– There was no hope. They put it bluntly: “You are going to die.” Then it was just to go home to the kids at seven and nine years old, and tell it like it was. Mom is going to die. It was so damn good, says Simen to TV 2.
His wife Camilla had received the message about small bowel cancer a few years before, in 2017.
“Yeah,” thought Simen and the children, Ingeborg and Isak. It happens to someone, that. This they were to come across. This should go well. And it did. Thought they.
The chemotherapy treatment went according to plan, and was completed in July 2018.
– Happy in life as we were, we went straight on the interrail from Stavanger. Train to Oslo, ferry to Hirtshals. Train to Paris, London. We were around the world and enjoyed ourselves with red wine and everything that goes with it, Simen says.
– WIFE: Camilla died April 25, 2019. Photo: Private
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The shock message at the hospital
The fall trip was added to Chicago. Christmas and New Year celebrations in Gran Canaria. Camilla’s cancer was a wake-up call – a lesson in how fragile life can be. Therefore, they enjoyed.
Well back home in January, Camilla felt pain. Great pain. In the end, they had no choice: they had to go to the hospital.
And that was where it came from. The message that would change Simen and the children’s lives forever. The cancer had spread to the stomach, liver and kidney.
– Three weeks later, Camilla was dead. Quickly, gradually, gone. The last day we lay holding hands and felt our lives ebb. It got colder. The breathing became weaker, Simen recalls.
The family of four sat together around mother Camilla. Eldsted’s daughter Ingeborg took a quick trip to the bathroom. When she returned, the family was reduced to three.
Camilla had taken her last breath.
The medicine
How do you recover from such a traumatic experience?
For Simen, the answer was running. Lots of running, long runs.
– SUPPORT: Simen has followed almost all the way from the North Cape. Photo: Yngve Sem Pedersen / TV 2
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Then he got a crazy idea.
– After the death in 2019, I realized that I want to do something big. I wanted to think big, and get closer to myself with running. That was then Norway lenghtwise was conceived, he says.
Facts: Norway along
- World record attempt on the stretch Nordkapp – Lindesnes.
- Today’s record is from 2010: 42 days, 9 hours and 6 minutes.
- Simen’s goal is not just to break the record, but to spend less than 30 days. Now he is on track to achieve the planned goal of 27 days.
- Budget of approx. 200,000 kroner.
- Any profit is given 100% to the Childhood Cancer Association.
Source: https://www.simenpaalangs.no/
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On July 1, he started from the North Cape plateau. In an incredible 27 (!) Days, he will reach the lighthouse at Lindesnes. Number of kilometers? About 2600.
Now he is four days away. If he manages it, it is a new world record with a crushing margin. The previous one lasts 42 days.
TV 2 meets him in Hokksund. Day 23 of 27 is just over.
Follow Simen’s journey towards Lindesnes in real time her!
Family and friends from the eastern region have received him warmly at the hotel with flags, warm hugs and encouraging words.
– When will it break for him?
Simen takes off his shoes, takes a big sip of the soft cake and sips a beer.
– It’s a game now, he laughs.
– I notice I get stronger and stronger with each passing day, he continues from the camping chair outside the hotel.
The sweaty feet have been allowed to rest. He stretches them out into the air. After 92 kilometers in tight shoes, they finally get some much-needed oxygen.
– FRESH FEET: After 27 days, Simen’s feet have not yet got chafing. Photo: Yngve Sem Pedersen / TV 2
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– Many people may not have believed you when you told about these plans?
– For some it is unthinkable to run a marathon. For some it is very strange to run two marathons every day. And when you say you have to run two and a half marathons every day for a month, then I think you lose a lot of people, he chuckles, and continues:
– People think it does not work. When does it break for him, right? But most have hoped. And as a northerner said: “If there is anyone who can do it, it is him.” I have known all along that it works, he says.
On the way down Norway, he has experienced unforgettable things. Meet people who have inspired him. Shared stories. And drank lots of beer, then.
– People are proud of their city, and know that I love beer, so they bring beer from where they come from. They tell about their hometown, while they run with me into the last miles of the stage – into their city, he explains.
