August 3rd – 05:00 Eidfjord – Norway
Loc: 60°28′36″N 7°2′19″E
Expected water-temp: 12°C to 16°C
Starting Isklar Norseman Xtreme Triathlon
Starting Xtri World Championships (Use dropdown menu on top to select race)
News
The Norseman Scholarship 2018
Lotte Emilia Miller (22) has been at the top of Norwegian triathlon since she was 16 and will most likely be the first Norwegian female to qualify for triathlon in the Olympics. The board hopes the NOK 30 000 scholarship will be of help to secure a slot on the pontoon in Tokyo.
This is the message we received from Lotte after she got the news:
It`s a great honour to receive the 2018 Norseman scholarship. To be recognized as an up and coming athlete in the sport is something I`m both grateful and extremely excited about. Both Kristian Blumenfelt and Casper Stornes have received this scholarship through the previous two years. Seeing them both develop over the years and now to see them thrive on the ITU circuit, is both motivating and inspiring. My dream is to be able to experience that myself in the near future.
2018 was a breakthrough year for me on the elite ITU circuit. Starting my season with a 10th place in WTS Abu Dhabi after a break away on the bike, was unbelievable. I wasn’t sure what the rest of the season would bring, but it turned out I was able to back up my solid result at the start of the season, with multiple top 15 results in the World Triathlon Series. Ending up 17thoverall in the series was something both my coach and I was very pleased with.
I`m starting to understand what kind of athlete I want to be: Proactive, aggressive, fair and robust. After this season I`m beginning to form my very own way of racing, quite similar to the way the rest of the Norwegian team race. I want to contribute on the bike and try to shape the race as best I can.
The goal for next year (2019) is to continue the good work and up my game on all three disciplines. I want to become one of the strongest female riders in the WTS- series and establish myself as top 15 material. To be able to stand on the podium in a world cup is also on my agenda. Not only would this help me, in taking the next step as an international top short distance triathlete, but this will also enable me to improve my ITU and Olympic qualification ranking. After the 2019 season, I`ll hopefully stand with a secure spot for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
2019 will for sure be a very exciting year for the national team and Norwegian triathlon in general. I can`t wait to see what next year brings!
Yours Sincerely
Lotte Emilia Miller
A story of willpower, friendship, love
By Thorsten Firlus (Journalist and Norseman 2018 finisher)
Tim-Nicolas Korf is at that moment unaware that his bruised body driven by relentless will is going to write one of the bigger stories in the history of the Norseman – and certainly the biggest tale race director had to tell astounded group of finishers and their friends and families at the t-shirt-ceremony at Gaustablikk on a sunny Sunday morning.
“It started with a sad story”, says Tim-Nicolas months after he made the impossible thing possible and finished with a jump over the finish line. His father unexpectedly passed away only weeks before he entered the lottery for a Norseman slot. Like he did the years before since 2014. “I know so many people who tried their luck and failed. I did not expect it to happen, the chances are so small”, says Tim-Nicolas.
However, once he received that desired email that said to relax, have a coffee and welcomes the 230 happy athletes he made a decision. He wanted to dedicate this race to his father. He decided that once he made it to the top of Gaustatoppen he not only wanted to finish the race gaining a black shirt but bring a small wooden gyroscope made by his father who turned to woodworks later in his life. “My father and I loved the mountains and spent a lot of time there together”, remembers Tim. “The preparation for the Norseman and this idea about taking something up the hill helped me with my grief.”
His dream shattered only a few kilometers into the bike split on the morning of 4thof August 2018 on the old road between Eidfjord and the top of the first of five climbs up Voringsfossen, that majestic waterfall that attracts people from all over the world. “I was already down in the aeroposition on my time-trial-bike”, says Tim-Nicolas. It was still a bit dark. And Tim-Nicolas in his thoughts about the race. “I simply did not see that pothole.”
Tim-Nicolas is not unfamiliar with unexpected situations and is always looking for challenges. Ultramarathon up the Zugspitze. He finished the Swissman in 2014 – “a equally hard race with multiple mountain passes in the alps” – and willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve a goal. “Losing some 16 Kilogram was one of them when I got that slot for the Norseman”, says Tim-Nicolas who fell in love with smaller races in inhospitable landscapes – “That’s why I wanted to do Norseman, that’s where those extreme triathlons started.”
