Feb 20

Feb 20 Running a marathon way up north, the Maratonkarusellen - Bergen, Norway

While in Stockholm, Sweden for work late in 2016, I realized I would be in Europe for a short weekend. I decided it’d be good to find something to do and happened across a marathon in Bergen, Norway at the Maratonkarusellen website. Given that they hold the race in December, in Norway, I assumed it’d be snow and ice, but I was wrong. The description on the marathon site says:

Welcome to Bergen – the City of Marathons …… and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Bergen is "heaven on earth" for runners. Not too hot in the summer and a mild climate during the winter. Even at wintertime, the tracks are often free from snow and ice.

I googled the weather report, and it turns out there is very little snow in Bergen, but there is a lot of rain. Bergen averages 239 days of rain a year, which is nearly 90 more days of rain than Seattle, Washington gets!

From Stockholm, it’s a relatively quick trip but took two plane flights. If you are going in the summer, and have the extra time, I’d recommend you take the train from Oslo, Norway. I’ve heard from friends that it really is Europe's Best Train Journey. The mood on the plane was set since the woman sitting next to me was knitting a very Nordic looking wool sweater.

For convenience I stayed at the Clarion Bergen Airport Hotel, just a short drive from the airport. It turned out to be a great choice since I had one of the very best meals I’ve ever had at a hotel. They were serving a traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner, Pinnekjøtt. From this site, they describe it as:

Pinnekjøtt is ribs from lamb that have been salted, and sometimes also smoked, to preserve it. Though it is a fairly easy meal to make, it is by no means quick. For preparation, the meat needs to be soaked in water to remove most of the salt, which could take around 30 hours(!). It can pretty much be left to its own devices, however, leaving you with time to focus on the side dishes.

The restaurant also served it with a dish of fat to pour over the meat, delicious!

The marathon itself is an out-and-back on a rails-to-trails type course that is paved the entire way. The highlight of the course was Santa’s house. It was a quiet affair without a lot of fanfare. I spoke to a few people, and they got a kick out of me being from Columbus, OH. I was really pleased with my running time, just over 4 hours despite the 3000+ feet (1000m) of elevation gain, mostly from gently rolling hills.

Unfortunately, because of the very short days in early December, I didn’t see much else on my trip. I drove into the city, but just saw a lot of lights on the hills surrounding the bay. However, the nice relaxed marathon and excellent meal made this a very memorable trip. I hope to get back to Norway to find additional ultrarunning destinations, but highly recommend a visit to take part in one of their well-run marathons.