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Photography: Callum Jolliffe

After an incredible effort, Spanish athlete Juancar Gimeno crossed the finish line March 9th at 11:09 as the first athlete to complete the 500km Bright Equipment Lapland Arctic Ultra 2025!

Juancar looked strong throughout the final stretch, even managing to run much of the way — a truly impressive push after such a gruelling distance. His determination paid off in the best way possible, as he was met by his family, who had secretly travelled to surprise him at the finish line!

A fantastic performance and a race brilliantly run — congratulations, Juancar!

Juancar Gimeno arriving in Nattavaara - Photography: Callum Jolliffe

Photography: Callum Jolliffe

The last athletes in our 185km race have finished the race well ahead of the 4 day cut-off.

On March 6th at 01:45 in morning, Melissa Brandner skied across the Bright Equipment Lapland Arctic Ultra finish line, completing the course with unwavering positivity and determination! From start to finish, Melissa never wavered, keeping a cheery disposition throughout, even as the race threw its challenges her way. No matter how tough the trail got, she never looked like she had a low moment – a true testament to her strength, resilience, and mental fortitude. Her amazing support crew – her mother, father, and partner – traveled from the USA, UK, and Norway to be there for her, watching her ski her way to the finish line in remarkable form. Melissa didn’t just take on this race for herself – she’s raising funds for Mental Helse Norge and Protect Our Winters Scandinavia, using her journey to support important causes. If you’d like to contribute, be sure to check out her fundraising efforts!

Not much later, at 02:11, German Holger Kanzog crossed the finish line, marking yet another impressive performance in this year’s race!
Holger looked strong throughout. A steady, controlled effort from start to finish, he made his way through the course with great consistency, showing the kind of determination and resilience that this race demands. Now, with a well-earned finisher’s medal in hand, it’s time for some well-deserved rest and recovery!

Congratulations to all!

For Juiko Liao (Taiwan/Ski), Rolf Larsen (Denmark/Foot), Thomas Werner (Germany/Foot) and Richard Weremiuk (England/Foot), it wasn’t meant to be this year. They did not finish but all of them put in a great effort. Some of them were very close to Överkalix when they had to pull out. We hope you all recover well and that we see you again in another winter in Swedish Lapland!

Photography: Isak Sandling

Local skier Andreas Vennberg reached the Överkalix finish line of the Bright Equipment Lapland Arctic Ultra 185 km March 4th at 01:00, making him the overall winner in this distance in an excellent time.

The second athlete to reach the Grand Arctic Resort, was Lee Francis (UK), who arrived March 4th at 19:42. Lee was on foot, so in his category, he ranks first. At 22:14, during the same night, we were able to welcome the third overall finisher and 2nd on foot, Evangelos Drosos from Greece. Christian Cullinane (UK) reached the 185km finish on March 5th at 03:06. It made him 4th overall and 3rd on foot. 5th overall and first female is Stephanie Grebner from Germany who arrived in Överkalix March 5th at 17:59.

Congratulations to all!

Photography: Isak Sandling

After the first long night of dot-watching, it’s time to settle in and follow our athletes as they make their way through the Bright Equipment Lapland Arctic Ultra 2025. Whether you’re tracking a loved one, keeping an eye on the competition, or just fascinated by the journey – this is where you can see it all unfold in real time:

🔗 Live Tracking

Or you can of course click on the tracking banner on our landing page.

The tracking system, managed by Fjällcom, updates regularly, showing each athlete’s progress across the Arctic wilderness. Every dot tells a story – who’s pushing ahead, who’s resting at a checkpoint, who’s battling through the night.

Dot-watching is its own kind of adventure. The quiet suspense of watching a dot inch forward, the excitement of seeing an athlete reach a checkpoint, the moments of tension when one hasn’t moved in a while – it’s all part of the experience.

Stay tuned! We’ll have more updates – but for now, grab a hot drink, settle in, and enjoy the thrill of the unknown.

Copyright: Swedish Lapland

It’s been a busy few days here at Jockfall. From Feb. 25th to 28th 13 athletes took part in our training course, powered by Trollkraft Adventure. As always, many lessons were learnt and all participtants now have a lot more confidence to face the challenges ahead. Due to the rather warm temperatures, one of the main challenges will be to stay dry …

Towards the end of the training course more athletes had started to arrive. We dealt with paperwork, handed out rental kit, had our briefing this morning, followed by the Laplandprayer, organised by Race Chaplain Pat Cooke-Rogers and, finally, our big dinner.

Tomorrow at 08:00am we will load everyone’s sleds and head all down to Överkalix. From 09:00am the “Lapland Arctic Arena” will open – which means there will be snacks, hot drinks and later on also a Kid’s Race. Anyone who is interested in this, please just visit whenever you want. The Arena will close at noon. We will start our 20 and 50 km races at 09:30am. Then, right after, the athletes in the 185 and 500 km races will head out.

For updates during the race we will mainly use our facebook and instagram pages. Also, if you would like to follow the progress of our athletes, please check out the tracking page (linked on our landing page).