In the immediate aftermath of a crash the thoughts of human circle fast and not necessarily in a logical order. “I took a look at my hand and though, yes, that’s looks a bit funny but I can move it. No problem”, remembers Tim-Nicolas. His brand-new speedsuit – torn. “But not too bad I thought, I gathered that generally I could go on.”
Norseman is a race for friends, family with the athlete at the center of a unifying experience. Tim-Nicolas crew of four – Sylvia, Jens, André and dog Henry – was sitting in a car waiting for their athlete coming up to first stop. Jörg, a friend of Tim-Nicolas, happened to be on vacation in Norway and also decided to join the group and cheer Tim-Nicolas. He had brought his mountain bike along.
Jörg met his friend shortly after his crash. “He insisted I could not go on”, says Tim-Nicolas, “I argued that I still felt able to cycle.” Only after Jörg showed the broken fork of his bike Tim-Nicolas acknowledged the full catastrophe. And did not hesitate. “I told Jörg that I wanted to take his bike.”
Jörg, ready to conclude that his friend after the crash was not in his right mind and possibly even had a small concussion, flatly denied and wanted Tim-Nicolas to return to Eidfjord. “I insisted and threaten to end up our friendship if he wasn’t to give me his bike.” Jörg, faced with a bloodstained but wildly determined athlete, gave in and his bike to Tim.
“I was really well prepared with my bike and even had 56-tooth-chainring mounted to be able to push it hard even the downhills”, says Tim-Nicolas. Now he found himself on a mountain-bike of his friend who not only is 1,85 and therefore much smaller than Tim-Nicolas but also in Jörg’s shoes – “two sizes smaller than I wear.”
Toes cramped into the shoes, his body bent on a frame far too small for him Tim-Nicolas started the race all over again. “All kinds of thoughts went through my head”, remembers Tim-Nicolas. Giving up? No. “Not after all those months of preparation. The energy everyone involved, especially my support had given into that project.”
And the dream of the black shirt not entirely given up – that’s how Tim-Nicolas stood in the pedals and gave everything he had. “I was pushing it too hard”, says he. His mind on his father, his friends, the race, tears in his eyes – “I had to completely focus on a different goal.”
At Geilo, halfway into the bike split, he had to give up whatever was left of hopes of making it up to Gaustatoppen carrying that small gyroscope. After the swim he ranked 54, leaving transition zone one he ranked 59. At Voringfossen still at 157 despite the crash. At Geilo Tim-Nicolas was in position 199. And finally stopped to have a medical team check his wounds.
He got clearance to go on. Despite spitting blood which came from his chin – but not the lungs. The crew and organizers already remarked that something extraordinary was happening. And somehow the race started a third time for Tim-Nicolas.
Time to celebrate. “I was at position 212 after the medical check and out of reach to make it up the top.” But not slowing down. He overtook a couple of athletes on their road bikes. “It’s so nice about Norseman – it’s companionship. They cheered as well.” One, he remembers shouted at him that he wanted to give him a medal if Tim-Nicolas made it to the finish line.
Whoever was fortunate enough to see Tim-Nicolas during the race must have had an amazing impression of an athlete giving his best in some of the worst and unexpected circumstances possible. And a fast one. He finished the bike segment as number 202.
The first 10k of the run went pretty well and Tim-Nicolas started to think again. If he hadn’t lost some minutes here, some minutes with the medical crew – maybe, maybe…
“But I had burned whatever energy I had on the bike. I was smashed.” He stopped occasionally had a chat with his crew, drank and ate and the first time of the day took a look at himself. “We had some kind of a small party”, Tim-Nicolas recalls. He was accompanied by a motorcyclist of the crew who was just as impressed as anyone else. “It was all very emotional.”
After the walk up Zombie Hill “I had to turn left”. He dreaded doing ten rounds around the hotel. Only to find out that the atmosphere was pretty different to what he expected. “It was certainly one of the best things about the day”, says Tim-Nicolas. A party of people celebrating their journeys, the race the people. The crew playing national anthems of every participant and running next to them.
