24 Timer Ved Havet | DM 24 Timer (Danish Championship)

On May 30th I went to Sæby in Northern Denmark to participate in the 24 Hours Running Danish Championship 🤗. This was my second time in Sæby for this race - last time was in 2024 where I ran the 12 hour race…

…This time, however, I wanted to try the 24 hour challenge - my first actual 24 hour race 🤠. That said I had already run for that many hours before … twice: both at Kullamannen by UTMB in Sweden 🇸🇪 😂. That’s why I kind of knew what I was in for in terms of duration at least. What was new here - is the runnability of the race. Kullamannen is a typical trail race: hiking, running, walking, crying, laughing, seeing things that aren’t real … you know the usual stuff 😆. Here in Sæby it was a 1985 meter loop - pancake 🥞 flat: super runnable. And with “more runnable” comes more “impact” on joints, tendons, etc. So - I was definitely going into Sæby being super humble about the challenge.

On race day - Saturday - I arrived a few hours before start in order to get settled. My family helped me carry my tent ⛺️, sleeping bag etc … while I carried my precious box of gels/chews/chips/salttablets/clothes 🤠😂 etc. I got my race bib and went into the aid station area (a big tent that we runners passed for each loop) - there I found a table slot for my box. There was a clearly marked area for each runner participating in the 24 hour championship.

We started the race at 12:00 PM Saturday. About 80 runners were in the 24 hour Danish Championship. At least as many were in the open race. Additionally many more runners took part in the 3h, 6h and 12h races. So we were hundreds at the starting line 🤠. During the 24 hours other races started too: half and full marathon distances - both Saturday and Sunday. Really amazing and energizing 🤩.

My strategy was simple: start really easy and keep it that way until the end. In the many first hours (probably up to ~100K or so) I had an average pace swinging from 05:40 min/km to 06:30 min/km. Ish. That included a walk strategy through the aid station area on each loop. I ate approximately 60-80g carbs per hour for the first 12-14 hours and ~500mg sodium. Give and take.

There was an epic atmosphere out there on the route. On every major turn along the route, volunteers were persistently cheering for us. They danced 💃🏻 and entertained ✨ultra✨ style. They made fun entertaining acts. They played loud happy music 😃 🎶. In fact they made the hours go by very easy. Even when I started to get exhausted I always enjoyed these fantastic people. They truly made a difference for all of us.

For almost the entire race I did my own thing. I didn’t talk much with the other runners. Not because I didn’t want to, but probably more because I needed to stay in my own headspace and focus on the tremendous task ahead (24 hours of running requires a bit of dedication). I think many runners (who showed up alone on the starting line like me) spent a lot of time like this, in their own minds.

Many of Denmark’s finest ultra runners ran among us mortals. It was incredible to watch their epic endurance carry on as my own gave in to the pain cave 😆. And it was also extremely rewarding to observe how everyone out there gave it their absolute best on various individual goals: everybody fought soooo hard.

During the night I began to struggle more and more. I ran much slower and had to mix in more walking. It was quite frustrating, so I decided to make an experiment: sleep 😴. I had never tried that in a race before. So after ~141K I went into my tent to sleep for ~60 minutes. That helped a lot. Pure magic - I was (and still am) so shocked by the reset power it had. I immediately was able to run normally again - in fact at the same pace I started the race with. That worked super well - but after ~162K I had to repeat the trick (for the same reason). But this time I “only” slept for ~30 minutes. And again: same effect 🤯. From that point on I didn’t need more pauses.

After 24 hours I finally finished the race 🤩🤗. To my pleasant surprise I apparently did pretty well because I was 3rd in my age group (45-49) - podium performance 🥳. I ran 98 loops with a total official distance of 194K (197K on Strava) 🤠. That equated to 13,762 kilocalories spent 😂.

Ultimately I am very satisfied with my performance: setting a personal PB with respect to distance (prev: ~173K) and also just for the first time ever being on such a runnable course for 24 hours. What could have been a death march actually ended up really well — and that would not have happened if it wasn’t for my rest experiments 🤠🤗.

After the race my wife and boys helped me wrap up the tent and get me safely to the car. We then drove towards Billund. Along the trip back home I convinced them all that we (I 🙃) needed a huge McDonald’s menu 😂👌🏻 - so we had a quick pit stop there too 😆🍔🥤

Recommended?

Absolutely yes 🤩. A flat, super-runnable course, incredible atmosphere, and a perfectly organized event — everything clicked.

In danger of repeating myself: the volunteers were amazing. Their absolute positive and fun energy made a world of difference to us exhausted runners. Thank you volunteers — you made our day (and night … and next day 😂🥳🙏🏻). In short: a perfect experience on all accounts 🤠🙌🏻!

Whether you go for the full 24 hours or one of the shorter distances — this race has it all.

This race gets my top rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️