Bonus points at play again
During The Great Cruise Marathon in 2004, we met Maria and Robert from Tórshavn. They told me about the Tórshavn Marathon and it attracted my interest already then.
In March 2006, it dawned on me that I had a load of SAS bonus points that were about to expire. I discovered that I could share with Karin and that we were free to choose a destination in Northern Europe. We decided on the Faeroe Islands, which we found rather fascinating and had never been to before.
About the Faeroes
The Faeroes lie to the north of Scotland between Iceland and Norway, at the heart of the North Atlantic Gulf Stream. The country consists of 18 islands with a total area of 1,399 square kilometres. No point in the archipelago is more than five kilometres from the sea. The highest peak is 882 metres, while the average height is 300 metres above sea level.
The climate in the Faeroes is temperate, and the weather is extremely changeable. One moment the sun may be shining from a cloudless sky, and the next it is misty and showery. But the air is always clean and fresh no matter what time of year it is.
The Faeroes are not in the EU but are a self-governing part of the Danish realm. The islands have their own currency with the same exchange rate as the Danish Krone and which can be used throughout the realm. The population numbers less than 50,000, of whom almost 20,000 live in the capital Tórshavn. The vast majority of the population depend on fishing for a living.
A dilemma
I booked a long weekend with Scandinavian Airlines, and at the same time e-mailed Robert for info about accommodation and tourist destinations.
To my amazement, Robert wrote back that we would be up there on the very weekend of the Tórshavn Marathon, which put me in something of a dilemma. It was the first time I was travelling with Karin without a marathon as part of the package, and she was looking forward to it. I had attached great importance to the trip being just for the two of us – and without running shoes. But now I found it difficult to imagine myself in the streets of Tórshavn staring at the numbers on people’s backs without wearing one myself. Karin would believe forever that I had known about the run beforehand and that it was part of a hidden agenda. But loving as she is, she said I should sign up for the marathon.
Accommodation problems
We had trouble when it came to booking accommodation. There was not much to choose from in mid-July, and the marathon was perhaps part of the reason. We had contact with hotels, youth hostels, private accommodation and the tourist office, but none of them could provide an optimum solution, and we rebooked several times before finally finding a solution with the help of the tourist office.
Yuk, what a stench
We arrived in Tórshavn on the evening of 13th July and went straight to the tourist office to pick up the key of the flat we had booked. They told us there had been a problem with the drains, but that they believed the problem had been solved. When we arrived at our flat in the middle of the town and opened the door, we immediately shut it again. The stench was intolerable. We had no option but to go back to the tourist office and tell them we couldn’t stay there. With a lot of toil and trouble they succeeded in finding us private accommodation, although it wasn’t quite as central. It wasn’t exactly luxurious but by that time we simply needed somewhere to stay.
We ended up in a children’s room in a basement with two awful beds. We had a fine living room with a television and a not entirely hygienic kitchen. All the same, we chose to eat at home and cooked food bought at a local supermarket.
Sightseeing in the capital
Friday we went sightseeing in Tórshavn. We wanted to hire a car on the Saturday, but there was none available. Had we known we would have booked in good time before we left home.
We picked up my running number later in the day and went to a pasta party at the town’s stadium. Here we met Robert, who it turned out was the organiser of the marathon. We told him about the coincidence of the trip and the run. He laughed. Like Karin, he didn’t believe me either, when I told him I had no idea that the marathon would take place at this time.
Outing with obstacles
Saturday we went sailing off the bird cliffs, but we almost didn’t go because of a mistake by the tourist office. We had bought tickets for the bus and the sailing trip, but when we got to the bus terminal there was no bus. We waited for a while, and then a man who had an errand at the bus terminal came along in a car. We asked him about the bus, and he said it didn’t run on Saturdays. So there we stood tickets in hand, like a right pair of idiots. By coincidence and fortunately for us, the man was an employee of the firm that owned the boat we were to sail on, and he gave us a lift.
The bird cliffs
This trip gave us the opportunity to see the Faeroes from a front row seat. We sailed past Slættenæs, a deserted village on the island of Vágar by the unique, vertical bird cliffs north of Vestmanna.
We got right up close to the cliffs and tilting your head back and looking up you grasp the grandeur of the bird cliffs. It was a very special experience seeing cliffs towering a half kilometre into the air.
The trip had been most enjoyable, although the sea got a bit rough on the way back, which was not very pleasant.
Marathon in the rain
The Tórshavn Marathon is traditionally run in mid-July, when the weather is cool and ideal for running marathons in. This year, however, I would not have minded better weather.
Sunday 16th July was race day, with the start at 12 noon. We walked to the start in pouring rain, which unfortunately lasted for most of the day. The festive spirit at the start of the Little Archipelago’s national marathon was constrained. The clerk of the weather wasn’t on our side that day.
The first 5.8 kilometres took us through the streets of the town. This section was shared by all the categories, marathon, half marathon, Fun Run and 5.8 kilometres. A shorter, three-kilometre Fun Run consisted of a kilometre and a half through the town and back along the same route. After the tour of the town, the two long-distance categories continued along the coast road and back again the same way.
The half-marathon distance was arduous, but there was no traffic. There were two long hard hills just before the turning point, so these also had to be negotiated on the way home. The marathon runners also ran over these hills but then continued along a completely flat stretch along Kaldbaksfjorden to the village of Kaldbak, where we turned about-face and took the same route back to Tórshavn. The entire route was a veritable nature experience, through immense, magnificent cliffs. The rain and mist did, however, rather limit the beautiful experience.
The weather and hilly terrain meant that the run was no “bathing holiday”. I crossed the finishing line within the time limit of six hours, albeit as the very last – more than one hour after the next to last.
Out on the town with tired legs
My legs gave me no rest that night, and I tossed and turned in the bed. Despite my aching legs, however, we walked around town all day on the Monday and really got our money’s worth from our visit to this charming, hilly town.
When we walked to the bus on Tuesday morning, it was raining again, making a delightfully fresh end to an agreeable trip to one of Europe’s most north-western backwaters.
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