Travel

TRAVEL STOCKHOLM From cancellation to celebration

BY JOEL QUIE

Long distance running has been a gift that has come late in life. As our three sons grew up and moved away I always treasure times when the four of us would be together during a holiday or vacation. One of the ways we would connect is to go running together for a few miles. A few years ago, for my 60th birthday they challenged me to run a half marathon with them. I was shocked, intrigued and all in. We all trained separately in the four different cities in which we lived and then came together for the race. It was a huge accomplishment to finish the half and lit a fire in me for more running.

About this time last year, I challenged my sons to join me in running a full marathon. I looked online and found a local one in early June and realized that it would work perfectly with a training schedule we had found. From February through May we had fun texting our training runs and how we felt afterwards. There were the usual soreness and setbacks but slowly we were all putting in constant double digit runs on a regular basis. I was getting pumped for the big event. Then came a shock. I received an email that the marathon we had been training for was canceled. It came as a blow that was hard to face. I had put nearly 500 miles on my feet to get ready for the 26.2 mile race.

The night after I received the cancellation notice I could not sleep. At 1:00 in the morning I got up and sent out a text message to tell my three sons about the cancellation and express my frustration. I was hoping they would read the text when they awoke in the morning and suggest some

TRAVEL

ideas. To my surprise, they all responded within two minutes. Over the next 15 minutes the four of us fired comments back and forth about our disappointment and what to do next. As this conversation was going on I opened my laptop computer and googled ‘Marathons, June 4, 2016’. One link that caught my eyes was ‘Stockholm Marathon’. I clicked on the link and learned that registration closed in two days. I immediately shared this crazy idea with the boys, “What do you say we run the Stockholm Marathon?” They were understandably surprised and delighted at the possibility. I told them I would look into the details and get back to them in the morning.

The next day I checked into flights, a place to stay and everything just seemed to fall into place.

Fortunately, two of my three sons were able to spring from their commitments and join me on the flight over for a long weekend in Stockholm, Sweden. My oldest son was unable as he is a father of two children and was expecting a third and wished us the very best in our adventure.

Upon arriving in Stockholm on Friday morning, we walked to the Expo, picked up our bibs and enjoyed the pasta lunch provided for all runners. Here was another blessing of this race. Whereas many marathons have early starts like 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. the Stockholm Marathon starts at 12:00 noon! This was perfect for our jet lag. We hit the sack at 9:00 p.m. Friday and slept until 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning. We awoke, had breakfast, got dressed in our running gear and walked to the nearest tram. One of the benefits the city offers runners is that anyone wearing a bib has access to ride free on their tram system all day during the marathon.

We disembarked from the tram near the starting area and stretched and drank water until the call to assemble in our coral. Then the moment came when the announcer said in Swedish and then in English for runners to get ready to start. The atmosphere was intoxicating. We were surrounded by thousands of runners from all over the world. It was a clear blue sky day with temps in the low fifties. Runners were jumping in place, chatting in groups and getting pumped up from the music played over the loud speakers, Swedish House Mafia.

At the signal the mass of runners began to walk as we were appropriately buried in the back of the pack. We were not out to set any course records, just finish. One of the joys of the race is that my two sons decided to run at my pace and so we would run the race together. The first five miles went by in a blur as we were carried along by the momentum of the moment. One of the beautiful sounds I recall was the pitter patter of hundreds of running shoes hitting the pavement as we ran down a long boulevard. At mile ten we were in the midst of downtown Stockholm and the historic buildings helped to distract our attention from the miles ahead. By the halfway mark, we headed into the ‘Royal Woods’ and the tough going began. For the next four miles, the trees looked all the same and it was hard to gauge any sense of accomplishment. Finally, we emerged from the forest and returned to the city and the crowds cheering us on. Around mile 20 we came to a steep grade that led up to a long bridge over one of the islands that make up Stockholm. Alongside the road was a huge gaggle of Swedes holding signs of encouragement and shouting, hilariously, ‘!*@%# the bridge!’ This brought some needed bounce back as we realized we were hitting the climax of the course.

At mile 23 the wheels started to come off and our pace slowed considerably. By then everything got very quiet. The three of us had long since stopped chatting and were now digging deep into our reservoirs of stamina. I tried to think of this last stretch as a mere 5K which I had run many times. ‘Just a 5K left, you can do it.’ That Joel Quie and two of his sons are pictured here following the completion of the stockholm marathon.

Submitted photo

was the longest 5K I had every run! Finally, the end came into sight. Incredibly, the final stretch of the race has runners enter the 1912 Olympic Stadium and run a lap on the oval with the stands full of spectators cheering your last strides. It was a surreal moment as the three of us rounded the track carried along by both our exhausted lungs and the boisterous lungs of the cheering crowd. We crossed the finish line with arms raised and then embraced each other with hugs and smiles. We reveled in that joyful exhausted exhilaration that only comes when you have accomplished an impossible dream. We received our finishers medal and then grabbed some water and hit the ground to stretch and laugh and recount the past four hours on a beautiful day in Stockholm together.

This past Christmas the four of us were together and once again found time to lace up our shoes and go for a run. Whether it is 26.2 miles or 2.62 miles, there is nothing quite like a run with your children. And my hope and prayer is that in a number of years when our grandkids are older, three generations can run together for fun!