On June 29 and 30, 2019, there was a traditional Haervejsmarchen in Viborg. My goal was to complete the distance of 2×20 km, i.e. walk 20 km on Saturday and 20 km on Sunday. It was my debut as a participant and it is a goal that has been a long time coming. In fact, it has been on the schedule for about a year.

Before I could even set it as a realistic goal, I had to go through two years of rigorous rehabilitation after a brain hemorrhage caused by a skiing accident in March 2016. I had to learn to walk again. Today, I have a left-sided paralysis that means I can't use my left arm, and I don't have full mobility in my left leg. Walking training has slowly increased my sense of freedom as I've gotten stronger. In the beginning, when I went for a walk, the route was carefully measured out, and I just had to go home and relax my tired legs afterwards. As the distances have gotten longer and I've gotten stronger, I've become more free to take small detours or just walk a little extra if I feel like it and have the strength to do so. It's given me a wonderful feeling of freedom that I can get around on my own. I can actually keep going for several hours.

Day 1: Saturday, June 29

Now the day had come to test my strength with the distance of 2 x 20 km to the military road march in Viborg. It was cool and a little windy from the morning. I considered once again whether I should wear a warm sweater. I chose not to, as the weather forecast promised warm weather later in the day. It turned out to be a good decision 🙂

Both Saturday and Sunday I went with my mother-in-law Irene and her friend Signe and my little brother Claus. There was a little change between a few others who went either Saturday or Sunday. But the 4 of us went together both days. On Saturday my boys, their cousins ​​and grandfather cycled the Military Road Race on mountain bikes from Engesvang to Viborg. A distance of 60 km where the youngest man was 9 years old and the oldest was 69 years old. We wished each other a good trip before we drove towards the parade ground in Viborg.

It was a really good atmosphere out on the route. We shared part of the walk with those who were walking the carnival route. There were many costumed groups of people with loud music and various creative inventions in the form of carts for drinks out on the route. There was a festival atmosphere both among the participants, but also at the rest areas there were jazz musicians who entertained the hikers.

At some point around noon, the routes were divided, so you walked the last 5 km yourself. As entertaining as the participants on the carnival route were at the beginning, and as nice as it was to walk together, it was just as nice that the routes were divided at the end. Because admittedly people were getting more and more drunk. It was nice to be able to hear the birds singing and your own breathing again when we were divided up.

In a way, the trip went smoothly and easily with all the things that happened along the way. It was an incredibly beautiful and scenic route that constantly changed. We walked surprisingly little on big roads, but more small, cozy roads surrounded by forest, fields, meadows and lakes. It was good to have company on the trip. The kilometers went by quickly. Even though there were many periods when we didn't talk to each other, we were together. The few times the route became a bit challenging for me, I held onto Claus's arm for support. It was a good help to have at hand.

It wasn't until the last 2 km that I started to feel tired, and it was great to reach the finish line.

We waited in the finish area for the boys to come in from the bike race. There was a good atmosphere, music, sunshine and happy people. We followed each other home when everyone had finished. It was good to sleep in your own bed at night.

Day 2: Sunday June 30th

I woke up early. It was a bit hard to get out of bed with my tired legs. It was good to have plenty of time to get my tired body going. Whereas Saturday was characterized by a party atmosphere, Sunday was completely different and calm. It was very hot from the morning. My body just had to get going, but we made progress slowly. It was further to the depots, and the route was hillier. I used Claus as support several times, when it was a bit difficult for me to walk in the terrain. When we hit noon, the sun was beating down on us, and I/we were getting tired.

The first depot we reached was already closing, and they had no more sodas that weren't light. You don't want to drink that when you're hungry for energy. Luckily they had apple juice. Helle, who went with me, had hoped for a sandwich, but had to settle for a red sausage with bread. My body was really starting to get tired and we took many small water breaks, but on the other hand we didn't sit still for that long.

When we reached the last depot, my GPS watch said that we had walked 20 km, so we hoped that we would soon reach the finish line. There we found out that we still needed 5.2 km. We sat there for a long time, gathering energy and will for the last part of the trip. Claus bought me an energy drink (there were no sugary sodas left). It gave me just the boost I needed mentally to make it through the last part of the trip. I dragged my feet the last km, and when I reached the finish line, Thomas was waiting. ❤️
We gathered all the participants at our house in the evening, where we had a barbecue and celebrated that we had completed the march.

It is so life-affirming to set a goal that is just on the verge of me thinking I could do it. until now that I am on the other side of it. Now I am sitting here and I am happy and tired. I have new confidence in my physique. I am no longer so limited in getting around on my own. I am very grateful that it has been possible. It has been a great weekend with lots of wonderful memories. Several people have told me “I will join next year”

Now we have to see if there will be a next year for me. I will not promise it. I certainly will not refuse it either!

Praise and acclaim for the Army Road March as an event, from a debutant's perspective

• Well planned
• Well-organized start and finish area
• Easy to find with start cards/medals etc.
• Scenic routes
• Happy people
• Cozy with jazz music at the rest areas on Saturday

• Information about the rest areas' opening hours was well hidden.
• We couldn't find the water stations on Saturday. We bought extra water.
• It's a pain to get to half-empty depots. Especially when it's very hot and you're tired.
• The routes were a bit longer than we thought, 22 km on Saturday and almost 26 km on Sunday. We weren't wrong.