It’s never too late to discover new talents

Just ask Sandra Hartvich Loretzen, who, with the help of her Maersk colleagues, recently discovered an innate talent for running like the wind.

By Toni McKee

Sandra Hartvich Lorentzen

Position: Data scientist
Age: 31
Nationality: Danish
Hobby: Elite running
Family: Mother and sister (both are former elite athletes)
Years at Maersk: 3

Last spring Sandra’s team in Connected Vessel casually invited her to Madrid to run a marathon. She thought, “Why not? I like running.” Only about a year later, she placed first at the Danish national marathon championship after being the fastest Danish woman at both the Copenhagen and Berlin marathons. 

“I come from an athletic family and I’ve always enjoyed being active, but I’ve never competed in any serious way before,” Sandra explains. “I was as surprised as anyone to discover I had this talent.”

Get ready, Tokyo!

Today, with the encouragement of her family, her colleagues, her running club HMRC and her new elite running coach, Sandra is bound and determined to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. 

“In some ways, it feels unrealistic as so many runners train their whole lives for this. But it helps that so many people believe in me – and I know I have the discipline and drive to do it.”

Sandra only needs to shave seven minutes off her marathon time to qualify for the Olympics. She plans to do this with interval training twice a week and long-distance training four times a week. 

“The training can be tough on my body sometimes, but I enjoy it anyway – especially my Sunday long runs, where I can relax and let my mind go. That’s when I get my best ideas, find inspiration and even solve some of my work challenges.”

A day in the life of an elite runner

5:30 – Alarm sounds
5:45 – Run 15 km or interval training (7x1 km at 3:30)
8:00 – Arrive at work
18:00 – Yoga, 1 hour
19:30 – Dinner, rest, prepare for next day

It’s all about continuous improvement

Sandra finds many similarities between her work life and her running life. 

“Running is all about preparation, planning and always pushing to do better. So is my job at Maersk. I’m a big believer in being ambitious and passionate about my goals – that goes for both my work and my running. In anything I do, I want to achieve as much as I can.

Sandra’s colleagues continue to support her on her Olympic quest – and so does the Maersk Health Centre at the Copenhagen office. 

“I train at the Maersk facility, I get physical therapy to get me through the sore times and Maersk even sponsors some of my races. In many ways, I have Maersk to thank for putting me on this journey and paving the way.”