16 hours, 37 minutes and 34 seconds after the horn started the race, Tim-Nicolas picked up speed, raised his hands, stuck his tongue between his lips and jumped over the finish line.
Four months have passed and Tim-Nicolas can’t say when he realized, what he had done. “It certainly was the wildest thing I ever did overcoming all those obstacles of that day.”
Many people – foremost race director Torill Pedersen – instantly recognized what has unfolded before their eyes: A story of willpower, friendship, love. Tim-Nicolas wants to go back. “Even though I usually don’t do races twice”, he admits. He fears that it won’t be the same “the first time you step onto the ferry will be unique.” However – he applied. And failed. Like so many years before. “But I´m not done with the Norseman. I want to try to take that wooden gyroscope up Gaustatoppen.”
Editors note:
Courtesy of Race Director Torill Pedersen, Tim-Nicolas Korf, age 38, will get the race director’s slot for the Isklar Norseman Xtreme Triathlon 2019. The invitation should be in his inbox just about now.
Delight and dismay on Norseman’s longest day
Every year, the challenge is the same – thousands apply, but only a select few will see their dream fulfilled, while the rest will only know disappointment.
This year we broadcast the draw live on YouTube and I had the honour of anchoring the show. We know how big the race is, but it’s still hard to express the effect it can have on people’s lives.
On Monday we learned how people form all over the world breathlessly hang on your every word as they wait to hear their name.
For the vast majority, they wait in vain.
But still, they wait.
Unlike many other triathlons around the world that simply pack in competitors like sardines, Norseman has its limitations. The winding roads and narrow passes, Zombie Hill and Gaustatoppen all dictate that there can only be a certain amount of competitors, but the legend of the race has become so great that the number wishing to take part far outstrips that number of spots available, and then some. Finding a way to make the draw as fair as possible is like trying to pass a camel through the eye of a needle; even if you do find the perfect format, there will still be those that are not happy, for the simple reason that theirs is not among the names called.
The process created by the volunteers involved in running the race – and there are many of them – was as transparent and random as possible.
From a selfish point of view as presenter and commentator, it suits me better to see the same names every year, as I don’t have to learn about new athletes and new stories. But the goal of Norseman is for as many as possible to experience this race, and there are very few “favourites” – athletes who have performed brilliantly before and who have been invited back, or whose performances in other races have earned them the right to take on the ultimate race.
Like the race sometimes does, the draw started slowly and quickly picked up pace as the names were fired out by the system and on to the screens. A documentary about the race shown in France saw a huge upswing in applications from there, and their quota of ten percent of the starting spots was filled before the draw was complete.
Racers who have been unsuccessful in past years were granted extra tickets in the draw to increase their chances, but with over 8000 tickets in total it was cold comfort; some were successful, but others, agonisingly, were not. Believe me, their pain was felt by the cast and crew.
Because ultimately, Norseman is run by people who love the sport, and love the landscape, and who love helping others be the best version of themselves that they can possibly be.
There is no desire for profit, and nor is there any desire to favour one competitor over another. The rules are clear – there are so many worthy causes and stories that none can be given preference. In an ideal world we would all do nothing but race that course and give every adventurer the chance to say that they had finished on top of the mountain, but that is not the way the world works. The draw is a mistress that is both cruel and utterly fair.
But for those 232 whose names were called, the exhilaration was complete. They own the precious chance to take part in something magical.
Congratulations to those who were successful.
Commiserations to those who were not.
The longest day of the next Norseman is already done, and we all have to live with the luck of the draw.
And for a very lucky few, their tomorrows all lead to Eidfjord.
Philip O’Connor is a sports journalist, commentator and storyteller working with Spocks Family in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2018 the team broadcast the Isklar Norseman race live for the second time. and in 2018 he commentated on the Norseman for the second time.
A story of willpower, friendship, love
Tim-Nicolas Korf is at that moment unaware that his bruised body driven by relentless will is going to write one of the bigger stories in the history of the Norseman – and certainly the biggest tale race director had to tell astounded group of finishers and their friends and families at the t-shirt-ceremony at Gaustablikk on a sunny Sunday morning.
