Tour Guide Tuesday would not be complete without an interview with Lena, a keen runner, passionate Copenhagener, the founder & owner of Running Copenhagen. All the things you wanted to know but never had the chance to ask her. Read below for finding out her Running Copenhagen favourites: guests, gears, drinks, foods and much more…
Meet Lena
Favourite running Tour:
That is like asking me which one of my children I love the most! That said, a 4 am sunrise tour in June is pretty hard to beat – unless of course it is overcast. Then it is just a damn early running tour?!??!
Best thing about conducting running tours:
Not sure what the best thing is but basically I run, I show my city, I meet remarkable people, I talk about food and wine and I talk about myself. What is not to like ?
Most memorable running guest(s):
Pfew – lots to choose from! As they say the first one you always remember. My first guest ever in Running Copenhagen was a woman from Switzerland, we had trouble understanding each other and when it came to paying she only brought DKK 100 kroners, even though the tour cost DK 125. The company was off to a flying start 🙂
Karsten James also stay clear in my memory as this training to be an astronaut guy met me with the words: “I usually run a 4.00 min/km, so anywhere around this pace will be fine”. We had a great Urban CPH tour and while he trotted along in probably his “donkey pace” I was full out for most of the tour.
Courtney Rodgers definitely also stands out as we by co-incidence met at Kadeau the night before our tour (what are the bloody chances!!!) and agreed that we should both go for the wine menu, so we were on par the next morning. No hangovers the next day but definitely no PRs either.
Lucy and Patrick were some of my first guests and since then they have been back to Copenhagen twice. Once to do another tour and another time where Lucy ran the Copenhagen Marathon and we met for wine. These are the types of guests that slowly end up becoming your friends.
Adam who I first ran with the summer of 2015 and he gave me an unparalleled background on the type of horses at Christiansborg and who this year invited me for lunch on the cruise ship when he docked by Copenhagen for the day.
Casey Roach from Florida who is probably the nicest guy to come out of the US and who frequently writes to me when he reads news about Denmark. In his last message he asked to become a running guide as he was planning on vacating the US after this last presidential election.
Denis who sent pictures of him and his dog training for his 15 km run already a month before he was due to run here in Copenhagen. I have said it before and i willl say it again – we do not receive enough dog pictures from our guests.
Then there is of course the super random guests. The lady that took 3½ hours to run 20 kilometer, the VIP guests I had to carry out their “goods” from Christiania so that they would not end up in the media if they got caught, the Italian man who invited me on a date (having not clocked the obvious), and the Mexican couple that were 20 minutes late and then took another 10 mins to get ready (big time culture clash – and this “on the second” running guide’s patience was very much challenged)
And then of course we have the regular Copenhagerners such as Britt, Niels, Rene, Mads, Gert, Karina, Henrik, Anders, Thomas etc.
Really I could keep going because in all humility I believe that I remember 95% of the guests that I have been running with – by name, profession and family relation.
Why are you a kick-arse guide?
Easy answer. I think it is because I don’t view guiding as a job. I view it as one of the really really really fun parts of my day.
As part of my job with Go! Running Tours I train Franchisees and City Managers in guiding tours, and I always use the example of Rene Redzepi and Noma. Imagine going to work and everyday there are people in the restaurant expecting the best meal they have ever tasted ? You have to do your very best everyday.
And that is what I also think when it is January, super cold, rainy and just a bit miserable. Today I am gonna give our guest the best goddamn tour they have ever had and we are going to have a good time doing it!
Favourite Newline piece of running gear?
This season it is without a doubt the Imotion Cross Pants. They are loose fitted, wind proof on the front and most importantly they have wide ankle cuffs. I have for years been running with leg warmers during winter as my granny ankles do not like the cold. With these extra wide ankle cuffs, no legwarmers are needed to keep your ankles nice and warm. Though I still wear my leg warmers, because I like them. It is a general mistake that legwarmers have remained in the 80s.
If you had to create a running tour, which one would it be?
If I had a better balance it would be “Rooftop Copenhagen”
Favourite local restaurant:
Alimentari – an Italian place, so I very rarely recommend it to our guests, but it is a cosy little place with good food and fantastic wine.
Best local tip:
Run, eat and drink your way through Copenhagen. Check out our blog on how exactly to do this.
Beer of choice:
Tuborg
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Meet the entire super-guide team: Henrik, Signe, Janne, Jens, Anna and Alexandra
