In the last weeks I made so many past observations about live in Sweden that I need to write down here. But today comes first. Today I ran Göteborgs Varvet, apparently the second biggest Half marathon in in the world (Newcastle has the biggest). Apart from and cheering crowds and 35 bands of all types and genres playing all along the track, what I found most likable was the people who made it their task to set up a cosy picnic site with barbecue, beer, crisps and camping chairs just next to the road or in their front gardens, displaying purposely displaying a relaxed atmosphere to contrast the runners struggling to reach their goal. A local Taxi company even put up several posts offering to drive anyone who wants to break off the race home for free. Is there a better way to really put your teeth together and keep going?

But the best ones were the guys sitting somewhere in Slottskogsgatan (a street near Mariaplan), quite at the start of the race. They had their beer and stuff all around their table and behind them a big sign saying "Ge upp och ta en öl! Det är inte värt det" (Give up and take a beer. It's not worth it." I have only run races in Germany and Sweden so I can't really tell, but it seems this sense of humour with a kind of defeating self-irony attached to it is another Swedish specialty.