“It started with a sad story”, says Tim-Nicolas months after he made the impossible thing possible and finished with a jump over the finish line. His father unexpectedly passed away only weeks before he entered the lottery for a Norseman slot. Like he did the years before since 2014. “I know so many people who tried their luck and failed. I did not expect it to happen, the chances are so small”, says Tim-Nicolas.
However, once he received that desired email that said to relax, have a coffee and welcomes the 230 happy athletes he made a decision. He wanted to dedicate this race to his father. He decided that once he made it to the top of Gaustatoppen he not only wanted to finish the race gaining a black shirt but bring a small wooden gyroscope made by his father who turned to woodworks later in his life. “My father and I loved the mountains and spent a lot of time there together”, remembers Tim. “The preparation for the Norseman and this idea about taking something up the hill helped me with my grief.”
His dream shattered only a few kilometers into the bike split on the morning of 4thof August 2018 on the old road between Eidfjord and the top of the first of five climbs up Voringsfossen, that majestic waterfall that attracts people from all over the world. “I was already down in the aeroposition on my time-trial-bike”, says Tim-Nicolas. It was still a bit dark. And Tim-Nicolas in his thoughts about the race. “I simply did not see that pothole.”
Tim-Nicolas is not unfamiliar with unexpected situations and is always looking for challenges. Ultramarathon up the Zugspitze. He finished the Swissman in 2014 – “a equally hard race with multiple mountain passes in the alps” – and willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve a goal. “Losing some 16 Kilogram was one of them when I got that slot for the Norseman”, says Tim-Nicolas who fell in love with smaller races in inhospitable landscapes – “That’s why I wanted to do Norseman, that’s where those extreme triathlons started.”
In the immediate aftermath of a crash the thoughts of human circle fast and not necessarily in a logical order. “I took a look at my hand and though, yes, that’s looks a bit funny but I can move it. No problem”, remembers Tim-Nicolas. His brand-new speedsuit – torn. “But not too bad I thought, I gathered that generally I could go on.”
Norseman is a race for friends, family with the athlete at the center of a unifying experience. Tim-Nicolas crew of four – Sylvia, Jens, André and dog Henry – was sitting in a car waiting for their athlete coming up to first stop. Jörg, a friend of Tim-Nicolas, happened to be on vacation in Norway and also decided to join the group and cheer Tim-Nicolas. He had brought his mountain bike along.
Jörg met his friend shortly after his crash. “He insisted I could not go on”, says Tim-Nicolas, “I argued that I still felt able to cycle.” Only after Jörg showed the broken fork of his bike Tim-Nicolas acknowledged the full catastrophe. And did not hesitate. “I told Jörg that I wanted to take his bike.”
Jörg, ready to conclude that his friend after the crash was not in his right mind and possibly even had a small concussion, flatly denied and wanted Tim-Nicolas to return to Eidfjord. “I insisted and threaten to end up our friendship if he wasn’t to give me his bike.” Jörg, faced with a bloodstained but wildly determined athlete, gave in and his bike to Tim.
“I was really well prepared with my bike and even had 56-tooth-chainring mounted to be able to push it hard even the downhills”, says Tim-Nicolas. Now he found himself on a mountain-bike of his friend who not only is 1,85 and therefore much smaller than Tim-Nicolas but also in Jörg’s shoes – “two sizes smaller than I wear.”
Toes cramped into the shoes, his body bent on a frame far too small for him Tim-Nicolas started the race all over again. “All kinds of thoughts went through my head”, remembers Tim-Nicolas. Giving up? No. “Not after all those months of preparation. The energy everyone involved, especially my support had given into that project.”
And the dream of the black shirt not entirely given up – that’s how Tim-Nicolas stood in the pedals and gave everything he had. “I was pushing it too hard”, says he. His mind on his father, his friends, the race, tears in his eyes – “I had to completely focus on a different goal.”
