Stockholm Marathon (June 09, 2001)
Stockholm, Sweden was an excellent place to visit and a great place to run a marathon. We arrived on June lst after a flight via Heathrow airport with British Airways. The weather was a clear and sunny 70F. We spent a week getting acquainted with the Swedish people and with Stockholm: a lovely city situated on 14 of the 24,000 islands that make up the archipelago. Bridges and tunnels connect all the islands, which make up the city. The weather remained good usually 60 to 65F mid-day and then it would get cloudy, windy and much cooler, about 55F, after 3 or 4 pm. The days were long with the sun appearing at about 4am and never really getting dark until about 12 am.
The city has approximately 70 museums and we were able to visit about a third of them. For us, the Vasa Museum was the most interesting. It holds the warship Vasa that sank only about 30 minutes into its maiden voyage in 1628. It was brought up in 1961 and carefully restored after having been very well preserved for over 300 years in the low salinity of the local seas. Stockholm also offers a wide variety of entertainment. We enjoyed an Eagles world tour concert at the Globen, the world's largest spherical stadium. For our final evening, we took a jazz cruise on one of the century old steamships that offer regular cruises around the archipelago. The Tunnelbann and bus system made it easy to get around in the city.
We stayed on the island of Lidingo in the guest apartment of a couple we met during our annual trips to Florida. The island suburb is very green with miles of pretty running trails. There are lots of up and down trails through horse farms, woods and by several picturesque marinas. We only got lost on the trails once. The Lidingo Loppet held there in October is the world's largest cross-country race. It is described on the web at, www.lidingoloppet.se. From this beautiful rural setting, a short bus-Tunnelbann connection put us in the center of the city.
Finally race weekend arrived. The expo was very small with a good showing from other European marathons but few equipment or clothing exhibitors. The one that was there had articles for display only. Reebok was there with an electric car shaped like a sneaker!
The pasta party was good. They served bowties with meat sauce with a choice of either sundried tomatoes or basil pesto and rolls. There was beer, OJ, Pripps Energy drink or mineral water to drink. Pripps was a major sponsor and supplied both the beer and the energy drink. There was a band and the songs were all in English. Language is not a problem for Americans in Stockholm because almost everyone speaks English. Dave won a door prize, a yellow and blue hat (Sweden's colors), (I think because he had on his 100th Boston jacket, which is the same color.)
The marathon started Saturday at 2:15pm! They had four corrals and used the honor system. My corral exited the stadium grounds via a large field. Everyone, men and women alike, took one last opportunity to head for the bushes. Then we ended up on the street outside the stadium that had been used for the 1912 Olympics with another group formed ahead of us. I climbed on a guardrail and held onto a lamppost to take a picture of the huge crowd, a lot of them behind me!
The course was two loops around the city, starting at the stadium and running past museums and parks using the many bridges to cross over to the each successive island. It was somewhat warm to start, 60 degrees and sunny. The first loop took me two hours. I carried a camera and stopped to take several pictures including one of our hosts, who were there for both loops. Water and Pripps energy drink were served every 2km. Sponges were also available. They served powdered sugar cubes at 19km and again at 38km.
Just as I started the second loop, it turned cooler and dark clouds formed, accompanied by gusting winds. This was a typical weather phenomenon that happened everyday between 2 and 4 pm. However, this time it got blacker and blacker and then at about 30km the rain came down in buckets. I noticed as I ran on to the long high bridge for the second time that it was also hailing. My shoes got heavy and started to slosh, my hands were cold and the hail stung. It was about 50F. I put on my singlet but it was little help. I worried that my feet would blister.
Once we were completely soaked the rain seemed to let up. But then it started again with thunder and lasted another 15 minutes. It did stop sometime before the finish.
Finally I noticed that we were in the vicinity of the Olympic Stadium. We entered from the side and ran most of a loop on the stadium track. They called my name and suddenly it was all over. I had run a 4:02:51 chip time. I was soaked but able to walk. I usually finish in the largest part of the crowd. It was a sea of white plastic blankets as we walked out of the stadium to an outdoor arena behind. There was a large stairway down to the athletic field below. As I looked back the sea of white blankets looked like a waterfall dropping into the staging area.
We crossed a small footbridge to accommodate the volunteers removing our chips. Then on to the tents labeled S-M-L-XL. I wondered what they were for a minute, then realized it was our finishers' tee shirt pickup. Then on to pick up my dry clothes. No-- I should say wet clothes. The bags were stored in the open on the gravel and were completely soaked. Luckily I had a jacket inside that had prevented a long-sleeved shirt from getting wet but my jeans were soaked. David fared somewhat better. We had covered his backpack with a white plastic bag for identification and most of his clothes were dry. He had run a 3:50:14. After injuries having interrupted his training, he was happy to have completed it.
The sun came out even though the mist continued for a while. The refreshments included hot dogs and beer on the hillside above the athletic field. If you ventured down into the gravel pit, it was rain soaked and there was a muddy stream you had to cross to get to the water, sweet rolls, and yogurt.
We highly recommend the Stockholm Marathon and would like to return, perhaps in 2003 for the 25th.
-- Mary Wenck and David Morgan
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