Stoltzen Opp 2011


Yesterday was the big day! The much anticipated Stoltzen Opp - the steepest race in the world! It was quite an event!! Marius, Knut and I all participated. 1000 people raced on Friday, but approximately 5000 people raced on Saturday! When we got there, so many people looked like very serious runners with their spandex apparel. Most were doing an intense warm up, but I did one little warm up jog and then watched all the more serious runners. It was pretty funny. The first people up started Saturday morning at 9:15AM, and from then on, the next runners were released every 10 seconds until 6:30PM.

The whole way up the track there were numerous photographers, and halfway up there was a video camera. I had enough energy then to send a wave and some smiles. To keep myself going I had my iPod with me playing I Won't Back Down (Tom Petty), Lose Yourself (Eminem) - a great running song, and some other songs to keep my pace steady the whole way up.

In retrospect, I wish I had turned down the volume a little bit because in the last 100m, Marius had the announcer say a little thing about me and I didn't hear any of it til the very end ("And we are so proud to have you here!"). Supposedly it began with: "Justine Diaz from White Lake, Michigan! A big day for Michgian!! Juuussstiiiinneeeee!!! Where are you, Justine? Here she comes!" Supposedly he went on like this the whole final minute and a half until I crossed the finish line. Too bad for all the people ahead of me who didn't get announced haha Just hysterical!

I was number 2629, and in the 18-34 age group (379 competitors) I came in 178th place with a time of 16 minutes and 50 seconds. I'm happy with that time, considering my goal in the beginning was to beat 20 minutes! My goal for next year is to get below 15 minutes. I think I can do it! But for now, my next race will be a half marathon.

Mellomtid 1 Mellomtid 2 Mellomtid 3 Sluttid
Justine
02:34 07:40 (05:06) 14:37 (06:57) 16:50 (02:13)
Marius
01:50 05:46 (03:56) 10:57 (05:11) 12:30 (01:33)
Knut
01:50 05:16 (03:26) 09:57 (04:41) 11:27 (01:30)

Comments

  1. JudithSeptember 25, 2011 at 5:06 PM

    Congrats babe!! that's awesome! you'll enjoy the 1/2 too - it's totally reasonable.

    ReplyDelete

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