be able to run in Amsterdam. But everything was bought and paid for, and I was looking forward to the trip with my sons and the others. I didn’t actually reach my final decision until a few days before the run. At that time, I had trained very little because of my involuntary break.

 

Full car

 

Michael and John couldn’t leave until late in the afternoon, while the rest of us wanted to travel in daylight and be in Amsterdam by evening. In the end, five of us were in my car. We had a good journey, though. We took turns sitting in various seats, so I didn’t have to drive the whole way, and we shared the middle of the back seat.

 

We left Roskilde at around midday on Friday 15^th October and were through Germany in no time, only stopping at a motorway café on the way. We arrived in Amsterdam in the early evening and found the Hotel De Filosof, where we had booked rooms. Steffen and his pals were going to town that evening, while Emil and I went to bed relatively early. We hadn’t slept very long, though, before we were woken by Michael and John on their arrival.

 

Impressions of Amsterdam

 

We didn’t see much of Steffen and the two other young men on that trip. Their pub crawl on the Friday had lasted most of the night, so they spent most of Saturday asleep. The rest of us went to pick up our running numbers at an exhibition hall and spent the day discovering the city of many canals.

 

Red light district

 

We met up in the evening to have a meal together at a restaurant, after which we went for a walk and ended up in the red light district. Amsterdam’s red light district was different to anything else I had ever seen. Up and down the streets, there was one shop window after another with prostitutes posing for passers-by. Each business premises was very narrow and in the background could be seen a bed. Through many of the windows one could also see roles of kitchen paper, lubricating cream, massage oil and various kinds of sex toys. There were doors in the windows themselves, so that customers could get in and out. In some places the blinds were down, so it was obvious that there were customers.

 

The character of the streets varied. In one area, Thai women were posing who didn’t look particularly womanly. Well-filled knickers bore witness to the fact that these were shemales or ladyboys. In a couple of places we saw tourists taking pictures of the “wares”, but this was not popular. Women who otherwise had smiles on their faces were angry and threatened the persistent photographers.

 

Coffee shops

 

In some places, we caught wind of a very special scent emanating from the establishment. These turned out to be coffee shops, where the consumption of marijuana is permitted. We were neither going to visit the ladies of ill repute or coffee shops. The young men went off into the night, while the rest of us returned to the hotel so as to be fresh for the Sunday run.

 

Lost chip

 

When on the Sunday morning we were to depart for the start, I realised that I didn’t have my registered chip in my shoes. I had started using new shoes since my last marathon and had thoughtlessly thrown out the old shoes without taking off the chip. I now really had to hurry to get down to the exhibition hall where I could rent a chip for the day’s marathon. So I arrived at the start panting and stressed at the last moment.

 

Olympic Stadium

 

The first Amsterdam Marathon was held on 3^rd May 1975 and is one of the world’s most popular. The marathon was run for the very first time on 5^th August 1928, at which time it was an Olympic discipline, and the city was hosting the world’s biggest sports event.

 

 

Ideal route

 

Like the rest of the Netherlands, the route of this marathon was relatively flat. So by definition, it was not a tough run, and the weather was good. It was autumn and not particularly cold, although at one place along the route we were met by a cold wind, I could well have done without. But it didn’t rain, so in many ways it was the ideal day for the event.

 

 

The start and finish were at the Olympic Stadium, built for the great event 82 years earlier. As I had previously experienced in Stockholm, waiting to start at a venue where Olympic runners had done the same many years ago was a very special experience.

 

Totally shattered

 

In brief, the race was tough – very tough. The weather and the terrain were ideal, but my state of health was not. I really should have done myself a favour and skipped this race. It was far too soon, considering the warning I had been given in the form of dizziness. But it wasn’t until after my body had told me to stop that I actually understood the warning.

 

The final few kilometres were particularly tough going, in fact completing them was quite horrendous. My time was 5:30:29, which was very slow for a run of this calibre.

