Pure willpower, but completed the Copenhagen Marathon 2026

Just saying: Not recommended approach.

Three marathons in three months sounds like a structured plan.

It wasn’t.

Barcelona Marathon in March. Madrid Marathon in April. Then, just two weeks later, Copenhagen Marathon 2026.

My preparation had not been ideal. The runs I should have done often did not happen. Consistency was missing. 
Motivation came and went. Fitness-wise, there was not much suggesting I should be running marathon after marathon.
But somehow, I still made it to the start lines. And eventually to the finish lines too.

Not fast. Not personal-best territory. Probably closer to the lower end of what I have run before.

But honestly? Who cares.

That was never really the point.

Copenhagen will always be special to me.

Partly because it is home. But also because even after running races across Europe, there is something unique about this one.

The professionalism. The volunteers. The flat streets that somehow still feel brutal after 30 kilometers.

But most of all, the crowds.

Copenhagen shows up. Families outside cafés. Kids reaching out for high fives. Music from balconies. Strangers shouting your name from the bib like they have known you for years.

The marathon still found me, though. From around halfway, it got tough. Really tough.

The final part became a mix of running, walking, surviving, resetting mentally, and refusing to quit.

Did I struggle? Absolutely.

Did I still finish? Absolutely.

And that matters too.

One of the biggest reasons I keep getting through races like this is the community around it.

#GUTTERNE M/K has never been about pace.

Some run incredibly fast. Others are just trying to reach the finish line before the cutoff. Both belong equally.

There is no ego in it. Just support. High fives after great races. Encouragement after bad ones. Support after a DNS or DNF. Celebration of consistency, courage, and simply showing up.

Even when we are not physically together, the community is still there. On Instagram. In messages. In comments. In shared miles.

During the harder parts of Copenhagen, I thought about that a lot.

Sometimes the thing carrying you forward is not fitness.

It is knowing people believe you will make it.