Battle of the Communities Vol.01 relay race, Kodbyen Copenhagen, wet street reflections under the Renna arch

Battle of the Communities Vol.01: A Copenhagen Relay in Kødbyen

16 May 2026. Flæsketorvet 63, Kødbyen. 5 teams. 4 runners on each. Two women, two men. One heat. Winner takes it all.

The rain had poured all morning. By 14:00 the sky had cracked open just enough. Gorilla kept the venue dry through the wet hours. Kølster pulled the first free beer at the top of the hour.

By 15:00 the start line looks nothing like it did an hour before. Teams gather in colours that don't match anyone else's. Warm-up loops around the meatpacking cobblestones. Laces double-tied. The kind of nervous laughter you only hear before a relay, when everyone knows their kilometer counts for someone else.

BOTC isn't a race for individuals. It's a race for the people you train with. That's the whole point.

Race bib being pinned on a runner's singlet before BOTC Vol.01, Kodbyen

Five communities, one Copenhagen

Five teams, five names on the start list. Five communities behind them.

  • FML MAP Runners — representing FML MAP Runners
  • Danmarksmestrene — representing NBRO
  • Friis TC — representing Sparta
  • Speedsquad — representing Adidas Runners CPH
  • RealNinjasDontDie 🥷🏾 — representing NBRO

NBRO fielded two teams — the biggest crew of the day.

Some had trained together for years. Others met the morning of. All five fielded the same four: two women, two men, running a leg each in the order they chose.

The format is deliberately simple. No age brackets, no pace categories, no gender splits within teams. Every leg counts equally. Every runner runs their own kilometer knowing three teammates are ahead or behind depending on how they run it.

That's what makes it feel different from a regular race. You don't run for a PB. You run for the people passing the baton.

Crowd lining Flaesketorvet under the Renna arch before Battle of the Communities Vol.01

Two runners in NBRO gear at the start line, BOTC Vol.01 Copenhagen

The race

From the first handover, Sparta's Friis TC ran at the front. Then NBRO's second leg went off. A run good enough to swing the lead in a single kilometer. NBRO in front.

Sparta came straight back on the third. Everything reset.

FML MAP Runners come alive on the last leg. Their anchor takes the cobblestones from further back than they should be, and the crowd on Flæsketorvet gets loud for the chase.

By then, Friis TC has already turned the corner alone.

Pack of runners mid-race during Battle of the Communities Vol.01, NBRO leading

Runner sprinting past a Kodbyen warehouse wall during BOTC Vol.01

The finish

Sparta take Vol.01, and the 5,000 DKK purse that comes with it. By the final straight Friis TC had opened enough of a gap that the win was already theirs, and the noise on Flæsketorvet was for the runners chasing behind.

But the finish line is never really about the winner in a race like this. It's about the runners who came in last still cheering the ones who won. About teams collapsing into each other on the ground afterwards. About the moment when someone realises they ran their kilometer faster than they ever have, because there were three other people waiting for them.

That's the thing about relays. You can't be selfish. And when you can't be selfish, you find something extra.

Sparta's Friis TC celebrating with the Renna Battle of the Communities Vol.01 trophy

The afternoon after

By the time the last cool-down loop had been jogged and the Kølster taps ran quiet, one thing was clear.

BOTC Vol.02 needed to happen.

Renna branded bottles and a Battle of the Communities Vol.01 race bib

Thanks

To the five communities who showed up. To Gorilla for co-hosting. To Kølster (first 300 beers on the house), Lover, SAP Good Energy, and Vitamin Well for keeping the runners and the crowd going.

Everything worn on the day: Drop 01.

Vol.02 is coming.

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