The Solar Eclipse Marathon 2012

June 1 2016

Eclipse of the Sun

 

A total solar eclipse is a phenomenon that occurs early in the waxing phase of the Moon, when it is between the Earth and the Sun. During this phase, the Moon will cover the light of the Sun, casting a shadow on the part of the Earth’s surface. On the grounds, the lunar shadow is experienced as an eclipse of normal daylight.

 

With the help of astronomic calculations, solar eclipses can be accurately predicted many years into the future. It is known precisely where and with an accuracy of a few seconds when a new eclipse of the Sun will take place.

 

Three years’ notice

 

In December 2009, Adventure Marathon was able to present its next spectacular run, which would not take place until three years later.

 

On the morning of 14th November 2012, local time, there would be a total eclipse of the Sun over the holiday resort of Port Douglas, north of Cairns, in the north-east Australian state of Queensland. Albatros Travel had secured the right for participants of the Eclipse Marathon to have front seat tickets to this fabulous solar-lunar show, since the marathon would be starting at Four Mile Beach. From here, there is an unobstructed view of the Coral Sea. It would be possible to experience both the sunrise and the solar eclipse, the marathon starting immediately after the latter. This would make The Solar Eclipse Marathon the first sporting event in the world to have an intergalactic starting pistol.

 

The organisers most likely announced the new run with three years’ notice because the price would be way above what participants otherwise paid for marathon trips. With so much notice, runners would have plenty of opportunity to save up the necessary funds. From the time the announcement was made it was possible to sign up for a news e-mail in order to keep up to date with developments regarding the event.

 

Dilemma

 

I was dead keen from day one and really wanted to run this marathon, but there was something else that pulled in the opposite direction: The Solar Eclipse Marathon was to be run two days before Emil’s 18th birthday. I had always been together with Emil on his birthday and couldn’t imagine not being there with him on the day he came of age. Of course, I considered the idea of taking him with me, but at that time he would no longer be in year one, but already well up the education ladder. It was by no means certain that he would be allowed to miss out on lectures. At the same time, there was the financial aspect of it. It would be very expensive for me, and having to pay for others as well would involve an enormous outlay.

 

Limited places

 

As time went by, newsletters began to arrive relating to the marathon. As with so many of the other events, various packages would be available all according to how much you wanted to experience and how long you could spend away from home. For me, there was no doubt that any participation on my behalf would be on the shortest possible trip. It would have to fit in with work and private life at home, and finance would certainly play in as well. It was obvious that only a limited number of participants would be able to travel to Port Douglas. The number of hotel rooms and plane seats would impose a limit. During that period, marathon runners would not be the only people, who wanted to find their way to the beach. All sorts of people would want to experience this natural phenomenon. However, Albatros did expect to be able to secure seats for 2,000 participants.

 

As time went by, my dilemma regarding Emil’s birthday did not diminish. I spoke to Emil about it, and he couldn’t see a problem; I could just go as I had so many other times before. It didn’t matter to him if I was not there on his birthday. The problem was, though, that it still mattered to me.

 

Yet another family trip

 

As the time to make a final decision approached, Emil said he would like to come with me but that he had two conditions. His teenage indolence meant that he would not even consider running. He didn’t think, either, that it would be much of a thrill going alone with his dad. So if Steffen came along, so would he.

 

Steffen was dead keen and had been from the outset. Steffen had already been to Perth in Australia twice as part of his education. From August 2012, he would be attending school in San Diego, California for 18 months. It turned out that both Steffen and Emil were able to get time off college to travel to Australia. Steffen would be travelling from the US, and the family would get together “down under”.

 

Day and a half journey

 

Emil and I arrived at Copenhagen Airport in good time because I wanted to make absolutely sure that we could get an aisle seat on the flight. When we arrived, we were informed that our flight to Heathrow at 6 p.m. had been overbooked but that we could take a flight at 3.50 p.m. instead. I was not particularly keen on that, but we were told that if we couldn’t get a seat on the 6 p.m. flight our onward trip to Australia might be in jeopardy. We chose the stressful solution with rapid check-in, a bit of quick shopping and then to the gate.

 

The early departure didn’t shorten the journey; it simply gave us longer to wait in London, though we found a lounge and spent the time there.

