Today was the BEST last day in Copenhagen. Despite my fears of having walked too much and slept too little these past few days, I woke up energized and ready to run. The race technically started at 9 am, but since there were 40,000 runners competing in the half marathon today, I didn’t have to get there until 10:30. This allowed me to sleep a whopping 9 hours last night!!!
When I woke up, my roommate, An-Sofie, popped out of her bed and said, “are you READY?!?!” She was also going to run the half marathon! I replied, “OHHHHH YEAHHHHH!!!!” And then we jumped around with excitement for a bit. Our other roommate (the Italian —and I recently learned also Brazilian— one) wished us good luck. She thought we were crazy for wearing tank tops and shorts, but then again, she also thought we were crazy for running 21k 😆
An-Sofie asked if I wanted to join her for breakfast at the hostel, so I did. We ate four pieces of white toast and talked a bit about our running journeys. She recently started in the last couple years because she saw her friends doing races and thought “hmm that looks fun!”. I also learned that she’s from Belgium and has family in Tennessee. Oh, and today was going to be her first half marathon ever!
After breakfast, we got ready and made our way to the metro station. Unfortunately, I forgot that I needed a pass because my one from the day before had literally just expired 10 minutes prior. Normally, I could use an app to get tickets, but the stupid app won’t let me finish making my account without a phone number verification. My phone number doesn’t work here sooooo I cannot get virtual tickets.
Anyway, this meant that I had to buy a paper ticket…
And so did about 100 other people.
I started to panic a bit. We weren’t necessarily running late, but we didn’t have a lot of time either. I told her to go ahead without me. After two minutes of waiting in line, I realized that the smarter option would be to run up to the train station and buy a ticket there. Sure enough, there were like 10 kiosks open. Whew!
I made my way onto the very crowded metro (we were packed like sardines on there!) and rode a few stops to where the runners area would be.
I pretty much followed the massive crowd of people to the runners area, dropped off my bag, and started warming up. The waves were leaving about 15 minutes apart from each other. I had debated between joining the green group and following the 1:55 pacers or the red group with 2:00 pacers. In the past two years, I have run 5 other half marathons and only one of them has been sub-2 hours. Most recently, I ran a 2:07 in Prague… so I wasn’t sure that I should join the faster group.
My decision was pretty much made for me when I was waiting in line for the bathroom and heard the announcer say that the green group line was closed.
2:00 pacers it is!
I waited in line with hundreds —if not thousands— of people. The weather was great, since it was almost noon already. The sun was shining and the temperature was comfortable. Thank goodness because if it had been cold or rainy, it would have been a lot harder to keep my muscles warmed up.
After what felt like an eternity, we finally started. I had tried to get as close to the pacers as possible but ended up being far behind them. I decided that I would keep my eyes on them and hopefully catch up.
And just like that, I was racing the streets of Copenhagen!!!
I started out FAST. 8:24 splits, to be exact…
Although, I had no way of knowing this because I don’t wear a running watch and I don’t check my phone. I could tell I was speedy, though, because I kept passing people left and right. My head told me I might regret starting out fast later on, but I just wanted to keep pushing. So, I let myself find out.
The first 10k flew by, and I felt more locked in than ever before. Usually, I take photos during the race, but I was so focused that I decided against it this time. I followed the orange lines that the organizers painted on the road to show the most efficient path, and that seemed to help a lot. If I was going to try to PR, I didn’t want to run any extra mileage!
Right around 10k, I caught up to the pacers. On one hand, this was a good thing because it meant I was making good time. On the other hand, it meant that I was suddenly squished between a ton of other people. I had to be super careful not to cut people off, step on them, trip, etc. I decided to keep pushing and make it past the pacers. Once I was in front of them, I had a lot more space…
Until I caught up with the people from what I’m assuming was the last wave.
There were many times that I got stuck behind people and had to strategically maneuver my way around them. It was really hard to maintain my pace, not because I physically couldn’t but simply because people were in my way. At this point, I was regretting not starting in the green wave. Oh well! Good thing I have 4 more superhalfs 😉
I kept telling myself that I was going to PR. I could feel it in me.
Kilometers 15 to 20 were a bit tough, but luckily there was a lot of cheering and great music from the crowds. Every time I passed through a cheer zone, I didn’t feel any struggle at all! The energy was so high. I also kept reminding myself that if I PR, I get to ring the bell AT THE WORLD ROAD RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIPS. That was pretty motivating!
At 20k, it started to downpour. It was raining so hard that I couldn’t see! It become especially difficult not to run into people on the course, but I have to say… the rain felt cathartic. I only had 1k left to go. Knowing you’re that close is mentally challenging, but the rain was a great distraction.
Finally, I saw the finish line. I loved that a solid chunk of the finish is straight, so you could see the finish line from far away. This helped me push myself to run harder earlier. I had an amazing finish and was so proud of myself.
I had ran my first ever half marathon in 1 hour and 57 minutes!!! My previous best had been 1 hour and 59 minutes in 2024, so I was ecstatic about my race.
Already, I was thinking “I bet I could run 1:50 next time…”
Even though it was pouring rain and freezing cold, I waited in line to ring the bell.
And then I visited the SuperHalfs sign for another photo. I talked a bit with the lady next to me in line. She’s from Slovakia but living in London, and this was her first SuperHalf race! I always enjoy meeting people, and races like this one are a perfect way to do so.
I already can’t wait for the next one!
P.s. I have more to tell you about my evening after the race, but I am soooo tired and need to sleep (my flight leaves at 6:40 am tomorrow).
Goodnight!
Clara