Kirsten Marathon Melkevik, formerly Kirsten Melkevik Otterbu, (born May 29, 1970) is a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

.

In the marathon event she finished 28th at the 2005 World Championships

2005 World Championships in Athletics - Women's Marathon

The Women's Marathon race at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics was held on 14 August in the streets of Helsinki with the goal line situated in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Paula Radcliffe set the pace of the race, leading all the way from start to finish...

, 13th at the 2006 European Championships

2006 European Championships in Athletics

The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit"...

, 29th at the 2007 World Championships

2007 World Championships in Athletics - Women's marathon

The Women's Marathon event at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics took place on 2 September 2007 in the streets of Osaka, Japan.-Medallists:-Abbreviations:*All times shown are in hours:minutes:seconds-Records:-Results:-References:...

 and 34th at the 2008 Olympic Games

Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's marathon

The Women's Marathon at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on August 17 around an urban circuit specifically designed for the competition at Beijing, and finished in the Beijing National Stadium. The qualifying standards were 2:37.00 and 2:42.00...

. She won the Stockholm Marathon

Stockholm Marathon

The Stockholm Marathon, known as the ASICS Stockholm Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon arranged in Stockholm, Sweden since 1979. It serves as the Swedish marathon championship race...

 in 2007.

She became Norwegian champion in the 5000 metres in 2006, in the 10,000 metres in 2006 and 2007 and in the half marathon in 2006. She was born in Øystese

Øystese

Øystese is a village located at the Hardangerfjord in Kvam municipality, Norway, about 7 kilometres east of Norheimsund. Riksvei 7 passes through. In 2004 Øystese had a population of 1641.-External links:* *...

, and represents the sports club FIK BFG Fana

FIK BFG Fana

Friidrettsklubben BFG Fana is a Norwegian athletics club from Fana in Bergen, founded in 1987 as an umbrella team for Bjarg, Fana and Gneist.BFG Fana uses the Fana stadion, and hosted the Bislett Games in 2004....

.

Melkevik received attention when she changed her legal name from Kirsten Melkevik Otterbu to Kirsten Marathon Melkevik in September 2010.

Personal bests

• 3000 metres - 8:58.74 min (2008)
• 5000 metres - 16:00.51 min (2006)
• 10,000 metres - 32:31.45 min (2008)
• Half marathon - 1:10:19 hrs (2006) - fourth among Norwegian half marathon runners, only behind Ingrid Kristiansen
  Ingrid Kristiansen
  Ingrid Kristiansen née Christensen , was one of the best female long distance runners in the second half of the 1980s. She finished in fourth place in the first women's Olympic marathon race, at the 1984 Summer Olympics.-Career:Kristiansen started her career quite unremarkably, running 2:30 - 2:40...
  
  , Grete Waitz
  Grete Waitz
  Grete Waitz was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. Waitz won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history...
  
   and Stine Larsen
  Stine Larsen
  Stine Larsen is a retired Norwegian long-distance runner who specialized in the marathon.In her younger days she won a bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the inaugural European Under 23 Championships in 1997, finishing behind Olivera Jevtic and Annemari Sandell. She finished twelfth at the 2000...
  
  .
• Marathon - 2:29:12 hrs (2007) - fourth among Norwegian marathon runners, only behind Ingrid Kristiansen
  Ingrid Kristiansen
  Ingrid Kristiansen née Christensen , was one of the best female long distance runners in the second half of the 1980s. She finished in fourth place in the first women's Olympic marathon race, at the 1984 Summer Olympics.-Career:Kristiansen started her career quite unremarkably, running 2:30 - 2:40...
  
  , Grete Waitz
  Grete Waitz
  Grete Waitz was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. Waitz won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history...
  
   and Stine Larsen
  Stine Larsen
  Stine Larsen is a retired Norwegian long-distance runner who specialized in the marathon.In her younger days she won a bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the inaugural European Under 23 Championships in 1997, finishing behind Olivera Jevtic and Annemari Sandell. She finished twelfth at the 2000...
  
  .

Achievements

Representing Norway
2005	World Championships 2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland , the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic sports, some of...	Helsinki, Finland	28th	Marathon	2:35:08
2006	European Championships	Gothenburg Gothenburg Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area... , Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....	13th	Marathon	2:35:59 2006 European Athletics Championships – Women's Marathon The Women's Marathon at the 2006 European Athletics Championships was held at the Ullevi on August 12.-Medalists:-Schedule:-Final ranking:Italy won European Marathon Cup -External links:**...
2007	Stockholm Marathon Stockholm Marathon The Stockholm Marathon, known as the ASICS Stockholm Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon arranged in Stockholm, Sweden since 1979. It serves as the Swedish marathon championship race...	Stockholm, Sweden	1st	Marathon	2:37:02
2008	Olympic Games Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last 10 days of the games, from August 15 to August 24, 2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking...	Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... , PR China	34th	Marathon	2:34:35 Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's marathon The Women's Marathon at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on August 17 around an urban circuit specifically designed for the competition at Beijing, and finished in the Beijing National Stadium. The qualifying standards were 2:37.00 and 2:42.00...