 

The next leg of our flight left at 9.55 p.m. This was the long haul to Singapore, the journey of almost 13 hours. We arrived in Singapore in the morning local time and left soon again on the same plane. The next leg was also quite long, seven and three-quarter hours passed before we touched down in Sydney. “Oops,” I thought, “where did that day go?” It was suddenly 7 a.m. in Sydney, and the trip was not over yet. Our next flight left at 9.20 for Cairns, which took only three hours. We were nine hours ahead of Denmark and had been travelling for a day and a half. It was now 11.20 a.m.

 

We were met at the airport by Rune from Albatros. We got our suitcases and found our bus. Just over an hour later, we arrived at the Sheraton Mirage Hotel in Port Douglas. There sat Lars, also from Albatros, in the reception ready to receive us. We were checked in and shown up to our lovely room, where we settled in. Sleep soon got the better of us, and we both dropped off.

 

We awoke, as Steffen stepped into the room. He had tried to knock hard on the door, but we heard nothing, so he had had to go down to the reception to get his own key.

 

Sheep separated from goats

 

Every time Adventure Marathon does a new marathon, you meet people from previous trips. Some people turn up from time to time, whereas the hardcore turns out every time there is something new. In Australia, the sheep were veritably separated from the goats. There were several people I knew from other trips but apart from yours truly, only the married couple Anita and Flemming had participated in all seven previous events.

 

On the second Great Wall Marathon in 2000, I had had the pleasure of being in the same group as Anita and Flemming. Since then, they had been along every time there was a new Adventure Marathon, and they had also run marathons with other event organisers around the world. Karin and I have also enjoyed Anita’s and Flemming’s company outside the sphere of running. One lovely summer evening in 2004, we had a barbecue in our garden before setting off for a concert with the Lars Lilholt Band at Gisselfeld Castle in Haslev.

 

Never too late to restructure your life

 

Flemming is wonderful proof of the fact that it is never too late to change the way you live your life and that we have the resources we need to achieve our goals.

 

Flemming is a trained boilermaker, and in his youth he was a talented competition cyclist as well as doing athletics. Sport has not, however, followed Flemming all the way through life. For a period of five years, he was really on the ropes because of maniacal drinking. In his senselessly inebriated state, he didn’t care a damn about anyone or anything. Alcohol was all that mattered to him – even if that meant drinking Anita’s perfume to sustain his drunken stupor. Flemming had been on the way to a certain early death. His legs were so thin and wobbly that they were barely able to carry his bloated body. He rarely consumed solids, and Anita had to feed him to make sure he got the very basics. Not surprisingly, his kidneys and his liver were damaged by the severe treatment he was subjecting his body to.

 

Everyone had abandoned Flemming, apart from Anita, that is. She constantly stood by him like a faithful, unmoving rock, fighting for her dear husband and their marriage in the hope that things might change.

 

???????????????????????????????

 

One day during the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, when Flemming was sitting watching television he concluded that enough was enough. With a will of iron which has since taken him through many marathons, he fought his way out of his alcohol abuse. Once an alcoholic always an alcoholic, but Flemming is now a dried-out alcoholic, who for many years has not even touched a piece of chocolate or a dessert that contains alcohol.

 

Running became Flemming’s new stimulant. It started in a small way, and the first time he could run a full kilometre without stopping was a fantastic victory. His membership of Kokkedal Running Club gave him meaningful companionship, and at the age of 53, Flemming ran his first marathon in Copenhagen in 1995 – with an excellent time of under three hours to boot. In the years that followed, Anita and Flemming have travelled the world to many marathons and tremendous experiences. Flemming is not just a runner, he is a fast runner and among his trophies is one for a Danish Championships in his age group.

 

IMG_1426

 

Great Barrier Reef

 

Sunday morning, we met up with a large group of people at the harbour in Port Douglas. We boarded a ship to take us to the world’s biggest coral reef, the Great Barrier Reef, a fantastic marine park on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. The Great Barrier Reef stretches for more than 2,600 kilometres and consists of 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands, covering a total of 244,300 square kilometres. It goes without saying, of course, that we only experienced a tiny bit of this huge area. We snorkelled and were given a ride in a miniature submarine from which we could study the fantastic living world beneath the surface of the sea, with gorgeous corals and thousands of curious and colourful fish. We had lunch at sea, heading home in the middle of the afternoon.

