Started at 5 am to beat the heat! Beautiful running with pacer Størk for the first 30 km, although there were a few cold river crossings. In the forest near Storerikvollen I started to hit patches of snow, and then I managed to miss the parking lot where my crew was supposed to meet me at Sankåvollen, but luckily had some extra calories on me in case of that. Finally saw my crew at km 42, when I was still on scheduled for the men's record (15:25). At km 42 I picked up my second pacer, Ellen, who ended up accompany me for the remaining 79 km. It was after Ramsjøhytta (km 47) that I started to slow down - there was lots of snow over Ramskaret pass and the heat was brutal. I would learn later that heat records were set in this region of Norway on that day! Luckily there was lots of water, so we stopped often to cool off.
The terrain from Schulzhytta to Prestøyhytta was deceptively difficult, undulating, soft and inefficient to move in. We were so happy to see my husband at Prestøyhytta - he had run 5 km in from the road with refreshments and dry socks. We took a much-needed 20 min break and left the hut on with new energy. The next section was much nicer going, until we descended into the forest and the bogs, horse flies and heat began to take their toll. There was less water on this lower section, and the streams were warmer and boggier.
It was a long slog until we finally hit a dirt road that turned into pavement and brought us to the last crew check-point at Hegra where we changed to road shoes and time trialed the last 12-odd km. The road out to Stjørdal is scenic if a bit monotonous, and I definitely felt myself looking at the kilometer countdown on my watch, waiting for the moment when I could finally give my heavy legs a rest. In 16h16min, just past 9 pm, I finished at the train station in Stjørdal. So much varied terrain in one day!