Tartu Maraton 2009

March 8, 2009

The Tartu maraton was lucky this year with snow falling just before the race (and during the previous night) and we skied the full 63 km. No problem with the wax: hard blue wax.
The track held up very well, with some problem spots during the last 20 km. The food stations are close enough with a variety of foods.
There are kilometer markers that are very large. Very good!
There is a problem with the start: they have waves but just like Vasaloppet, everybody starts at the same time. There were close to 4000 skiers, which is just too many skiers in spite of the start area being wide. There is a fairly steep downhill about 1500 meters after the start and very many skiers went down mainly because of the crowding. This could easily have led to serious injuries!
After that there were no serious bottlenecks.  It is quite crowded during the first 10 km and gets tense as fast skiers are trying to pass slower ones!

The race was a pleasant journey in the forest with easy slopes. The highest point is 213 m high! The last 10 km approaching Elva are flatter.
At the finish, you have to understand that the bags (and the diplomas) are classed with the last number of the bib! Too complicated for me. The diploma is free but you have to pay 3 € to get the profile.
After the race you get a very good soup but it is provided outside which is obviously not good on a cold day!

The brothers Auckland won the race in less than 3 hours as Rezac could not pass them during the last 500 meters partly due to the fresh snow.
In the 31 km there where 1120 skiers and Marko Kilp wins in 1h48m.
At least 3 people became first time masters after this marathon : Doug Jackson from Australia, Christian Hurbin and Michel Wederling from France.

Some results for 63 km CT with 3668 finishers and a winner's time of 2:57:27.

This page was last revised on June 4, 2009