– PERFORMANCE, SO ENJOY: Soft cake and beer are mandatory after today’s almost 100 kilometer long stage. Here with dad Audun, who drives the motorhome. Photo: Yngve Sem Pedersen / TV 2
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The psychologist’s advice
It is precisely these human encounters that give him the most. Throughout the route, people from far and wide have hung out. He has hardly run alone.
– They have taken a boat for hours, driven a car for hours – just to drive with me – and because they they have a story to tell. With my background and openness, many say that they have managed to take charge of their lives. Start using running as medicine. It grips me right in the heart. As long as only one had told of such an experience, all this had been worth it. But there are many. I have met something or other, he explains.
I try to show that you should dream big. Dare to realize your dreams. Give gas! You live once. Everything is possible. Do not waste your life, use it wisely. Dream huge, and live life! That is my call.
For running has become his medicine. His way of dealing with the extreme grief.
– After the death, I initially thought that the most important thing was the children. Isak and Ingeborg. But then I eventually came in contact with a psychologist. She said, “You know what? The most important thing is not the children. The most important thing is yourself. That of handles life. When the kids see that you are strong and cope with life, it helps them again “, Simen explains.
– I have become so strong from this, he continues.
– When I touch the lighthouse, it’s the point
Today he is among the world’s best ultra runners. In 2020 ranked as the fifth best 24-hour runner in the world.
Now he plans to write a book.
– What I want to tell .. It is not the world record that is important. It’s just an engine. Running is a tool for people to talk. To take that record, I’m sure I do. Exactly that does not mean much, it is not so important, he begins, before continuing:
– CHEAP LUXURY: At around 2600 kilometers, Simen has plenty of time to think: – What am I thinking about? There I must disappoint you. I think about what beer, what soft cake and what drink I should have when I finish. The basic thing. It’s wonderful, he explains. Photo: Yngve Sem Pedersen / TV 2
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– But what I want to write about is the experience with the tragedy, the death and difficult situations, and how to use running as something constructive. I also want to write about all the people I have met and their stories. I want to write about cities and beer. Proximity and people. The running is second class. It’s the people. The feelings, Simen explains.
But first he will complete Norway on the longitudinal project. And one thing is for sure: Tuesday, when he arrives at Lindesnes lighthouse, will be emotional. He already knows that.
– I have often imagined that situation. It will be another anticlimax, he says.
– Everyone will be present. Both kids. All friends. I feel like I’m getting a lump in my throat just talking about it. I think it will be very strong and touching. It will be an end to my grief therapy. Simply. When I take the lighthouse, it’s the point. Then I’m dead. Then I am done with the biggest mourning process, Simen concludes.
If everything goes according to plan, he arrives in Lindesnes on Tuesday.
Simen’s route – day by day
1/7 North Cape Plateau – Olderfjord (127 km)
2/7 Olderfjord – Alta (109 km)
3/7 Alta – Burfjord (90 km)
4/7 Burfjord – Sørkjosen (78 km)
5/7 Sørkjosen – Skibotn (100 km)
6/7 Skibotn – Bardufoss (110 km)
7/7 Bardufoss – Bjerkvik (84 km)
8/7 Bjerkvik – Storjord (107 km)
9/7 Storjord – Mørsvikbotn (80 km)
10/7 Mørsvikbotn – Fauske (88 km)
11/7 Fauske – Krokstranda (114 km)
12/7 Krokstranda – Dalsgrenda (79 km)
13/7 Dalsgrenda – Mosjøen (69 km)
14/7 Mosjøen – Namsskogan (118 km)
15/7 Namsskogan – Medjå (72 km)
16/7 Medjå – Steinkjer (80 km)
17/7 Steinkjer – Stjørdal (87 km)
18/7 Stjørdal – Soknedal (98 km)
19/7 Soknedal – Hjerkinn (97 km)
20/7 Hjerkinn – Venabygd (94 km)
21/7 Venabygd – Lillehammer (79 km)
22/7 Lillehammer – Brandbu (92 km)
23/7 Brandbu – Hoksund (92 km)
24/7 Hoksund – Lunde (96 km)
25/7 Lunde – Treungen (81 km)
26/7 Treungen – Evje (85 km)
27/7 Evje – Lindesnes Lighthouse (108 km)
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