Faelledparken & Bridge Run, 14 & 15 June 2025

Rachel Hurdman has been to Denmark (and Sweden!) to run across the iconic Øresund Bridge – familiar to fans of Scandi Noir as “The Bridge” of the TV series of that name. Here is how she got on:

“To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Øresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden they decided to host a half marathon across it. It is a double decker cable stayed suspension bridge with trains on the lower level and vehicles on the upper level but normally no pedestrian access. There had been a run previously in 2010 with approx 80,000 attendees and this time there were only 40,000 spaces which sold out within hours. Luckily I managed to get a place! The engineering firm I work for were the original designers of the bridge so they let people know about the event and we managed to get 28 runners from our Newcastle office.

A few of us from Newcastle had enjoyed a very sunny Faelledparken Parkrun the day before the Bridge Run. The parkrun consisted of 3 laps of a lovely flat park with the occasional cyclist to avoid. It was conveniently located next to the Bridge Run expo to collect race numbers. Bridge Runners significantly boosted the regular number of Parkrun attendees and I wasn’t alone in going a bit faster than planned around the flat course!

Travel to the Bridge Run was via Copenhagen’s super metro system which was busy but took us right to the starting area out near the airport which was clear skies and 20 degrees at 9am. There were not enough toilets and some extreme queuing but eventually, after people either persevered or used the bushes, it was time to be funnelled in our wave quite a long way to get to the start. After a couple of km we were running under the airport flight path and then into the tunnel. The tunnel was hot and sweaty and went on for a couple of km! There were some waves of clapping and a couple of cheers but no oggie-oggies! I think nearly everyone’s suncream was sweated off in there and everyone was happy to see daylight. However, daylight meant it was generally now uphill until the centre point of the bridge. By now it had clouded over and the breeze felt cooling after the tunnel heat! Beyond the tunnel there was a section across a small island and then we were onto the bridge. The marshalls along the route did some cheering and hi- fives and the traffic queuing in the other direction joined in with car horn honks of support which was good as it was slightly unusual not having any spectators along the route. The bridge itself was very impressive and I took a couple of quick photos along the way to mark the occasion. Then (eventually!) it was downhill! I was feeling ok at this point and thought I could pick the pace up a bit. As I headed off the bridge and into the final turns I thought I’d get under the 2hr mark however, there was some disorganisation and I was met by a wall of people at the 200m mark so had to stop and after a period of standing still we eventually shuffled over the finish line. It was a disappointing end to the run and there was further disorganisation to contend with including bag collection and a distinct lack of buses. I eventually ended up walking about 5km to the train station and, with the police managing the crowds at the train station, I went for a well earned drink before getting a later train back to Copenhagen when things were a lot calmer and it meant I got a seat! They don’t currently have plans for a future Bridge Run and the organisers definitely have some improvements to make if they do have another one. Copenhagen is beautiful though and I’d definitely recommend visiting there!”