HANINGE TRAIL RUN

When I woke up this morning, I wasn’t feeling too excited about running a race. I’ve had a slight cold this week and haven’t been able to fit in any long runs lately. But I pushed myself to get ready and made my way to Haninge anyway. The weather was fantastic, with a temperature of nine degrees, and once I got there, I started to feel pretty good after all.

When the race started, a large group took off at a fast pace. I quickly realized I wouldn’t be able to keep up with that speed, so I settled into my own rhythm.

The kilometers ticked by. We moved in and out of forest groves, across open meadows, and up and down hills. The terrain was fairly straightforward, mostly consisting of fitness trails, so the pace was decent. Still, the course had a fair amount of elevation, and I ended up accumulating just over 400 meters of climb.

The last five kilometers, I kept pace with another guy. He was a bit faster uphill, while I gained on the descents, and we kept swapping positions back and forth. Then, on the final stretch to the finish line, we went into a full sprint, and I managed to win by a mere second! It was so much fun.

I finished 26th out of 62 men, and given the circumstances, I’m really happy with that result. I don’t think there were many 50+ runners ahead of me either. It was such a great day, and I’m so glad I pushed myself to get there!