§staticmap(10869,5,450,250)Hello, on February 26th 2012, you’ll be organizing the Thy Trail Marathon. Can you tell us where it is located?
It is located in the Thy National Park – the only Wilderness Park in Denmark. It is located in Northwest Jutland. A really harsh but beautiful place.
This will be the inaugural race. What motivated you in creating it?
The race has been waiting for us to arrange it!
There is an old “rescue-road” where the rescue boats used to be transported by horse, to the place the help was needed!
The race will start at the old Lodberg Light Tower and follow the rescue road to the surfers paradise at “Cold Hawaii” Klitmøller! There will be detours from the rescue trail onto the beach and into the dunes!
It is a really tough route. The surface is gravel road, single and double tracks and sand. There will be some very wet parts – if not frozen – where wet socks and shoes are unavoidable!
It is the thoughest marathon in Denmark!
How many runners do you expect on Sunday morning? What type of runners do you plan to attract?
We will attract trail and extreme runners that love nature and who can stand up to the challenge in the Danish winter.
It is the first time for this race, so we think it will be a great and memorable challenge. We hope for 70 runners on the marathon-distance!
We also organize a half marathon and a 11K. They will start along the route and finish with the full marathon.
At that time of the year, what kind of weather can we expect?
The temperatures can go from +5°C to -10°C or even -15°C and the winds from light to strong!
The weather will be a really big factor on the run, especially the wind. Southwest is great but northwest will be bad for the runners as the route goes from South to North! One way!
The runners will be transported by bus to the start and will have to run back to Klitmøller!
Have you planned festivities around the marathon?
We hope the locals will come to the finish area and for the runners there will be a lot of cake and hot soup in house where the finish is located!
Klitmøller is pretty quiet during the winter. The big sightseeing is all the surfers but they have packed down for the winter. The finish line is at the surfers new build house – Oister House just at the beach of Klitmøller! A really nice place!
Foreign runners should treat themselves to a holiday at the Danish West coast in a summerhouse. There will be a renting discount for runners!
In a single sentence, what would you tell the readers of ahotu Marathons to make them register for the Thy Trail Marathon?
An unique though marathon experience in the harsh wilderness of Thy National Park!
Interview with Simon Grimstrup.