20th – 22nd of June – Tromsø, pre-run

Going to Tromsø from Copenhagen you have to have a layover in Oslo. Oslo not being the world’s largest airport it’s fairly easy finding your way around. And it does get easier when your departure gate is just across from the lounge. The food on the flight was a bit disappointing on both legs, but they had some absolutely amazing caramel & sea salt muffins. I might have had one on each leg of the flight.

The view when flying into Tromsø.

On the entire flight going north it was heavily overcast so there was nothing really to see. Nearing Tromsø the clouds started loosening up and arriving in Tromsø half an hour to midnight with the (almost) midnight sun gave some beautiful views of the landscape. Tromsø’s airport is a small one so within 10 minutes after leaving the plane I was sitting in the bus waiting for it to depart to downtown Tromsø and my hotel. The bus stopped right outside my hotel, so with no problems I checked in, got to my room, leaned back relaxing and enjoyed the view.

The view from the hotel room.

On the Friday (the 21^st) I went down to the town hall (after enjoying an excellent breakfast at the hotel and its extensive breakfast buffet) to pick up my race number. After hanging out for 10-ish minutes I re-checked the schedule and realized that they didn’t open until 1400 despite remembering it at 1200. So instead I went for a walk taking me to the south point of Tromsøya (the small island where most of Tromsø is located; Tromsø + øya – øya being the Norwegian word for island. The imagination went wild on the day they named the island). Here I found myself in front of the Tromsø Museum where there also was a map with tracks and paths on the island, perfect for walking. So I ended up walking the length of the island. App 12km, with an unintentional detour around the lake Prestvannet and a quick walk up onto Varden, the tallest point on Tromsøya of 158m. From here you could get a view of Tromsø and the opposite side of Tromsøya, and also see the connecting east and west bridges, and the Arctic Cathedral on the mainland opposite Tromsø center.

Looking over Prestvannet with mountains in the background.

The view of Tromsø from the summit of Varden.

Coming back to Tromsø I picked up my race number before returning to my hotel room. An hour relaxation later I descended to the hotel’s restaurant where the race’s pasta party was held. And the hotel definitely knew how to make pasta dishes, so that was a great success.

Friday’s weather had been ok; clouds and an occasional drizzle, but reaching Saturday it had turned overcast and it was pouring down. I did spend a few hours walking around, mainly crossing the bridge to see the Arctic Cathedral which turned out to be closed due to a wedding, but other than that I ended up just hanging out in my room waiting for the race to start. The weather was not promising, though towards the afternoon it actually managed to stop raining, though the clouds were ever-present.

The view from the cathedral.