I kicked off my new year’s resolution by entering the Spiritløpet in Sola, near Stavanger in Norway. Truth be told, I was pretty nervous- this was my first race since my injury and also the first time I’d travelled somewhere abroad completely alone.
To add to my nervousness, I had decided to find a place to stay through the Couchsurfing website. I first learned about Couchsurfing from my good friend Mark, whom would often have people staying with him. The idea is that instead of checking into a nameless, faceless hotel, you stay in someone’s home and get to experience their country and culture in an authentic way. Most people, anywhere in the world, would be happy to have a friend’s friend stay overnight if they were in town- Couchsurfing takes that idea and extends it to strangers or, as your mum called them on your first day at school, friends you haven’t met yet.
My host, Andreas, met me at the bus stop and we walked to his house in the freeeeeeeeeezing cold and gale winds. When we got home we had a cup of tea and made polite getting-to-know-you conversation, before making up a bed on the living-room floor for me (Andreas did have a spare bed, but another Couchsurfer had beaten me to it!).
The next day the race went well and afterwards I headed to Andreas’ house and thought about what I could cook for dinner. In the world of Couchsurfing, it is pretty common for the guest to cook a meal and often a meal from their culture if they can get hold of/remembered to bring the right ingredients.
-
Andreas and Jay
Andreas had another Surfer staying with him, a cheeky New-Zealander called Jay. We sat down to our Scottish meal and spent a great evening swapping travelling tales from around the world.
Andreas is a Norwegian native and has lived in Stavanger for many years. He is a wonderful cook (I sampled home-made sausages) and quite an adventurer- he has sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, from the Caribbean all the way to Norway, via a pit-stop for whisky in Scotland. He has also sailed in an open boat all along the coast of Norway to the Russian border. Along both trips he took many beautiful photographs- he has a website for his photography here and you can see a lot more of his photos on his Facebook page here.
Jay, the other surfer, has hitch-hiked and couchsurfed his way across Europe with a suitcase in one hand and saxophone in the other! Trained as an engineer, he gets work when he can find it and keeps travelling when there’s enough money not to worry about work. He was kind enough to take me on a tour around Stavanger’s finer sights and humoured me with taking photos of me all over town.
My starting line side-kick
© Andreas Askildsen/Solabladet
This lovely lady talked a bit at me, it sounded like a question, so I explained that I only spoke English and she swapped languages for me. She said she was happy at the back of the group, letting the fast people run ahead and staying out of their way. I agreed I had the same strategy and wished her best of luck for the race as the gun went and we were off!
Stig, my friendly taxi driver
© Andreas Askildsen/Solabladet
And this guy is called Stig, whom helped me find the start line for my race. We jogged about a kilometre along the road, had a good warm-up and Stig gave me a rough idea of what to expect on the route.
After the race, (the) Stig kindly gave me lift in his car back to the city, sharing stories of his time doing National Service and plans of travelling to Peru in the coming year.
RUNNING RACES, IN DIFFERENT PLACES 
Gotta love a good adventurer and I love what you are doing here Hannah.
There’s no such thing as last if you keep going and I believe that will be a great message which you will be able to inspire all kinds of people. It was great to meet you while couchsurfing in Stavanger. No doubt we will meet again.
Cheers. Jay.
P.S. NEVER FORGET TO ADVENTURE !