One of the most popular races of the year – and one of the toughest, too – has just been won by Swede Sebastian Norberg and German Laura Zimmermann: they climbed first to the top of ‘Mount Gaustatoppen’, winning the famous and infamous Norseman.
With over 5,000 athletes trying to sign up each year, while only 250 get a slot, the Norseman is a real bucket list race for many athletes. The classic distance race involves jumping off a ferry in the middle of an icy lake to swim 3.8 kilometers – in the dark – back to shore. This is followed by a bike course with thousands of elevation meters, and the last part of the marathon is a climb up the nearly impassable Mount Gaustatoppen, with its summit at almost two thousand meters.
In the men’s, the race was won by Swede Sebastian Norberg. He finished his swim after 59:10 minutes and after a little over five hours on the bike, he then began the grueling marathon. His finishing time was 10:10:19.
Among the women, the win went to Germany’s Laura Zimmermann. She took 1:06:24 for her swim and for the bike she needed just under six hours. Her finishing time was 11:32:56. Overall Zimmermann finished in an impressive eight position.
