Curremus

Start 08:00 PM Thursday 4 of August

So fun to meet all runner friends 

The rain kept on increasing as we got closer to the start. Luckily I like to run in weather 🙂

Started of together with Jessica and our plan was to keep a slower pace than the 4 favourite tipped runners. We ended up together with a group of runners taking turns leading/navigating. Thanks Joakim for guiding us all through the ravine of Mölndal. 

This was one of the best starts of an ultramarathon for me. I usually start way to fast. Due to the heavy rain all the trails had turned into small streams. And Robert’s course took us through a very mixed terrain from tarmac to fields of reeds longer than me.

All of a sudden in the middle of nowhere Snabba Fötter Kenth appears to cheer us on. That was a jolt of energy, and something that I’m so grateful for. 

Reaching AS1 at 6:34am 8h34m 

Made a smooth change of shoes, socks, shirt and refilled my hydration bladder with my Umara sports gel mix. I’d mixed 7kg of Umara sport with water to create 10,5liters of gel enough to last me the entire race. Always refilling my 1,5 bladder at every AS from the 5liter canisters that I had, one in each drop box. 

Started as 3d on the second leg. But after a couple of minutes Jessica told me to run faster  since my legs appeared to be quite fresh. So I did and planned to catch up with the leader I try to keep he’s pace for one or two legs if I could. 

Reaching the leader he cheered me on and said something like “go go go”. So I did. And kept a pace which I felt was comfortable. Thinking that he and the others will probably caught up with me as runners usually do on ultras. Its never good bye it’s always see you later when you pass someone or gets passed by someone. Robert’s course still threw us the occasional curveball making us run straight where it would have been easier to go around and the opposite as well. Out climbing rocks and cliffs along the seaside. 

Reaching AS2 at 12:09PM 14h9m still feeling fresh and also realising that I had a chance of reaching AS3 and 100 miles before dark I tried to make a swift stop. Checking the battery in my watch I realised that the cable had broken but luckily I had a new one in my dropbag. 5 p @kullamannen 🙂 

Headed out onto leg 3 with the intention to complete it before sunset. But I still packed a headlamp just in case. 

Leg 3 continued to be really hard with a lot of running of track jumping on cliffs and wading through a lot of waters. For anyone thinking of participating I can tell you that it’s a really messy first 100 miles (and not that much easier the second 100miles). 

During this leg some of my teammates in teamfikarunningclub appeared to cheer me on, I love you. It gives me a lot of energy and this also forces me to run with a slightly better form as  someone is watching. During this part I also was grateful for my energy that worked like a magic potion and the Umara intend shots (from mix) that I took at every AS. Thanks Umara sports for being such a sport answering all my questions prior to the race ❤️ during this leg I also met Julian Pascual who had spent the entire day being on the lookout for HUB runners. He was happy when he saw me as I was happy that someone cared and I think Julians wife was happy that they now could get on with their usual business. I also was happy that I did the heat adaptation training prior to HUB since this leg turned out to be the hottest. And I was hot but it didn’t stop me from running the way it has in the past. I also got some surprised visits on my way south. Sometimes that had a hard time intercepting me. But eventually they caught me. There was a lot of cliffs and off track running during this leg. And right before the final stretch it was a step ascent followed by a descent down into a small field filled with reeds, blackberry bushes and stinging nettles. But as Robert had told us during the pre race briefing, just push on 🙂 

Then it was around a security fence followed by a squat walk under a railway bridge and then up on a gravel road and on to AS 3

Arriving at AS3 7:25pm 23h25m making it a sub 24h 100miles. I remembered something about a shower at AS3 but there was none. So the AS crew quickly created one by filling a watering can with lukewarm water and then pouring over me. That was probably one of the best showers I’ve had this year.

I refilled my hydration bladder, changed the power bank for my watch. And got a new battery for my headlamp. The I hugged Stina Kent and Tothpick runner for good luck and started leg 4. I wanted to make it as far as possible before the sunset since it makes navigation on the rocks and cliffs easier when you can see further so you don’t end up at a dead end on a ledge having to go back and take another way forward. Without leaving the route. 

