Thy Kingdom Come

Today is my 42nd birthday and I spent it running up Sweden’s highest mountain. Starting off from Nikkaluokta shortly before 6 am under brilliant blue skies, the first 18.62 km up to the STF Kebnekaise mountain lodge went really fast but then I ran into single track trails and tons of boulders that were everything but runnable so instead of running 4:47 min/km I found myself scrambling in a 29:24 min/km pace as I climbed the 2,251 meters up to Kebnekaise and back to Nikkaluokta.

While my father-in-law bet that I would not be able to run the 57 km roundtrip in one day and that I would not be able to appreciate the serenity of the mountains while running, I was happy to prove him wrong on both accounts. Looking out over the glaciers, I had an almost spiritual experience of nature and God’s everlasting presence in the world.