Odfjell nr 3 - 2005.indd

Running with the polar bearsOdfjell in Spitsbergen MarathonBy Hans Erik Saether, Per Watne and Øivind OlsenIn June, three good colleagues fromOdfjell Minde travelled to Spitsbergen,the major Svalbard island, for the marathonstarting in the “capital” Longyearbyen.This marathon was arranged forthe 11th time, and the event usuallygathers around 200 runners. Being theworld’s most northerly marathon race,this is an attractive competition for bothNorwegian and international long-distanceathletes. Longyearbyen, namedafter the American businessman JohnMunro Longyear, is situated at 78 degreesnorth latitude. However, despitereally being high in the Arctic, due tothe Gulf Stream the climatic conditionsduring the summer are surprisingly favourable.By mid-June, temperaturesstay above freezing point, there is littlesnow, and the sun does not set duringthe 24 hour cycle. As well as travellingto this part of the world for running, wetook the opportunity to experience thisunique part of Norway.The Svalbard islands are famous for thelarge population of polar bears, butwe didn’t spot any during our few daysthere. Øivind and myself participated inthe half marathon and Per in the 10 km.All of us improved ourfinishing times comparedto our last races,and Øivind in fact endedup being numbertwo in his class! The experiencecan be recommended,and if you donot feel like running21 km, Svalbard is alsoa good place to just“chill out”!The three bold Odfjellrunners in the characteristicand barrenSpitsbergen landscape.From left Øivind Olsen,Per Watne and HansErik SaetherOdfjell Seachem at 7th VodacomSoccer Challenge 2005By Sayed Phiri, Odfjell Seachem South AfricaMr. Mosi Paulus of Foskor (Pirates supporter blowing a“Vuvuzela”) with his wife Pink Paulus, Nkulu Kkhiza andSimphiwe BiyelaOn 24th July 2005, Odfjell Seachem hadthe pleasure of inviting client representativesto the Vodacom Soccer ChallengeCup, featuring some of the best Africanfootball teams. Wehad a really goodturnout of some 24guests from Foskor,Thembela, the PortPilots and manymore. The AbsaStadium (King’sPark) in Durbanwas packed withabout 60,000 avidsupporters, whocould see somereally tight andexciting matches.Although the favouritesto winwere the Kaizer Chiefs of Johannesburg,the Orlando Pirates, anotherJo’burg team, pulled off an amazingvictory and won the Kudu Horn trophyand the R1 million prize. The otherteams participating in the cup were theGreen Buffaloes of Zambia and AS Vitaof Congo. All attendees thoroughly enjoyedthe event, although many weredisappointed that their favourite teamdidn’t make it all the way.These South African teams enjoy muchlocal support, and they really playworld-class football. Odfjell SouthAfrica is happy to have the opportunityto share a box at the stadium with twoother companies. On important gamesand tournaments we regularly invitebusiness associates to share the joy andexcitement of watching football.ODFJELL Quarterly October 2005 23