Midnight Sun Marathon, Tromso

OwDog

Hello, I've entered the Midnight Sun Marathon this year on June 17th and wondered what advice people could give me. I'll be travelling alone and it'll be my first marathon outside of the UK and in unfamiliar surroundings. I'll be turning up to run quick and not just to get the medal. Sub 3 is my goal for the year so I'll be going for it at every Marathon. What weather conditions should I prepare for? I am a Gluten Free runner, will I have options with regards to my pre race nutrition? How would people approach race day and the prospect of starting at 20:30 pm? I suffer with stomach cramps and therefore often benefit with a 10:00 am start where I have eaten a light breakfast 3 hours before. I am worried about the prospect of a full days nutrition especially in foreign surroundings. What happens at the finish line? Expecting to finish at 23:30 pm I expect I'll be on a natural high and won't be ready to get into bed. Where do people go? Does anything happen on the Sunday afterwards? I won't be going home till the Monday. Basically any information will be helpful. Can't wait to tackle it. Just want to be ready! Owen

Munchkin2

I have not done the Midnight Sun Marathon but did the Polar Night Half Marathon in Tromso last year and a friend of mine then went on to do the Midnight Sun Marathon.

Firstly do not worry about the surroundings. The people in Tromso were so nice and their ability to speak English was far superior to my ability to speak Norwegian. We had no problem getting around (Tromso is not that big), nor with communication.

The main thing that we both noticed (the Polar Night starts around 4pm) is that working out when to eat was a bit trickier. I guess we are used to getting up in the morning, having brekkie, running, then having lunch/ dinner. We stayed in an apartment so were able to cook up some pasta for lunch and had enough time for it to settle before running. For the Midnight Sun event you will probably want to have a very late lunch. However, it should be noted that food is VERY expensive in Norway. Even filled pasta and sauce (the basic stuff we get in the supermarket) was around £16 in the supermarket. However, we did have some fabulous meals including reindeer croutons - yummmmmmmmmmmmm! Sorry, I can't assist on the gluten free point as it is not something any of us needed to be worried about. However, if you are concerned about energy bars etc. I would suggest bringing your own just in case.

We went on a trip to see the Northern Lights after the 1/2 marathon and got back into Tromso around 4am on the Sunday morning - the town was busier then than it had been during the day. I can't recommend places to go but I can tell you that there will be places to go! When we went it was around -10 during the day so colder at night and the party goers were dressed as if they were in the Caribbean! I was in as many layers as I could fit on and a down boiler suit

What sort of thing do you want to do on the Sunday? My friend went on a boat trip and really enjoyed it. We went cross country skiing but that won't work in the summer. We also visited the Tromso museum which was pretty interesting and walked around the town.

I would go back, actually, it has even spurred us on to look at the Spitzbergen marathon, as it was such a lovely trip. 

 

 

Eggyh73

I ran this race with some friends from this forum last year.

The weather last year was cool/cold. The conditions suited me just fine. I think warm weather would be more unusual that far north. It'll most likely be colder than what you train in leading up to the event.

Food wise there are a few Italian restaurants in the town where you can get lunch. Tromso isn't large and a quick bit of googling should be able to get you websites, or phone numbers to check that they cater for GF diets. There's no language barrier, they all speak perfect English.

Pre-race fuelling and getting it right is possibly more a case of trail and error. A group of us had an early pasta lunch and most felt fine that night. On the other hand I had my stomach churning for the opening few miles. That may have just been a coincidence though.

After the event last year there is a small event area at the finish with beers and some other offerings. There isn't a huge amount of things open at that time of night, but a few hotel bars and bars will be open.

On the Sunday there is a prize giving event if you want to attend. Last year a few of us went for a walk and took the cable car to the viewing area at the mountain overlooking the town. There's a nice little restaurant/bar up there is you want some drink/food and a view.

Nessie

Useful info on the Coeliac UK website about travelling to Norway:

https://www.coeliac.org.uk/document-library/173-norway/?return=/gluten-free-diet-and-lifestyle/holidays-and-travel/country-guides/

Dirk_Gently

It's very expensive. There is an expensive vegetarian restaurant in town and a place where you can eat pasta. Course was OK, sometimes a bit boring, but I should have looked up I suppose. The Km markers counted down when I did it or I was running the wrong way. 

SteveCRunner

OwDog said:

Hello, I've entered the Midnight Sun Marathon this year on June 17th ...

If it's any help you can look at the Strava plots for teo of these. I think it tells you the weather on those days, or you could look for an archive weather site.
https://www.strava.com/activities/157659012
https://www.strava.com/activities/117946281
I'm a bit short of time right now, but I live in Norway and can help out later if you're unsure of anything