 

 

Detour on the way home

 

At the finish I almost didn’t have the strength to bend down and take the rented chip of my shoe when it was time to hand it in.

 

After the run, I also had to walk back to the hotel. Probably because I was so worn out, I took a wrong turn and ended up taking a long detour. That was not exactly what I needed at that point in time.

 

 

End of the season

 

Michael and John were sitting in the bar when I arrived back at the hotel, and the four young men had taken my car home earlier in the day. We had supper at a Belgian restaurant, although my appetite was rather limited.

 

On Monday morning, it was time to go home, and it suited me just fine that Michael wanted to drive all the way. I sat on the back seat glad not to have to do anything at all. The season had now come to an end, which it in fact probably should have done a month earlier.

 

Jamie’s sad farewell

 

The day after I came home, I visited Jamie for the last time on the Crown of Scandinavia. It was her last day on the boat as well as her birthday. When I got to the gangplank, Jamie stood there crying. “It’s not a good day” she sobbed. They had held a party for her the previous evening, and she had been given presents. Now a good time was over for her, and it was time to say goodbye. This hurt, because she now felt as though she were part of the Crown.

 

Jamie had little appetite at lunch and didn’t say much. When we said goodbye later on in the car park, she burst into tears. I gave her a hug and whispered: “Jamie, my Chinese daughter”. That sentence has been with us ever since.

 

Buy the book here.

 

A lovely invitation

 

Jamie wanted Karin and me to come on a cruise with the Crown of Scandinavia while she was working on the boat, and I found out that it left Copenhagen on Saturday 21^st September and would be in Oslo on 22^nd September, the day of the Oslo Marathon. To me it was obvious to kill two birds with one stone. I wanted to visit Jamie on board the boat and run the Oslo Marathon on the same weekend. Karin couldn’t fit the trip in, so I went on my own, which was not unusual.

 

 

Like a glove

 

It looked as though everything was falling perfectly into place. The boat would dock at 9.45 a.m., and the run started at 10.30 a.m. The start was only a short walk from the harbour. Because the boat didn’t leave again until 4.30 p.m. it ought to be possible for me to finish the marathon before departure.

 

 

Running numbers could be picked up on Sunday morning, but also on the days before that. So to avoid stress and standing in line, we agreed that Jamie would pick up my running number at the secretariat on City Hall Square on the Friday while the boat was in Oslo.

 

 

Jamie didn’t want to run. At the time I signed up, she had never run a marathon before, so two runs of that distance in the week would have been a bit much, to say the least. In addition, she didn’t think there would be enough time, because she had to change and be ready to receive passengers immediately after departure, whereas I could do what I had to do after we had sailed.

 

Dizziness a spanner in the works

 

But I didn’t run the Oslo Marathon in 2010. Dizziness a few days beforehand had put me out of the running. I was just about to write to Jamie and tell her that I couldn’t come, but this was not easy. I really wanted to experience the voyage with her and knew that she was looking forward to it. It probably also made no difference whether I was lying dizzy in my own bed or on board ship, and I ended up going.

 

Jamie as stand-in

 

On the Saturday, Karin drove me to the ferry terminal in Copenhagen, where I was met by Jamie. She showed me that she had been wearing her medal from Odense under her blouse for the last six days. When I told her that I was unable to run, she immediately said she would do it for me and that I should have the medal. I would under no circumstances want to receive the medal I had not deserved. It would never be given a place on my wall, but for Jamie it was the most natural thing in the world that she would run and I would have the medal.

 

 

I enjoyed my voyage with Jamie despite the dizziness. She had a good deal of work to do, which suited me just fine. I was able to relax in my cabin. Fairly late that evening, Jamie and I had a good meal in one of the restaurants on board and enjoyed each other’s company.