On this leg I started to get surprise visits from people I didn’t know before. They suddenly appeared almost always with the same pickup line. “You don’t know me but I’ve followed your dot online for the last 12-24h” 🙂 sometimes they asked for permission to run along side me for a bit always pointing out that they didn’t want to break the rules of the race. Thanks Peder and bergspring. And Snabba fotter. Running trough the city of Varberg as people where leaving the discotheques, restaurant and pubs also felt surreal.  But I pushed on 🙂 

Reaching AS4 at 5:26am 33h 26m being welcomed by both the AS crew and Stina and Calle Hjersman was lovely. And at this AS there was a real shower so I took the opportunity to reset my body again before heading out on leg 5. 

It was a beautiful morning and now I started to reach areas that I’ve been running before. Still amazed by the course Robert had constructed. The first really deep wade came on this leg. With water above my waist.  But following the route in my watch it all went well even with the high waves that rolled in. It started to be a lot of people on the trail. Cheering me on, congratulating on a race well done so far. This was probably of the fastest legs during the race. Especially mentally. 

Reaching AS5 12:16pm 40h 12m 

Welcomed by Stina and Kenth but they struggled to find the AS so we ran according to my watch and found the cottage … but it was empty. The AS crew had som trouble with the dropboxes and was running a bit late. I found it a bit funny and it boosted my ego. I was running faster than the support 🙂 but a couple of minutes later Oscar appeared with my Dropbox and I could for the last time refill my energy gel , water and change teeshirt. I had 3 pairs of shoes which a switched between on every AS. Always put on new socks and also put some sportslick on where needed. I changed my tights once to a similar pair. Usually on a 100miles race I only change shirt. I use the same socks shoes and tights for the entire race. 

After some hugs I set of onto the sixth and last leg. But strangely when I loaded the GPX file it was the same route as leg 5. Oh no it’s something wrong with the file.. 3 calls and 3 texts later and after giving Robert at heart attack I realised that I’d loaded the wrong GPX file. Sorry Robert. this was probably the slowest part of the race for me. But with the correct gpx imported I could continue at full or with some sort of speed again. 

This leg started of on home turf, the part from Tylösand to Fylle ån is one of the routes I usually run. And here a lot of my teammates appeared cheering me on. Giving me a huge boost of energy. Reaching Fylle ån I did as I practiced 3 years ago. I stuffed my gear in a plastic bag and tied it with a lot of air inside. This kept everything dry and also worked as a floating device since I choose to swim across. With the gpx error earlier some of my teammates reasoned that I’d reach my limits and to make sure I didn’t go under during the swim mattajas stood ready to rescue me if I’d flipped or slipped of my floating device. Thanks 🙏🏽 

 Reaching the other side I knew it was easy running all the way to Båstad. Before starting leg 6 I pondered on sub 48h and even going for a negative split. But I decided to take it easy and minimise both the risks and the wear and tear on my body. I’ll leave the sub 48h for another runner or year to break. And to quote Han Solo “good luck you’re gonna need it” ( there Ive thrown down the glove Robert, let’s see who picks it up 🙂 

Many runners appeared on the final 20km some just cheered and others tagged along for a bit. David from Trailrunning sweden followed me along the beach and took some amazing pictures and films. Visit Trailrunning sweden to view them. 

On the last 200meters I was greeted by the RD Robert who did a short interview which you can se on HUB FB page. 

I heard a lot of people starting to cheer for me when I was approaching the finish line (I was a bit slow so they had to cheer for a bit longer than expected). 

20:39 PM 48h 39m Reaching the finish line getting hugs from Stina and my daughter Harriet and a lot my teammates was amazing. And receiving the one of a kind shirt a medal and a beer. Putting on a dryrobe and trying to give good answer to the interviewer from trailrunning sweden was an experience for the books. At the time I felt quick and witty but watching it afterwards I see that it was not exactly the case…

A short car ride back home for a shower and to my surprise I suggested that we could get a cup of tea and watch some tv…. After 3 minutes I told Stina that this was a bad idea because as soon as my eyes blinked I fell asleep … so of to bed, 

 Slept like a baby for the entire night, the only sign that I had moved was waking up seeing that I’d in my sleep removed some of the compression garments I’d put on before I went to bed 🙂 

During Sunday we went back to Båstad to cheer and congratulate runners completing various distances from 200 miles to 50km. Also I had the pleasure of listening to the HUB song by Jakob and Viktoria. Amazing that Jakob could sing and play guitar right after completing 200miles. 

The Ultra family makes up for at least 90% of the reason that I love to run ultra marathons. 

So thanks y’all and I’ll see you on the trails 👊🏽🤟🏽

Thanks @Altrarunning_europe @Umarasports @Silva