When it was announced back in Winter 2024 that the bridge would be closed for one morning for a half-marathon, registrations sold out in hours. The last time the bridge was closed for anything other than extreme weather conditions was the last Bridge Run in 2010. 

Back when the bridge first hosted a running event, 78,000 runners got the chance to cross the border on foot. This time, only 40,000 spots were open, and there was no guarantee it would happen again anytime soon.

And so it was that I found myself lacing my running shoes and rushing to digest my porridge and electrolytes on a Sunday in June, before heading to the starting area in Femøren. The temperatures were high, and the field was soon packed with runners waiting to enter the starting corrals and begin the run to Sweden.

In the run-up to the race, I’d received up to three emails a day from the race organisers with information and advice. One thing they kept on stressing was that runners should arrive with a good attitude and patience on the race day. 

This would, for many, prove to foreshadow a day beset by logistical problems.

The race was organised by Copenhagen’s Sparta Athletik and Malmö’s Allmänna Idrottsförening, both experienced and respected organisations in the running community. Sparta Atheltik is behind the massively popular Marathon and Half Marathon events in Copenhagen- both races that are widely recognised as being well-run. 

So what went wrong with the Bridge Run?

Comments on the last two Instagram post uploaded by the Bridge Run show that for many, issues began as soon as runners started arriving at Femøren. We were greeted by a familiar sight at running events, queues for the toilets. But it was quickly apparent there weren’t enough for the 40,000 participants, and many of the commenters mentioned queuing for 90 minutes or more. 

There was then a delay to start, leading to  many of the areas surrounding the starting corrals ended up being used as a toilet area by desperate participants. To add to the frustration, the sun was starting to beat down, and there was limited access to water.

But it was the finish that caused the most amount of problems for runners. The route deviated from previous iterations and finished in Sibbarp. Unfortunately, as we left the main road and snaked into the park, it became quickly apparent that the area was going to be too small to accommodate the number of runners.

Ultimately for many runners, this meant the finish line became a bottleneck, and some reported being made to walk over the finish line due to the lack of space.

The crowds didn’t dissipate from there, with the bag collection being disorganised and resulting in participants bags being left in public areas for anyone to sort through. And then came the onward travel.

With runners pouring across the finish line into the public park, many reported “complete chaos”, to the extent that the crowd control “began to get dangerous, at times.”

Finishing around 7km from the centre of Malmö, the organisers promised bus travel either back to Copenhagen or to the nearby Hyllie station. However, due to the crowds and apparent lack of logistical coordination, many were left  “waiting for phantom buses” and resorted to either walking the 4km to Hyllie Station or further still to central Malmö. 

The run itself was everything it had been promised to be, and the experience of running on the bridge isn’t something I will forget any time soon. But a common feeling on social media is that the lack of organisation has left a bad taste in many people’s mouths. One commentator summed up their feelings- “running 21km was the easy part today, because everything else was pure chaos”.

It is no doubt an enormous logistical challenge to organise a run like this, with so many people to involve in the planning and so many different factors at play. But despite the great efforts of the many volunteers along the course, what should have been a celebration of running and the connection between Denmark and Sweden turned into a logistical headache, and, for many, a much longer and more arduous physical experience than they’d planned for.