 

Spectator at the start

 

When we arrived in Oslo on the Sunday morning, Jamie had changed and was ready to run her life’s second marathon just one week after the first. We walked together to the start on Festningsplassen. It was a bit chilly, but Jamie was happy and smiling, ready for another race. That year’s event was the 30^th anniversary of the Norwegian capital’s marathon.

 

 

The starting pistol went off for group no. 2, of which Jamie was part, at 10.03 a.m. I waved goodbye and had a look around the square. I was a bit dizzy but didn’t want to spend a day on board the boat.

 

Now an official runner

 

At one stage, I caught sight of a van with Danish number plates from Ultimate Sport Service. I went over to have a look into the van and there, right enough, sat Claus, managing the timekeeping just as he does year after year on Yin and Yang Square. Claus was very surprised to see me standing there instead of running. I explained the situation to him and asked if he could get my name on the running number changed to Jamie’s. That would be no problem. I gave him her name, date of birth and nationality and Bob’s your uncle, Jamie was suddenly professionally running her own marathon.

 

 

I soon found my way back to the boat, where I relaxed with a book and had lunch in the staff canteen to which Jamie had secured me access.

 

A surprisingly good time

 

During the afternoon, I went back to Festningsplassen to be there when Jamie crossed the line. I was there in good time and thought I would have to wait quite some while. I was rather worried as to whether Jamie could get back and be ready to start work. This marathon was obviously more up and down hill than Odense, where she had been exhausted towards the end. I also thought that running again so soon afterwards would be tough going.

 

 

But I was very gladly surprised when Jamie came running across the finishing line well before I had expected her and with a time of 4:33:28 – 18 minutes faster than a week earlier. I was speechless, and Jamie was very glad, particularly when I told her that she had run the marathon in her own name. She said that had she known that, she probably would have dropped out, but couldn’t permit herself to do it in my name.

 

Nightclub visit

 

At boarding time, Jamie stood newly washed and uniformed ready to receive her passengers. Now she had two medals hidden under her blouse. We enjoyed another nice meal that evening at a restaurant, and then went for a couple of drinks in a nightclub, where a Hungarian band was playing pop music of several decades.

 

 

Assistance to the specialist

 

On the Monday morning, I took a taxi to the ear, nose and throat specialist in Hvidovre, where I had an appointment. Jamie insisted on accompanying me, as though she were my mother. We said goodbye to each other afterwards, this time on Valby Station, where we took a train in each our own direction.

 

Buy the book here.

 

No more marathons two Sundays in a row

 

I had planned to run marathons two Sundays in a row because I didn’t believe it would be a problem. I had done it in May, and I had also previously run an ultra-marathon. If you can dream it, you can do it! There can be many good reasons for launching into all sorts of things. But mind and body influence each other and you can’t cheat. I learned that lesson at The Big Five Marathon in 2005 – and again in September 2010.

 

Catching up

 

Between 2006 and 2009, I kept a low profile as far as marathon running was concerned. Those two years, I only ran three marathons in China with nothing between them. But in 2010, I intended to be back up at full strength. That year I ran two tough half-marathons, six marathons and a triathlon. I had also intended to run one more marathon. This came to nothing and actually, I ought to have skipped the last run of the year as well.

 

It was not surprising that I was tired when I came home from the marathon in Odense. This was nothing exceptional in itself, and on the following day I felt fine. But the day after that, Tuesday 21^st September, was epoch-making.

 

Vertigo

 

That day, I spent the whole day working for a client in Copenhagen, and when I got up from my chair during the day, I felt slightly dizzy. It wasn’t serious, although it did make me wonder. When I was driving home that evening, I suddenly felt very dizzy in the car. It felt as though the whole world was spinning round. I had to pull over and relax for a while before driving cautiously onward. It happened once more, but I did manage to get home in one piece.

 

Once back home, I went straight to bed and the dizziness simply got worse. Everything was spinning round even though I was lying down. It was reminiscent of hanging on to the playground carousel in my childhood while the big kids turned it faster and faster.

