During spring and summer, Lidingölabbet (The Lidingö Lab) offers readers to ask questions in preparation for TCS Lidingöloppet. New opportunities to ask questions to Lidingölabbet's expert panel can be found in Lidingöloppet's newsletter.
In this article, Lidingöloppet's event manager Martin Terry answers a number of submitted questions regarding qualification races - race events which qualify runners to the right waves in TCS Lidingöloppet 2022. New opportunities to qualify for the waves await this summer and autumn, and this is a brief guide to the challenges ahead:
1. Maybe a stupid question, but why should I run a qualification race?
Not a stupid question at all. Through the result in a qualification race, you get sorted into a wave start with participants who run at your pace. When you run together with participants who are at the same level, you can complete the race at a steady pace - without having to slow down or run zigzag. Through a qualification race, you can also get pacing help from other runners and in that way run your best race.
2. What do the different wave starts look like and what times are required to qualify for them?
You can find the qualification table for TCS Lidingöloppet 2022 via this link (only available in Swedish). The matrix shows the qualifying times for the different waves in TCS Lidingöloppet 30K, TCS Lidingöloppet 15K and Rosa Bandet-loppet (The Pink Ribbon-race) 10K.
3. Will my result from Stora Stöten Run in Falun on the 13th of August on a distance of 22.7K count as a qualifying race for TCS Lidingöloppet?
All marathon-, half marathon-, and 10K races with professional timekeeping can be used as qualifying races for the waves in TCS Lidingöloppet. Since the race above is longer than 21.1K, the result cannot be converted in Lidingöloppet's seeding calculator and can therefore not be used as a qualifying race. However, if you are running the race with a GPS watch, you can use the race as an opportunity to qualify for TCS Lidingöloppet digitally on the half marathon distance.
4. How fast will I need to run in a digital qualification race if I want to run in the B wave?
To start in start wave 1B in TCS Lidingöloppet 30K, you need, according to the seeding table above, have run 10K in the time 37:30 during your digital qualification race.
5. I can't run a qualification race this summer - my summer house is in the countryside and not in an urban setting! How do I make sure not to be placed in the last starting groups?
A new opportunity this year is to run 10K with a GPS watch and carry out your own, digital qualification race whenever and wherever you want. Read more here about how to run a digital qualification race!
6. I have submitted a time that is not correct - what do I do to correct my mistake?
If your submitted result does not match your actual result, it may take a while for Lidingöloppet's race administrators to correct it - if it is even possible - so it is important to enter the correct result right away.
7. Does Lidingöloppet apply a first-come-first-serve principle when it comes to wave starts?
Yes, the sorting of participants into wave starts is done automatically and with preference for individuals who have qualified early.
8. I have run TCS Lidingöloppet before, what do I need to do?
The sorting into waves is based on your TCS Lidingöloppet results from the last three years. In the sorting, Lidingöloppet's race administration will compare your results in qualification races with your previous results in TCS Lidingöloppet, and make decisions accordingly.
Read more:
The qualification times for all race events and waves >
How to run a digital qualification race >
