Published 5th May 2025
Last weekend, I decided to join some friends who were heading to Bornholm, a small Danish island, to run the Hammer Trail Spring race with them. After having a great time at the South Downs Way 50, I felt recovered enough to want to make use of the endurance I currently have and travel to a new part of Denmark; one with hills! The event has multiple distances, from 8km to 50 miles. I didn’t fancy the 50 mile version and instead opted for the 50km distance. All the distances are some variation of the 25km loop, so 50km just heads around the course twice. Alex decided last minute that he would also join, and chose to do the 25km distance. We stayed in a cute hotel in Sandvig within walking distance of the start. The owners and everyone we met who worked there were incredibly friendly and chatty, the room was clean and comfortable, and the breakfast was tasty, though the race started too early on the Saturday for me to enjoy it. Alex had my portion of breakfast, I’m sure.
The day started early for me, but due to some faffing on my part, I was a little late leaving. It was a roughly 20 minute walk to the start, and I probably would have made it comfortably on time, but I opted to go for that awkward skippy-run one does when they’re running a bit late but don’t really want to run, but kind of need to run… someone in a car very quickly saw me and offered a lift, which I gratefully accepted. I promptly sat on my race pack in the car, opened one of the drink bottle bite valves, and had the horrible feeling of electrolytes leaking into my pants… Hopefully their car seat dried before they noticed.
The approach for the bag drop was the most relaxed of any race I’ve ever done, with everyone just leaving their bags by the barriers in the finish area. I took off my warm layers, listened to the race briefing, and lined up in the start area when told. I joined the crowd where I thought the back was, not wanting to be in the mix with the front runners or hold anyone up. Unfortunately, I thought we were heading off in the opposite direction, so when the RD started the countdown, I realised I was actually at the front… The first 1-2km, no one was running particularly quickly, so when we entered the twisty narrow parts for the first time, I was 3rd lady and very close to the front. I looked around, thinking I don’t belong here… these are not my people. But you better believe I put on a performance as if I did! Not wanting to make a tit of myself, I pushed on up the hills and threw myself down the first few descents so I didn’t hold anyone up or have to step aside and admit my mistake. I hit those hills like a scalded cat, until eventually, thankfully, we came to a bit of trail wide enough for people to easily pass, and I found myself among similarly paced runners at last, albeit incredibly sweaty and swearing at myself for both my mistake and my pride.
Up until around 10-11km, the trails are tricky but not too bad. None of the ascents or descents throughout the race were very long, but they were fairly steep and either rocky, through trees, or in gorse bushes. Around half-way through the loop, we hit the beach and the difficulty stepped up. After the beach is a massive staircase, followed by some more twisty forest bits (lots of fun) and then we approached the castle, which sits atop a hill. After the castle comes a rocky and quite steep descent, followed by rock/boulder hopping on the beach. Both these were a lot of fun and opportunities to be bold and gain some time. From the beach, the course heads uphill again, and back towards the lake near the start/finish line. I knew from one end of the lake, the finish was only about 1km away, but my watch was telling me there was around 3.5km left. This final 3.5km was designed by a sadist. The route essentially wound it’s way up and down the hill repeatedly until the 25km was met. It was tough and slow going, and after completing it on round 1, I wasn’t really relishing the idea of coming back for a round 2.
The start/finish area is an opportunity to refill snacks and water, then off we went for lap 2. As I was setting off, I heard my name and was very happy to see Rutger waving with some words of encouragement. I was later told that I set off just before the 17km walkers, which I was very pleased about as I didn’t really fancy people dodging on those narrow trails. Again, the first 10-11km passed quite easily, and I did opt to stop on the second lap for a water refill and a handful of crisps at the aid station. Reaching halfway on the lap wasn’t quite as bad as I feared. “Fresh” would have been too generous for the state of my legs, but they weren’t terrible. I think that’s in part due to keeping on top of nutrition during the race; I either had a Voom square (my preference to gels), a gel, or a Twix finger every 5km. The final 12km was definitely a challenge. The legs were burning on the hills and I could see a lady closing in on me from behind. Fortunately, when we came to the tough descent and the rocky beach boulders, my technical skills were superior and I gave myself some breathing room to relax in towards the finish. I had a little bit of back and forth with another runner I’d been following for a while here, but ultimately she had a stronger finish thought the final sadistic 3.5km.
I finished 9th of the 22 female starters, which I’m pretty happy with. But what I’m more happy with is that I really enjoyed it, I pushed myself quite hard, particularly in being bold down the hills, and I feel more confident on tricky terrain. I would definitely come back to Bornholm to do this race again. The island is pretty and peaceful, the race was on the smaller side but well organised, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend away. Onwards to the next challenge: Copenhagen marathon.
Distinctly Average Ultra Runner 