Psst, this is part 3, there are part 1 and 2 that you should also read if you haven’t already 🙂

Day 3 – 33.4 km.

Fortunately, Frederik and I were assigned a tent late in the afternoon on day 2 and could sleep well in a cold tent. I went to bed already at 10 p.m., wrapped myself in Inequs’s fantastic sleeping bag, and listened to people around me in their tents chatting about the day’s adventures, funny experiences in Greenlandic, Danish, English, and other languages.

Occasionally, I could hear someone snoring, others coughing, and a couple of snowmobiles passing by. I had fallen asleep when Frederik, very late after preparing our skis for the last day, crawled in, and wrapped himself in his sleeping bag. I slept very well, only waking up a couple of times needing to change position (you need to when lying on hard surfaces, even though we had reindeer skins as a base).

At 6:30 a.m., I woke up and couldn’t sleep anymore. The weather seemed fine from inside the tent. The focus today is just to reach the finish line in Sisimiut. I felt good, not nervous, and excited but calm. Frederik is still sleeping, and I pack my things and leave the tent. The weather is fine, a few clouds here and there, and no wind. Good start.

I join those who, like me, have gotten up early in the dining tent to have breakfast. I prepare my marathon porridge (oatmeal, blue poppy seeds, cinnamon, and honey mixed with boiling water to form porridge, topped with banana slices), make a strong cup of coffee, and sit with Adam, Nivi, and others.

Ugh, the breakfast grows in my mouth and is so hard to swallow. It’s as if it grows in my mouth and turns into a dried bun. I know I MUST eat, or I won’t survive the trip to Sisimiut (end up with famine in the middle of the hinterland, being such a thin little thing like me), so with small sips, I force the food down.

Sitting and enjoying with the others in the tent.

The ACR jury announces that the race is postponed by an hour as the groomers need to prepare the track first.

I start to feel queasy, the butterflies in my stomach start again, and I am excited and nervous. Can I endure the distance? Can I live up to my own expectations and maintain my position? Oh, my self-confidence starts to play tricks on me. “Today is the day you fail,” “You can’t keep going,” “Who do you think you are? The world champions?” “Relax!!” etc. run through my mind, tormenting me, and making me feel physically ill.

Several visits to the toilet, which doesn’t make it better because you get poisoned and chemically contaminated by entering those toilets, hahahahahahah.

But the weather is getting better and better, wow.badser

J I know it will get much better when we start. That’s how it always is, and even more so when it’s the last day, and we must reach the goal in Sisimiut. You’re faster, more energetic, and stronger.

3, 2, 1 GO…

We line up at the start and are off. A bit chaotic start for some. Just behind me, I hear Marie Fleischer screaming and see that she has lost her pole and stops to go back and get it, and everyone else pushes forward and just wants to get going and home. It doesn’t take long before Marie Fleischer overtakes me again, going full speed downhill 😊

We zoom past the first refreshment station down by the sea towards Sisimiut and continue the long stage towards the bone breaker. I quickly overtake Marie Fleischer again, who is standing and fixing her skis. The journey all the way to the bone breaker is tough, and there is no glide, so it’s alternating between double-poling and diagonal, to spare and allow breaks for the various muscles used in the body.

I catch up with Nivi Geisler just before we turn at the bone breaker and follow her to the refreshment station.

 It seems like the leader changes after the bone breaker, and the skis start gliding better. When you reach the bone breaker, you must climb a hill and then turn and go down a loooong downhill that is not steep but has enough slope to gain speed and go down in a long, cool downhill. And here I jump into the tracks, gaining speed on my skis and skiing far and fast down the hill with a screaming “wuuuhuuuuuuuuuu.” Naaah nuan.

When I reach the second refreshment station, I follow Nivi Geisler and a couple of others I don’t know who they are. I fill my water bottle with energy drink and continue right away. Nivi must follow a boy from Kaassassuk, so I slip away from them. Driving fast and overtaking in front of me,

Driving fast and catching up

In front of me, far ahead, I can see an NSP suit driving, and I think “I have to catch up with that person.” I get closer and closer, and just before the refreshment station at the “Bottleneck”, I catch up with the person, who is Pavia Tobiassen. I get a sip of water and follow all the way up the “Bottleneck” with Arnatsiaq Rosing (❤️)

We catch up with Vittus Heilmann and a couple of others on the way up the bottleneck.

he sun is shining and the clouds have completely disappeared, the temperature around minus 3-4 and no wind, nuaaannnn. I say goodbye to Arnatsiaq, who runs the 160 km. and turns around and drives down the bottleneck. It’s aaaweeesssooommmeeee, full speed ahead, control and great weather, can it get any better. I looooove it!!!!! I scream the whole way down “wwuuuuuuuuhhhuuuu”.

I get down to the drink station, hurry to get a refill and race on. There are 4 km ahead of me to the drink station out by the lift, the last drink station before the finish, jubiiii.

I drive alone for a while. The fantastic thing about such a race is that you often become so humbled by being such a small piece in a gigantic country. The whole thing is so overwhelmingly beautiful that you are often moved.

Suddenly I am not alone, Vittus Heilmann has caught up to me and we run together to the lift, in silence.

From the drinks station in the lift and most of the way into Sisimiut, we rite together, taking turns as the lead. I am strong uphill and Vittus downhill. And while we are running in our own thoughts and fighting a little against each other, we are both caught up to by someone from behind. We are both surprised and increase the speed up when it dawns on us that it is Martin Møller and the Australian 😆😆

Yaaay crossing the line

I am happy, proud, and have surprised myself. Seriously, I didn’t expect to be able to drive so fast, but I did it!!

Best of all, I’m glad that I could get to the top of the podium in the 100 km race so that my sponsors hopefully think it’s worth supporting me. Many thanks to AutoNord and Modulo.

Thank you for reading 😘

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