ENDURANCE TEST FOR ATHLETES
Endurance Test for athletes with a strong will
Arctic Circle Race was a success experience for runner number 217 Jesper Regin, who ended as number 10 in his age group of 40-49 year old men, and as number 50 among the men.
By greenland today
31 MAR 2012
Jesper Regin, born on October 8th, 1971, comes from Hjorring, Jutland, Denmark, and has for the last three years lived in Nuuk, where he works for Visit Greenland as eMarketing Consultant. He competed primarily in the Arctic Circle Race (ACR) 2012 in Sisimiut for the adventure.
- I've skied since I was 6-7 years old. I started with cross country, but then went over to alpine downhill skiing as soon as I got permission from my mother. Today randonnée and off piste is the best I know, but a trip on tourski with a sledge/pulk is also high on my list.
Training
- In relation to my participation in the ACR I run far too little cross-country before the race. We've been lucky with the snow in Nuuk this year, so there has been good opportunities for randonnée, and that is a trump ...
- Normally mountain biking is my sport, but unlike in Denmark it is seasonal here in Greenland, where I in turn have begun to run a bit, preferably in the mountains.
- Actually I did not train very much. I ride mountain bike and run for fun. In summer, 3-5 times a week, and in winter 2-3 times a week - but fortunately you can run cross country with headlight after work.
- Randonnée is good for your legs when you walk in 1000-2000 meters altitude with heavy equipment in deep snow (if you're lucky!). I also sit on the spinning bike once a week - and that is only for the sake of exercising.
- Unfortunately it is minimally what I has trained specifically for the race, Up to ACR. Just before the race I was in Danmark for two weeks without training all.
The first extreme skiing
- This was my first participation in ACR, and this is the first time at all, I participate in an XC skirace.
- My goal was to join and get an experience out of it. I am not a competitive person – and i think completing ACR was a success, while I did not train so much for the race.
Chill factor
- What I feared most by ACR was the wind! On my mountain trips in Greenland, I have gradually learned that the wind is often the crucial difference between a fabulous luxury trip and a trip that is more about survival.
- I also have great respect for the many vertical meters at the ACR. It is hard when it goes up, and for someone who is accustomed to alpine boots, it is also challenging when it goes down again in the small cross country ski boots. And the wind also covers the tracks with snow, making it far more challenging to control the skis.
The race
- First day of ACR was hard and challenging, but the second day was perhaps even more difficult because of low visibility and temperatures near zero degrees, which makes ski vaxing something of a balancing act. But anyway I think it went really well on the second day, and I was very pleased.
- The last day was even better, weather, temperature, technique and personal form worked really well for me, and I crossed the line more than an hour sooner than expected.
- My goal was to complete in lees than 20 hours combined. But it an idea completely out of the blue when, as I had nothing to compare with at all. But after the first two days it meant that I had approx. 6:50 left Sunday, so the time 5:34 spend at that day was a good end!
- Certainly I think, I will participate in ACR again, but I do not know exactly when.
Jesper Regin ended with a total time of 18:43:57 for the 160 km over three days.
