For some the DHL Relay race is just for fun: It\u2019s about spending time with colleagues, barbequing, and making-merry. However, for those at the Section of Systems Biology Research at the Centre of Healthy Aging it\u2019s a race to win.<\/p>\n
Micheal Taulo Lund, PhD student in Systems Biology, hopes to make the cut for his lab\u2019s team, but it isn\u2019t easy. With a lab full of marathon runners, triathletes and other sports elites, not everyone can be chosen for the five person relay team.<\/p>\n
According to their most recent projection they will be the fastest team in the University the year. Last year Life Science\u2019s Food and Resource Economics took the gold with a time of 1:39:00.<\/p>\n
How fast do they expect to be?<\/p>\n
According to the Systems Biology lab there are six people who say they can run five kilometres in less than 20 minutes. However, there are many factors that must be taken into account on the day of the race:<\/p>\n
\u00bbIt depends on how many people are on the road. There are many thousand runners and it is often hard to run between people,\u00ab calculates Lund, an obvious novice in the DHL relay.<\/p>\n
The smell of sausages grilling next to the track has also been mentioned as a weakness for the runners:<\/p>\n
\u00bbWe run so fast we almost throw up. It\u2019s a bad combination,\u00ab reflects Lund, thinking back to previous DHL Relays.<\/p>\n
There has been a lot of pressure leading up to the selection of the team. Each prospective competitor must individually record their five kilometre time and report it to the group. Everyone has been fighting for one of the five spots.<\/p>\n
\u00bbOf course they could lie about their time, but then we would just see how they run on the \u2018day-of-days.\u2019 They would be teased for the rest of the year!\u00ab jokes Lund.<\/p>\n
The nameless team is made up of four males and one female. Iron Man triathlon competitor, Thomas Beck, and marathon runner, Anja Birk-Olsen, as well as other fast and fit researchers will help their team to reach the sub-twenty minute goal.<\/p>\n
The lab, of which Lund and his colleagues are a part of, focuses on human science research in relation to exercise in relation to age, insulin resistance, and obesity. It is no wonder there are so many fit people to be selected for the team.<\/p>\n
Like most athletes, the Systems Biology lab is no different in their love for competition. Although no money has been betted, Lund has his own bet going on with a lab-mate:<\/p>\n
\u00bbI have a 14 romkugler (little balls made from leftover pastries at the bakery and mixed with rum essence) bet with a guy on the team for who can run the fastest in the relay,\u00ab boasts Lund.<\/p>\n
Check out the Systems Biology team and all University of Copenhagen teams on Monday 29 August starting at 17:00 in F\u00e6lledparken, \u00d8sterbro.<\/p>\n
uni-avis@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n