Mors 100 Miles - 2025

On September 6th I ran Mors 100 Miles (160 kilometers). This was only my second jab at this massive distance, the first one being Kullamannen by UTMB 2024.

Although similar in distance, the two races are vastly different; Kullamannen being a trail race (with signatures such as rough weather, extreme long night running, elevation gain spikes, few aid stations etc.) and Mors being a flat 99.9% runnable road-heavy race.

Pre Race 📋

I got up at around 04:00. Ate a quick breakfast. Then drove to Mors - took roughly 2 hours from Billund. I first delivered my dropbags at Pinen & Plagens running club. There it was possible to send it to any of the 30 aid stations on the road. Yes thirty 😅 - see for Mors 100 Miles there was an aid station for every 5 kilometer on average 👌🏻👏🏻. I had packed 3 small bags with gels and energy power bars for delivery to the aid stations at 60K, 90K and 120K. And they were there when I arrived 🤗.

I then drove to the finish line at Danhostel in Nykøbing to pick up my race bib - and to my pleasant surprise, a goodie bag. It included a beer, a game, a buff, some coffee, energy supplements and even a collapsible cup to be used for soups during races. Really impressive starting pack!

From Danhostel we were shuttled by bus to the starting line which was a few kilometers away, in the city center at Kirketovet 3 (Nykøbing Mors).

The pre-race ceremony was quite fun. Every runner (165 starters) had to: sign a little magnetic white square card with their name, and then when their name was announced: fist-bump 👊🏽 the race director, go ON STAGE and put the square on a board (in front of hundreds of spectators), shake hands with the mayor, go down from the stage and get their GPS tracker. Then they could go and wait for the race start (a gunshot of sorts). Quite unique, huh? 🤣

Race Experience 🌟

The race started at 09:30 am. We made two loops through the city center with spectators clapping etc., and then headed out to run around the island. Fun start that gave a lot of good energy.

On the route, endless kilometers ticked by while being greeted heartily by all the charming people of Mors. Every city welcomed us. Children gave high fives to the runners and ran with us. City parties. A musician playing wonderful tunes. Small communities even had the inhabitants out celebrating our efforts. I have never experienced such a unique, pervasive welcome before. For the people on Mors there is no doubt that this race is part of their island DNA - everybody knows about it and it seems like everybody loves it.

An aid station at every 5 kilometers (ish) was super nice. A good thing to look forward to out there. You never felt totally abandoned or alone … because you either had just visited people at an aid station or you were just about to. It really broke the vast distance down into manageable chunks. I was also extremely happy to have my wife and two boys come and greet me 🥰- no feeling beats seeing your loved ones being there for you and support you 🤗.

As the pictures show we were super lucky with the weather. Sure it was warm - but I’d take that any time over cold and rainy weather. I hydrated and fueled to the best of my abilities. Yet despite my noble attempts I faced an upset stomach (💩) … I was forced to seek a toilet 3 times 😅🙄🫣. I think it was the gels that got to me while not being appropriately dissolved with water. It wasn’t easy to run strong while having to ensure no “accidents” (if you can relate to ever having experienced something similar 😂). I could hear the water in my stomach as I was running … that’s something.

We also encountered some seriously nice trails and scenery on Mors. It was really refreshing to get away from the hard pounding surfaces 😆. The table below is a mix of some earlier and later trails on the route. Some of the later trails even had a “mountain” sprint challenge 🐐. A man disguised as a devil ensured you would get to the top 🤭.

As the daylight went away I put on my jacket, my reflective vest (a requirement from the race organization) with LED lights and my headlamp. I had it all on me already - because I had chosen to run with my vest from the beginning. I was actually happy with that choice. It was nice knowing that I had my gear at any time I’d need it.

The most wild experience was for sure the city Karby! They had an amazing party going on, playing each runner’s pre-chosen music track (mine: “Bad” by Michael Jackson), while having a huge disco 💃🏻 theme going on, a smoke machine, giant trucks with disco lights making noises with their horns. If theoretically for nothing else … then the race was worth it alone for this unique high beat experience. Wow 🤩.

My legs got heavier and heavier. But no injuries. Just a systemic thoroughly tired body 😆. After 100K I began to walk for 5 minutes every 10K … as a little “something to look forward to” once in a while. I used that walking to also fuel and hydrate. And I kept a good pace … after all it wasn’t a grocery store visit 😂😇😎.

The last 5-10K offered a little bit of extra elevation. Which honestly was ok … as it meant; hiking 🥾🤪. I suspect only the podium finishers would run up those last bumps though 😅.

Finally after a good day out … some 18 hours and 11 minutes I passed the finish line. That was at 03:45 ish Sunday morning.

Post Race

Having crossed the finish line I was welcomed by the super nice race director in a very personal fashion. Just him being there this late was a unique gesture. It really was underlining how special this race is. He gave me my hard earned very wonderful medal 🥳

I was then quickly asked to sit in a chair 🪑 by the volunteers. They did it out of compassion, to see that we didn’t pass out or anything. I got a blanket over my tired body (while they also took back the race bib and GPS tracker devices). This was also just so nice of them … but I honestly just wanted to get back to my car to sleep, because I was soooooo tired.

But they still wouldn’t let me go: I was convinced to get into the nearby tent to get a little warm thing to eat and drink. I didn’t want any food (my ingestion ability was shut down) but I surrendered to a cup of hot chocolate ☕️. The volunteers even brought me my finisher t-shirt too: I didn’t even know I’d get one, so I was very happy with getting the bragging rights to wear that 😅.

Recovery ❤️‍🩹

The extremely runnable route is also the hardest part about Mors 100 Miles. Being able to run for such a distance is very hard in terms of impact on your body. Especially because most of the route is on paved surface (asphalt roads).

For me there has been zero DOMS. Almost no recovery issues with muscles. Much unlike mountain ultras that have had my quads smashed for days. Instead I have had issues with the surface area of my knees … it started Sunday (the morning after the race) and has been hanging around for a week (as of writing these words). That also means I have not run a lot in the first week after the race … only a few small runs 😀.

I think I reached my current running distance limit this time in terms of what my joints, tendons and ligaments can endure. But that’s just subject to improvement - a few more training years and that should be fixed 😂

Recommended?

Yes 👏🏻

This race is truly extraordinary in every way imaginable. The race route brings you to see the beauty of Mors. The favorite parts for me were the trail parts. The entire island of Mors knows, supports and loves the race; it is one huge party putting the crazy long distance runners in the center. The ceremonies and race organization execution is flawless. I could go on and on - but instead I hope my point has been clear so far 😀.

I hope I am lucky enough to grab a ticket for next year. It is simply that good.

Naturally, this race can only get my top recommendation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️