 

???????????????????????????????

 

Mossman Gorge

 

Monday morning, we drove as a group to the rainforest area around Mossman Gorge, where we had a bite to eat and were given some information. After this, we had about an hour to see the River Mossman, which meanders through the luxuriant green jungle.

 

IMG_1444

 

Daintree

 

After this, we drove back to Port Douglas, where we visited the Daintree Rainforest National Park, which is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, also on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Port Douglas is the only place in the world fortunate enough to be surrounded by two national parks on the World Heritage list. After lunch, we explored the park’s three areas, rain forest, wetlands and grassland. We saw a lot of animals including koala, kangaroo and crocodile.

 

???????????????????????????????

 

A day on our own bat

 

We had the Tuesday to ourselves to prepare for the marathon. In the evening, we met up with the others in the hotel lobby and were driven to the harbour in Port Douglas for an information meeting and pasta party.

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Quivering excitement and champagne

 

The great day, 14th November, had finally arrived. At 5.15 a.m., the bus left for the start on the beach. Here we could hand in our personal fluids and energy gel. We were given breakfast and were then ready for the excitement of the day. The beach was full of people as far as the eye could see. Excitement quivered among the crowd, some of whom had brought along champagne. None of the marathon runners, I hasten to add. Everybody was given special sunglasses with cardboard frames. Looking straight at the Sun without them could seriously damage your sight.

 

???????????????????????????????

 

Day to night and night to day in two minutes

 

The Sun was magnificently positioned in the sky. Unfortunately, there were a lot of clouds, so it was not certain how beautiful the solar eclipse would be. We were soon able to see the incipient eclipse, which started at 5.51 a.m. The whole beach sighed as clouds covered the Sun, whilst there was jubilation when it came out again. The eclipse was total at 6:38:04. Experiencing day and night so close to each other was an enthralling phenomenon, a genuine once-in-a-lifetime experience. At 6:40:09 the total eclipse was over, and it became light again – absolutely incredible.

 

???????????????????????????????

 

Solar eclipse travellers

 

Just as we travelled around the world to run marathons, we met several people who did the same to see eclipses of the Sun. We understood from them that what we experienced that morning had not been among the most fantastic of eclipses, but neither had it fallen into the lowest category. But we hadn’t experienced anything like it before, so for us it was unique.

 

IMG_0606

 

Intergalactic starting pistol

 

The Solar Eclipse Marathon began just five minutes after the solar eclipse was over. It was morning, so the temperature was merciful. But it didn’t remain that way.

 

My GPS watch didn’t work. After we had arrived in Australia, it hadn’t been able to find the satellites. I had to switch it off and back on again, which made it work although I lacked the first half kilometre.

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Fine start despite recent injury

 

The start went just fine. Earlier in the autumn, I had had to take a break from running because I had pulled a muscle one evening during training at Roskilde TRI. I couldn’t feel it, but I wasn’t in top shape. It gradually started to get hot, at which point I realised it was going to be a tough day.

 

Bump Track

 

From Four Mile Beach, we ran out of Port Douglas, passing fields of sugarcane and mountains, until after 15 kilometres the course took a straight into the rainforest, where we had to negotiate the tough ascent known as the Bump Track. We were in the shade here, but that didn’t make it a bathing holiday. We had to run up a steep, hilly mountain path that seemed never to stop going up and up. Then I met runners on their way back down again and realised what was in store. It was not until after four kilometres that we reached the place, where we were given a rubber wristband and could turn round to go back again. Now we had to run the same four kilometres downwards, where I had met runners on the way up. Running wasn’t easy in this direction because you had to hold back and keep a watchful eye on the terrain to make sure you didn’t fall. It was lovely and cool in the shade, but I was looking forward to coming back onto the flat terrain.

 

Australien

 

Extremely hot

 

By the time we had come back down again, the sun had got really hot. In fact, I actually missed the mountain path. We didn’t experience any more shade. This was tough, and I felt sapped of all my strength. I couldn’t run very long at a time and often had to slow to a walk. After a while, I was actually only power walking. The surface varied a lot, and the view of the mountains was impressive.

 

Rumbling stomach

 

I had made sure I had plenty of power drink and energy gel distributed along the route. I actually had too much of it, so I started feeling nauseous, and my stomach began to rumble. I ended up throwing away the last two bottles and then put away the gels in my bum bag.

