Bergen 2XU Half-Marathon Race Report

April 26th was my third half-marathon. It was intended to be my marathon debut, but some injuries to my heels set me back two weeks on training, so I had to postpone. I couldn't get a refund, so I went for the half-marathon anyways.

[Eve of the race]

Bergen is the best in the spring. The morning started out with overcast, but the clouds quickly dispersed just before I had to be at the start line. There was a "felles oppvarming" (group warm up) 15 minutes before the race. I found a friend (Knut's sister) who was also running and we started out together. It was her first race, and when the gun went off, she too took off. I think she forgot that we had a good climb ahead of us. The loop began at historic Bryggen and continued along the side of the mountains, including at 4km climb. There were a couple of inclines along the route, so I was glad I did not do that marathon since it was the half-marathon loop twice around. 

[Course map and elevation profile]

[I thought I was done with hills...nope]

To gain back the time lost trudging uphill, I let my legs loose on the downhill and subsequently suffered some left knee pain around the 12th kilometer. Luckily much of the rest of the course was relatively flat. I ran past my old stomping grounds at the biology building of the University and past the IMR. 

Marius, Knut and Knut's dad went to four places along the course to cheer for me and Knut's sister and take pictures of us. The cheering was great for finding the hidden energy for the tough parts of the course. The final stretch was lined with hundreds of people cheering for the runners. I found my "third wind" and sprinted through the finish. Felt good! I did not set a personal record (PR), but I was just a minute shy of beating it!

Distance: 21 km

Time: 1:48:44

Place in class (W23-34): 76 of 549

Place in gender: 148 of 1294

Place over all: 819 of 2954

[Happy runner]