Midnight Sun Marathon - Tromso, Norway

I'm running the Midnight Sun marathon in Norway in June. The course is relatively flat, with, I'm told, a couple of "steep" hills.

Has anyone done this race before?

 All tips gratefully received.......

 Many thanks

Adam

Comments

  • Adam

    Only real hills are crossing the bridge at around miles 2 and 12, the rest is fairly flat.  I've been there twice although I only managed the half last year, enjoyed it both times - nice place and a good atmosphere.

  • Hi

    I've registered for this as well, its my first full marathon so I'm glad to hear its relatively flat.

    JF, how did you find running in the evening/night? At the moment I'm doing most of my training in the mornings/before work, and all my races so far has been in the morning... so I know I probably need to move some of my training sessions to the evenings to get more used to it. Suppose I also need to plan something else than porridge/breakfast for my pre-race food.. any tips?

     mon

  • Thanks JF for the info,

    I'm glad the last hill is at 12 miles and not 22!

     I agree Monica on the pre-race food problem. I'm planning to carb load the day before and have a normal breafast and v.light lunch. If you find out any more tips please let me know......

     Adam

  • Mon, I found running in the evening was far better but I don't really like running in the morning.

    I don't know if I'm the right person to ask for advice as I didn't have a very good race, the wheels came off around 16 miles and the last 10 miles were a bit of a nightmare, ending up with a pw.  I think my splits were 1:37 and 2:03.

    I ate a reasonable meal mid afternoon in a restaurant and bought some bananas and the like in the supermarket.  Where I think I went wrong was because my family was with me I did the tourist thing during the day.  We walked across the bridge to the cable car and the arctic cathederal as well as round Tromsø.  I must have walked nearly 10 miles - not the best preparation.

    Good luck, I'm sure you'll enjoy it -  Jack

  • Hi folks - I'm doing the Midnight Sun marathon, it's my first marathon so I'm a wee bit aprehensive. I work in Libya so do most of my training over here. Did 18.5miles last Friday and got another 2 long runs to do before I taper off. Recently having trouble with my Achiles Tendons so having to to bike work through the week with a long run on Friday!

    Monica; I too am pleased the course doesn't sound too tasking....

  • I'm nervous/excited too, especially since I've had some terribly sore/tight calf-muscles so I had to stop training for nearly a week and a half. The longest run I've done so far is 16M, but will try 18 this sunday, and 20 next. Then its only 2 weeks left to the race.

    I'm worried that I'll get sore calfs again during these long runs though,  so I won't be able to do the race...

    Its been such  a journey the whole preparation, I had no idea.

  • Got my long run today, a 15miler, here's hoping my tendons don't play up too much although I should imagine I'll be hobbling around tomorrow;) Next week I'll do my 20/22 miler and that'll be it for the long runs! Can't wait to get over to Tromso, really looking forward to it..

    Adam / Monica - How's your training going??

  • Monica have you been for a sports massage? If you're starting off with tightness in your calves then I'd recommend you go for one now and another three or four days before the race, I tend to suffer from cramps and tightness when I do high mileage weeks but  a decent sports massage sorts me out and lasts for days. Make sure you find a good practitioner though, I'm sure you'll find some good recommendations on here depending on where you're based.
  • Interested to know how you find this one. Am tempted to do net year o feedback will be very good to hear.

     Good luck to you all!

  • Hi Lirish - thanks yes I have been for massage and going for another again soon, hopefully it will help. Did 17 Miles yesterday and just a little bit sore today, so hopes up for my longest run next sunday, McLeany, hope you are making good recovery.

    By the way  - hot tip -  bring some good insect repellent, I've heard North of norway can be bad for small midgies / large mosquitos 

  • I hope everyone's training going well....?

     I managed a steady 20 miles last weekend in exactly 3 hours. Have felt pretty sore all week but at least I've got the miles in my legs. Should hopefully keep me on track for a 3.45-ish time on the day.

     Starting to taper down now so 12 miles this weekend.

     Thanks for the tip Monica on the midgies!

  • Good luck to you all: I suppose with less than a week,this course profile won't make much odds now, but for anyone else contemplating it, this is how flat the course is:

    http://connect.garmin.com/activity/17643449

    ... plus some of this might help:
    http://comments-zero.blogspot.com/2007/11/running-marathons-half-marathons-in.html

    Although now I read it back, I keep seeing myself mentioning the word 'flat' over and over again.

    Enjoy!
  • Thanks so much for this James, really helpful.....

    Cheers,

     Adam

  • You're welcome!  There's only really one hill to be concerned by - there's a short sharp climb at around 10 or 11 miles in (you run under the bridge and then double back up to get onto it to run back towards the town) and then the road back from the airport is rolling, but as it's on the coast it's basically flat. 

      (Not that it feels like that after 20 miles, of course...)

    What I remember being, well, interesting was running down the bridge back into town - think I fried my quads the last time I ran the MSM.  But it's all good.

  • Corky2Corky2 ✭✭✭

    Hi all

    Forecast is 6 degrees c and heavy rain so wrap up warm.....

  • Yes the forecast looks nasty, and we're even staying in a tent - eeek!
    Can't wait to get away, our flight is tomorrow morning, I am dead excited. I've actually been a bit emotional this week thinking about all the months and weeks of training and how we're soon gonna find out if its been enough and all worth it??!!!

    Best of luck to all of you, enjoy!!

  • I hope everyone survived? I couldn't believe the weather, it was dreadfulimage.....

     I managed 3.39 so was pretty pleased.

     Hopefully there will actually be some midnight sun next year!

     Adam

  • Holy Thread resurrection Batman...

    I am considering this race for 2018.  Has any one run the marathon since 2010?

    Would you recommend it?  
  • A group of us ran it last year. Took me six flights to get there and back from Scotland!

    Tromso's a nice if small place.  The race is a complete novelty and for that alone is worth it.  Start/finish is really central so it's unlikely to be a hardship getting around.

    It was cloudy almost the entire time we were there, which was a bit of a shame.  The place had a bit of an eerie feel because of that; it felt like an early morning race despite rocking up to the start line for 8pm!

    We had a nice meal in chain type place during early afternoon before chilling until race time. 

    As for the course, it has a couple of long out-and-backs, which was actually great for getting to see the other runners in our group as we plodded along at our respective speeds.  Good support in town, and very little everywhere else!  Mostly slightly undulating with a couple of bigger ascents/descents either side of the big bridge.

    Good fun.  Go for it.
  • Many thanks.

    It is the novelty factor which is really appealing.

    Booked! :-)
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