DNB Oslo Maraton, live.

A capital, a fjord and three distances

Norway’s largest running festival puts twenty thousand people on the streets of Oslo on one Saturday in September.

DNB Oslo Maraton runs from Oslo Spektrum through the middle of the city: along the Oslofjord waterfront at Aker Brygge, out to Frogner Park, and back through the streets to a finish at the same arena it started from. The marathon goes at nine in the morning; the half marathon and the ten-kilometre 10 for Grete — named for Grete Waitz — run the same day on shorter versions of the same loop.

A city marathon is the easiest race in the world to lose track of somebody in: the field is enormous, the loop crosses itself, and a spectator who guesses wrong misses the runner entirely. Livebib puts the route on the map with the runner on it, distance covered and an arrival estimate for the finish at Oslo Spektrum that keeps updating, so the people waiting can pick the right corner and be there in time.