 

Inner ear infection

 

Things hadn’t improved the next day. I had no idea what it was and it made me anxious about my future at work and as a runner. I had one assignment that absolutely had to be done that day. It involved writing a single page of A4. But it was almost impossible for me to get the job finished. I had to write the letter bit by bit through the day, and I was almost unable to see on the screen what I had written. Karin had to proofread it for me when she came home before I dared print and send it.

 

I got an appointment with my General Practitioner as well as a referral to an ear nose and throat specialist. My own doctor believed that my balance nerve was infected by a virus, which is quite rare. It is due to virus infection of the vestibular nerve, which is responsible for sending balance signals from the inner ear to the brain. This nerve is quite simply paralysed by the infection. I was told that the dizziness I was experiencing could persist for several weeks, so the situation made me feel very uneasy.

 

Visit to the ear nose and throat specialist

 

I was unable to get an appointment with a local ear nose and throat specialist without a long wait, but I succeeded in getting an appointment at Hvidovre hospital on the outskirts of Copenhagen on the following Monday. A few days after this consultation, my dizziness began to disappear and when I went back for a check it had more or less disappeared completely, and I was able to drive there by car. The specialist did not believe it could have been an infection of the vestibular nerve, because it would have lasted a lot longer. In his opinion my body had simply said stop because of stress.

 

If you don’t want to listen you must feel

 

But it all made sense to me. I had decided to run marathons two Sundays in a row. My body had probably sent me signals telling me not to, but I had ignored them. There is an old Danish saying which says “If you don’t want to listen you must feel”. I started feeling in the autumn of 2010.

 

Buy the book here.

 

An old acquaintance

 

Like the marathon in Copenhagen earlier in the year, I had run this marathon a couple of years earlier. Another similarity was that I was to run marathons two weekends in succession. The outcomes were entirely different, however.

 

Jamie’s debut

 

I had chosen this run because Jamie had asked me if I would run it with her. Since I had already considered running this marathon, I might have come anyway.

 

The 11^th Hans Christian Andersen Marathon was run on Sunday 19^th September 2010. On the Saturday afternoon, I picked up Jamie at the quayside on Dampfærgevej (Steam Ferry Road) in Copenhagen. She spent the night with us, so that we could leave for Funen by car after breakfast. We had to pick up our race numbers before nine o’clock, but by a stroke of luck, my neighbour was also going to run and had gone on a weekend trip to Odense with his family. He picked up our numbers as well as his own, so all we had to do to be ready for our run was to find the family.

 

International run

 

The marathon, the largest stakeholder of which was Fjordager Sports Club, had attracted more than 4,000 runners from all over the world. In terms of participant numbers, the race is only beaten in Scandinavia by Stockholm, Copenhagen and Helsinki.

 

 

Because of its flat course, it is also a fast race, where many people set their own personal records. There was music and narration at several points along the route. The music was organised in collaboration with the Culture Secretariat of Odense Municipality. At two points along the route, it was also possible to check the timing on digital clocks. The start and finish at Odense Athletics Stadium were on big screens, and Radio 3 Funen was broadcasting direct.

 

New course since last time

 

The route had been changed since I last took part in Denmark’s fairy tale marathon. For the third year running, the start was at Odense Sports Hall and the finish at the Athletics Stadium, which are both quite close to each other. This meant there were no problems with parking, etc.

 

The starting pistol went off at 10 a.m. As was the norm by then, they also used pace makers, a collaborative effort with the Copenhagen club Sparta. The time intervals were every quarter of an hour from three to five hours. Jamie and I decided to determine our own timing and ran together from the start.

 

2 x half-marathon

 

The run comprised a half-marathon distance which was to be run twice. The route took us through much of the Funen capital and we also ran out along Næsbyhovedvej , where we rounded the old embankments of the former Næsbyhoved Castle, which has played an important role in the history, not only of Odense but also of Denmark.