At Geilo, halfway into the bike split, he had to give up whatever was left of hopes of making it up to Gaustatoppen carrying that small gyroscope. After the swim he ranked 54, leaving transition zone one he ranked 59. At Voringfossen still at 157 despite the crash. At Geilo Tim-Nicolas was in position 199. And finally stopped to have a medical team check his wounds.
He got clearance to go on. Despite spitting blood which came from his chin – but not the lungs. The crew and organizers already remarked that something extraordinary was happening. And somehow the race started a third time for Tim-Nicolas.
Time to celebrate. “I was at position 212 after the medical check and out of reach to make it up the top.” But not slowing down. He overtook a couple of athletes on their road bikes. “It’s so nice about Norseman – it’s companionship. They cheered as well.” One, he remembers shouted at him that he wanted to give him a medal if Tim-Nicolas made it to the finish line.
Whoever was fortunate enough to see Tim-Nicolas during the race must have had an amazing impression of an athlete giving his best in some of the worst and unexpected circumstances possible. And a fast one. He finished the bike segment as number 202.
The first 10k of the run went pretty well and Tim-Nicolas started to think again. If he hadn’t lost some minutes here, some minutes with the medical crew – maybe, maybe…
“But I had burned whatever energy I had on the bike. I was smashed.” He stopped occasionally had a chat with his crew, drank and ate and the first time of the day took a look at himself. “We had some kind of a small party”, Tim-Nicolas recalls. He was accompanied by a motorcyclist of the crew who was just as impressed as anyone else. “It was all very emotional.”
After the walk up Zombie Hill “I had to turn left”. He dreaded doing ten rounds around the hotel. Only to find out that the atmosphere was pretty different to what he expected. “It was certainly one of the best things about the day”, says Tim-Nicolas. A party of people celebrating their journeys, the race the people. The crew playing national anthems of every participant and running next to them.
16 hours, 37 minutes and 34 seconds after the horn started the race, Tim-Nicolas picked up speed, raised his hands, stuck his tongue between his lips and jumped over the finish line.
Four months have passed and Tim-Nicolas can’t say when he realized, what he had done. “It certainly was the wildest thing I ever did overcoming all those obstacles of that day.”
Many people – foremost race director Torill Pedersen – instantly recognized what has unfolded before their eyes: A story of willpower, friendship, love. Tim-Nicolas wants to go back. “Even though I usually don’t do races twice”, he admits. He fears that it won’t be the same “the first time you step onto the ferry will be unique.” However – he applied. And failed. Like so many years before. “But I´m not done with the Norseman. I want to try to take that wooden gyroscope up Gaustatoppen.”
Editors note:
Courtesy of Race Director Torill Pedersen, Tim-Nicolas Korf, age 38, will get the race director’s slot for the Isklar Norseman Xtreme Triathlon 2019. The invitation should be in his inbox just about now.
From all Corners
Vietnam, Venezuela, Uruguay, United States, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Uganda, Turkey, Tunisia, Thailand, Taiwan, Syrian Arab Republic, Sweden, South Africa, Slovakia, Singapore, Serbia, Switzerland, Russian Federation, Romania, Réunion, Qatar, Portugal, Poland, Philippines, Pakistan, Norway, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Netherlands, Morocco, Montenegro, Monaco, Moldova, Mexico, Mauritius, Malta, Malaysia, Lithuania, Lebanon, Latvia, Korea South Korea, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Japan, Italia, Israel, Ireland, Iran, Indonesia, India, Iceland, Hungary, Hong Kong, Greenland, Greece, Gibraltar, French Polynesia, France, Finland, Faeroe Islands, Estonia, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Cuba, Croatia, Costa Rica, Colombia, China, Canada, Bulgaria, Brunei, Brazil, Bosnia And Herzegovina, Belgium, Belarus, Australia, Austria, Aruba, Argentina and Algeria are all ready to send us athletes if they make it through the draw.
By paying our administration fee, all that registered have contributed to collect over USD 35 000 to our charity partner Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)
On November 12th when we host our first ever LIVE draw, we’ll all have the answer as to who gets lucky.
Make sure you don’t miss it by subscribing to our YouTube account or click above to set the YouTube reminder.
The athletes getting a slot through the draw will be posted here
About the enrolment process. About the draw process. Questions often asked.