 

Australien 2

 

New Antarctic opening

 

I ran the final six kilometres together with an elderly American gentleman by the name of Greg, who was travelling with Kathy Loper Events. Greg had run more than 300 marathons. I asked him if he had run in every state in the US. He hadn’t yet, although he had run on all the seven continents. I had to ascertain that I was highly unlikely to experience that milestone. My comprehension was that the Antarctic was out of reach because of the price and the fact that you had to wait years for a place on the marathon. Greg told me that Kathy would soon have a run in the Antarctic that was affordable and which it was possible to sign up to.

 

Four Mile Beach

 

The last three kilometres took us along the beautiful Four Mile Beach. To say we ran would be a gross exaggeration. The heat was so extreme that Greg and I negotiated this stretch at walking pace.

 

???????????????????????????????

 

Across the line with Steffen

 

Steffen and Emil were standing 100 metres before the finishing line to receive me. Emil was filming, and Steffen ran across the finishing line with me. He did so despite the fact that he was totally shattered after his own run, which he had completed in 5:47:36. My time was 6:36:39. By way of comparison, the winning time was 3:06:22, that of a local runner. The half-marathon distance was also won by an Australian with a time of 1:40:05. In all, 350 men and women completed the half and full marathons on a day with high humidity and about 30 degrees Celsius in the shade, which most of the day had been very difficult to find.

 

The finish lay in the palm-fringed Rex Smeal Park in Port Douglas on a peninsula with a view of the Coral Sea. Here I was loudly presented over the loudspeakers as Mr Great Wall Marathon by Lars Fyhr. I had something to eat, and both Steffen and I had a massage, after which we took a bus back to the hotel.

 

Seven Continents within reach

 

Thursday, on our way to breakfast we met Kathy Loper. I asked her about her plans to organise a marathon trip to the Antarctic. She actually had one on offer already in February 2013. I felt that was a little too soon for me, especially as I would also be running in both China and Myanmar that same year.

 

But after breakfast, I read up on the trip on Kathy’s website and became more and more enthusiastic. I realised that the trip not only involved a marathon in the Antarctic, but also one in South America. It would be tough going, of course. The idea of actually being relatively close to running a marathon on all seven continents excited me.

 

Gala party

 

The gala party was held that evening, and for us there was no problem getting there because it was held at our hotel. We had excellent food, some local entertainment and speeches by the people from Albatros.

 

There was no presentation of awards or highlighting of individual performances like in China, but it was a fine event.

 

Homeward bound on his 18th birthday

 

On the Friday, it was time to go home, and at the same time Emil’s birthday. It wasn’t exactly the most festive of birthdays, but we were prepared for that and had enjoyed some wonderful days beforehand.

 

I had been told the previous day that our bus would be leaving at 9.30 a.m., but when everyone else we had been with left at eight we were suddenly not so sure. And it turned out that we were also supposed to have left at that time, but couldn’t possibly make it because we hadn’t packed yet. We were told that it wouldn’t be a problem, but I wasn’t so sure, and felt a bit stressed.

 

We arrived in Cairns at 11 a.m. to new problems because the check-in queue was very long. We had to run around in a state of panic to find staff, who could help us get through more quickly. We also had to say goodbye to Steffen, who was to spend the day alone in Cairns because his flight to the US didn’t leave until the following night.

 

Also in Sydney, we had our work cut out because our next flight left very quickly after we landed there. We were to stop over in Singapore, where we didn’t have much time, either. I just managed to turn my clock back to UK time before midnight. By doing so, we kept Emil’s 18th birthday alive.

 

The last stopover was London Heathrow, where we had a bit more time and could sit down for breakfast. It was getting difficult to keep track of time, but it was now morning in Europe. We were back home in Denmark before noon, and yet another amazing journey was over, and a unique marathon had been run.

 

Unrepeatable run

 

Astute folks are bound to be able to calculate when the next solar eclipse will be visible from the beach in Port Douglas. It will no doubt be in many years from now and not in my time, probably not even in my great-grandchildren’s time. The Solar Eclipse Marathon was thus a one-off run, though the name could, of course, be reused elsewhere in the world.

 

Buy the book here.

 

Engelsk forside