 

 

We ran along the Odense Canal and round Odense Harbour and, as you might imagine, we also ran past Hans Christian Andersen’s house. We then followed the city’s Latin Quarter and the former Brandts Clothing Factory, which now houses museums, a cinema, cafes and restaurants. Quite some way along the route, we crossed the river before passing Funen’s largest employer Odense University Hospital. Having crossed the heath, we approached the finishing line, although we had no reason to rejoice this time around as it only indicated that we were halfway finished.

 

Young and impetuous

 

Jamie hastened me on from the very start of the run. As a young debutant, she wanted to get ahead quickly, but as an experienced marathon runner I knew my limitations. Jamie disappeared from sight over the horizon more than once, and on several occasions I didn’t think I would see her before I crossed the finishing line. But that was not the way it turned out. After a period as a solo run, I caught up with her once more.

 

Nip into a cafe to get out of the rain – no way!

 

At one stage it began to rain, and Jamie stopped running and asked if we could seek shelter. She thought it would be appropriate to go into a cafe and drink coffee until the rain had stopped. I laughed and reminded her that we were running a marathon, which continued regardless of what the clerk of the weather might have in store for us. Jamie later found that situation amusing, too.

 

 

Together across the line

 

Towards the end of the run, Jamie was the one showing the greatest signs of fatigue. I had the welcome opportunity to walk for a while when Jamie was unable to run anymore, and we ran across the line hand-in-hand with a time of 4:51:29. Like nine years before, free beer was also being served at the finish. The sponsor this time was another brewery, with Vestfyen serving up that year’s delicious brew.

 

After the run, we visited a Chinese couple living in Odense who Jamie knew. They served Chinese dishes and we drove home later in that evening to Roskilde.

 

Buy the book here.

 

Ironman

 

In 2001, I had the idea of completing an Ironman before I reached 50. An Ironman consists of swimming 3.8 kilometres, cycling 180 kilometres, and then running a marathon. The first Ironman was held in Hawaii on 18^th February 1978 after a group of Navy SEALs had been discussing, who was in the best shape. To decide the matter once and for all, their commander, John Collins, proposed that they combine three existing long-distance competitions on Hawaii into a single competition. And the winner? Well, he would be called an Ironman.

 

My new goal in mind, I bought an old racing bike and began to take swimming lessons. I had found swimming difficult and after a few years I had decided to stick to running marathons.

 

Distances for everyone

 

The triathlon fortunately accommodates more than just the ultimate Ironman, and there are many different distances, giving athletes at different levels the opportunity to take part.

 

After running the Helvede i Nord (Hell in North) half marathon, in the spring of 2010, there lay a folder behind the windscreen wiper of my car. I put the folder in the car intending to throw it away when I got home, but it didn’t suffer that cruel fate. I had a look at it, and it caught my interest. Hillerød Running and Triatlon Club (Langgarverne) was inviting participants for a triathlon meeting.

 

The meeting had two distances on offer, designated gold and silver. I know that a bronze route has since been added. The route was identical for both categories, the difference being that gold participants would run it twice. I had no idea how good I would be at swimming and cycling. I knew that I would have to swim breaststroke, but had no inkling as to how long it would take. The time requirement for gold was eight hours. I reckoned this had to be possible, so I signed up for the long distant.

 

Dog in a game of skittles

 

The meeting began on Sunday 22^nd August at 8 a.m., at the public swimming pool in Hillerød. I arrived in good time and signed in. I had come alone and knew nothing about the procedure. I had to ask about the most banal things and felt rather like a dog in a game of skittles.

 

 

First I had to find the stands in which competitors would hang their bikes by their saddles. This was in the transition area between the disciplines, so you left your sports clothing and other equipment next to your bike. In the changing rooms, I met seasoned athletes putting on wetsuits and bathing hats. All I had with me was a pair of old bathing trunks. I fell into conversation with an experienced Ironman, who talked a lot and had everything under control. I didn’t even know which door to leave the room by. He was talking about how irritating he found breaststroke swimmers, who got in the way of everyone else. I decided to keep quiet.

