Torben Dahl wins Polar Circle Marathon
Picture from the 2008 Polar Circle Marathon
New Crusader Torben Dahl put in another impressive win this autumn when he recorded a time of 3:02:57 Polar Circle marathon on Greenland with almost five minutes to spare on the next contender. To appreciate the time consider the conditions of the race dubbing itself “the coolest marathon on Earth”: the route has some stretches of good dirt road but contestants have to face ice, snow and undulating terrain so Torben’s experience from the IMRA races no doubt proved a great help.
The route takes runners on a quick out and back loop to the inland icecap before a 32km return to the airport at Kangerlussuaq (“Big Fjord”). Conditions on the day were at -17 degrees Celsius and the race is described by organisers as:
“The terrain is hilly all the way with the steepest ascents being the climb coming off the ice cap and the approximately 75m high climb 5km before the finish line. From the ice cap to the finish line, however, the route has an overall descent of approximately 500m.”
Torben’s winning time was the second fastest ever recorded on the course during its ten year lifetime, bettered only by England’s Andrew Shaw (2:57:19 in 2005). Congratulations again to Torben and safe journey back from the arctic!
RESULTS
1. Torben Dahl, CRUSADERS 3:02:57
2. Daniel Arum Jensen 3:07:01
3. Giulio Simonelli 3:37:37