An insight into 2:05 marathoner Sondre Nordstad Moen

by Robbie Britton August 22, 2019

Star Norwegian marathoner Sondre Nordstad Moen is taking part in the Copenhagen Half Marathon and they’ve sent over this insight into his training and huge breakthrough in recent years.

Sondre Moen established his name on the international running scene back in 2017. First he clocked 59:48 minutes on the half marathon distance. Only a month later, he won the Fukuola Marathon in Japan to set a a new European record of 2:05:48.

On that occasion, he defeated both Stephan Kiprotich from Uganda, a former Olympic and World half marathon Champion, and Bedan Karoki from Kenya, who earlier that year came second at London Marathon.

Now he has the third fastest half marathon time in Europe ever.

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Since his breakthrough, Sondre Moen has been injured for periods, but now he is back in shape and ready to run fast at the CPH Half.

“It is a flat course with Nordic weather conditions and a strong field that will be running fast. That is what I’m looking forward to about the CPH Half. And if it’s the right day, I might even set a new personal best,” says Sondre Moen.

Ups and downs

So far, Moen has had a season of ups and downs. A season that includes several victories and personal bests, but also a non-voluntary pause due to injury, which makes it difficult to compare his current shape with his shape back in 2017, where he was very fast on both the half marathon and the marathon distance.

“My season started out well as I set a new Norwegian 5 km record with a time of 13:37. In March, I won a half marathon in Gdynia clocking 61:18 on a hilly and windy course. My training went well, but then I was injured, and was unable to prepare for the track season,” says the Norwegian super runner.

None the less, Sondre Moen has just won the Norwegian 10,000 metres championships and came in third on the 5,000 metres.

Focusing on longer distances

His focus is on the longer distances, which is where his has his strengths as a runner.

“My weakness is the fact that I’ve never had a great sprint finish, and that is why I started focusing on the longer distances. My strength is that I have always been very efficient and enduring in a pace around 2:55/3:00 minutes per km. I like to run for hours in a fast pace but without a sprint finish, which makes me a better over long distances such as half marathon and marathon,” says Sondre Moen.

Sondre Moen’s dreams for the future are about the marathon distance.

“I have a great base after 10-15 years of training, and I am confident that I will be back stronger than ever. My dream is to win an Olympic marathon medal,” says Sondre Moen.

A typical training week

This is how a typical training week would look like to Sondre Moen:

Monday: Long track intervals and massage

Tuesday: Two light jogs and strength training

Wednesday: Two moderate long runs

Thursday: Short track intervals or fartlek

Friday: Two light jogs and massage

Saturday: Long run or a specific marathon run of 30-45 kilometres

Sunday: Recovery run

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