 

Swimming

 

Your race number was written in waterproof marker on the back of one hand, and your chip was supposed to be attached to a strip of Velcro wrapped around your ankle. In the swimming pool, we lined up in order, and entered the water by the steps at intervals of 20 seconds. The first athlete entered the water at 8 a.m.

 

 

We swam in a spiral lane, that is to say that we swam the 50-metres length of the pool in lanes. The pool was divided into six lanes using lane makers which allowed free passage between the lanes. Five lane makers made six lanes, the first and the last being half width. After the first 50 metres, we swam under the lane maker to lane two, which we swam in both directions. This continued until we had swum 500 metres. As gold swimmers we then got out of the water to walk over to the start and do another round.

 

I can well understand the super athletes not regarding our presence as conducive to their own performance. But then again, one could always argue that if they felt that way they could stick to elite meetings, at which I can guarantee them I would not turn out. I swam breaststroke, although I did briefly try the crawl a few times. While I lay there splashing, one swimmer after another charged past me. My overall time for the 1000 metres was 36:42 minutes.

 

Transition area

 

After the swimming leg, we left the pool in the opposite direction of the start side with direct access to the transition area where my bike was. Here it was just a question of getting out of your swimming trunks and into cycling gear and cycling shoes and putting on your heart rate monitor. We had to have left the transition area before we started cycling and the place was clearly marked. After that it was on your bike and off.

 

 

Back and forth

 

The route took us to Skævinge first, from where we continued to the main road, Amtsvejen, where we turned right and headed back to Hillerød before taking another right to take us back in the direction of Skævinge. After 20 kilometres, there was a much needed water station, where I filled up my bottle, got back on my bike and rode straight for Hillerød. A kilometre before the venue of the meeting, I came to a turnaround at the roundabout on Peder Oxes Allé – Trollesminde Allé. From here, the whole route repeated itself.

 

Dehydrated

 

I had thought there would be water at the turnaround and had therefore emptied my bottle with a clear conscience. But there was no water station here, which was irritating although the fault was entirely mine. I could have checked or taken an extra water bottle with me. That sort of thing comes under the heading of dearly bought experience. I had to wait another 20 kilometres for water.

 

Puncture-free

 

Fortunately, my tyres didn’t puncture, but a lot of other people weren’t so lucky. I spoke to one woman who had changed an inner tube twice, and on numerous occasions, I saw bicycle inner tubes lying on the road, abandoned by athletes, who didn’t have the courtesy to take them to the nearest rubbish bin.

 

Wasted time

 

After the second round and 76 kilometres on the bike, I was back at the transition area. Because I didn’t have a tri suit, I had to change clothes again. My running number had been on my back while I was cycling, and for this discipline it needed to be on the front. Before I set off to run, however, I needed a drink of water, so I asked one of the officials where I could get some. He had no idea, so I had to search transition and found some in the end. As a result, I spent quite a lot of time there whereas others had simply changed shoes and continued. What was more, it turned out that there was a water station just outside the transition area, so I could have spared myself the time I had spent looking.

 

Difficult transition

 

It was really odd starting to run after riding such a long distance on a bike. It felt as though my legs didn’t work properly.

 

The run was an out-and-then-home affair with a little of it on asphalt and the rest along woodland roads and paths with plenty of cool shadowing. We crossed a major asphalt road twice along the route. I had been short of water on the cycle ride, but here there was plenty to drink, with three water stations. When I had done ten kilometres and was back at the start, it was just a question of setting off once again, to make up what was almost a half marathon.

 

 

My first triathlon secure

 

Having covered 97 kilometres altogether, I crossed the line with a time of 6:43:11, which was more than an hour and a quarter from the time limit. The fact that I was the last to cross the line took nothing from my pleasure at having completed my first triathlon.

 

 

Buy the book here.