It was a hard run.
Not unexpected as such, but a hard wind hitting directly from the front on the high bridge, really ate a lot of power and speed.
A lot of people broke and had to start walking.
But it was difficult from the beginning.
The start was very narrow and there where a lot of runners.

I lost almost two minutes each kilometer for the first four kilometers and then the strong headwind.
But the difficulty with to many runners was a problem for as much as 16+ K’s.
I had the luck running with a young woman, that totally matched my speed from the very beginning.
For the last three K we paced each other.
I had no energy left, but because she was there I gave it a little more effort 😁
She crosssed the finnish ahead of me.
Well deserved for the help she gave.
Before the race, in the morning, I was hit by an intense pain, right below my ribs in the right side.
My body totally locked and I could hardly breathe.
At the same time my legs cramped and I got a small nosebleed.
A couple of painkillers, some salt and some lemonade.
The drive to the parking area for the race was 1,5 hours, and then a bus ride to the starting area.

It was all very well organized, even if the waiting for the start was long.
The weather was very good, and that helped.

But from I drove of at home at 11 and until the starting gun went of at 16.30 was a long time.
I forgot my energy water bottles at home, but it was easy to get some in the starting area.
My had handed my three of her fantastic bars.
I ate them slowly over a couple of hours before the race and finished with an energy gel 20 minutes before start.
I did the run with just one cup of water, because most of the water stops where strange…
And because the crowd of runners made it difficult.
But I did not feel thirst was an issue.

At around 16K’ish, I felt a small cramping begging to evolve in the back of my right leg.
I quickly took a gel and the cramping dissapeared after 1K.
Pushed harder down the bridge and even more for the last three K’s.
Even if the recorded finish time is mediocre in my own eyes, I came in 5 in my age group.
And I was recognised in the bus back to the parking area as “You are that guy that also runs Trails, you are onevof those elite runners…” 😄
A good testament, that I’m comming back 👍
My HR was at 84% on average through the race, but for most part I kept it at around 82%.