Copenhagen in 2013

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Eurovision Song Contest

I have been watching the Eurovision Song Contest on the computer for the last ten years, but when Sweden won in 2012, I decided that it was time for me to go there and see it in loco:



The show would happen on May 19th. And by one of these great coincidences in life, the Copenhagen marathon was scheduled for the very next day! I couldn't pass on such an opportunity, now could I? So, off to Denmark/Sweden we went!


Pre race sightseeing

We arrived a week before the events and spent our time doing some sightseeing. We went for instance to the Museum of Modern Art in Malmö:


 Can you see me in the picture above?

We visited the Glyptotek Carlsbad in Copenhagen:


I went to the war museum:



Of course I had to go see the Little Mermaid:


We went to the Karen Blixen museum:



"I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong hills..."

The same day we visited the Louisiana museum, "the most beautiful museum in the world":



Let me tell you, the Danes are not exaggerating on this one, the museum is indeed incredibly beautiful. 


In Malmö 

On Saturday, May 19th, we went to see the final of the song contest in Malmö, Sweden:

The shopping center right beside the arena is truly a marvel of modern engineering and architecture:
 

It was Denmark who won the contest with the very beautiful song "Only Teardrops":


Race Day

Days before the race I saw this poster on the streets warning the locals about the street closings on Sunday:


We all know where this goes...:

Warm-up before the race:

And off we go!:

There was a big screen that showed the marathon and had tweets going on all the time (in Danish, of course):

Ten minutes after we started running, it started raining. First it was just a drizzle, then it became rain and right after it was a downpour. Within seconds we were soaking wet, the clothes got heavier, everything got more difficult. Exactly what I needed for my first marathon... :-(

 I was hoping for a five-hour time. I stayed with the 4h50 pacers for half of the way, but by km 23 or 24 I couldn't keep up with them anymore. And by km 28 the 5h pacers passed me as well, I couldn't keep up with them either.

 By km 30 I was seriously considering giving up, everything hurt so badly I could barely walk. What kept me going was what I called the "parade of zombies": kilometers and kilometers of people walking their way to the end. Misery loves company, I guess... Definitely the human body was not made to run 40 kilometers. Thirty, maybe, but not forty...

 Anyway, somehow I got the strength to keep going against all the pain and suffering and I got to the finish line.

My wife told me that this group of pink runners finished their race with somersaults:

Here am I, finishing the race:

It was so damn hard!... The clock shows 5h36 but my official time was 5h24.

My wife brought me a change of clothes:

Back at the hotel, showing off my medal:

A bunch of medals, close-up:



And here are my splits:
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PB list Distance PB Event 5K 23m40s FADOQ 2019 (Montreal) (during the 10K!)* 10K 46m41s FADOQ 2019 (Trois-Rivières)** 3K (march) 18m46s FADOQ 2019 (Trois-Rivières)*** Half marathon 1h52m09s Montreal 2019 Marathon 4h00m50s Munich 2022 * The total distance of the event was 9.8Km instead of 10 Km, so this was not a full 5K; close, but not quite; ** The distance was 9.5 Km  instead of 10 Km, so this was not even close; *** The distance was not even 2.8 Km. Race list Click on the city name to read my full report of the event: Date City Country Race type Time Comment 2011/09/25 Montreal Canada Half marathon 2h52m56s Walking 2012/06/30 Båstad Sweden Half marathon 2h41m21s 2012/08/12 Mont Tremblant Canada Half marathon 2h30m22s 2012/09/23 Montreal Canada Half marathon 2h20m36s 2013/05/19 Copenhagen Danemark Marathon 5h24m33s 2013/08/11 Mont Tremblant Canada Half marathon 2h07m3
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