March 2nd, we had a great race start right next to the Grand Arctic Resort in Överkalix. It had snowed overnight. A beautiful winter landscape and many local visitors greeted us right next to the Kalix River. Thanks to a local initiative by Linnea Bentzer-Waara, Överalix Kommun and sponsors, the “Lapland Arctic Arena” opened at 9:00 and there were hot drinks, snacks and a program the entire morning for anyone dropping in. The colder temperatures also meant a better trail and so everyone was happy and anxious to get going. Our 20 and 50 km athletes stared first and the participants in the 185 and 500 km followed right afterwards.
Our start line right next to the Grand Arctic Resort in Överkalix. Photography: Isak Sandling
Not surprisingly, it was a fast first day. Liubov Boiko from Ukraine won the 20km to the Rödupp ice bridge in 2h 44min and local fatbiker David Forsman needed 4h 21min to place 1st in the 50km race to Jockfall. All others who started in the “shorter” distances finished, too. We will try to implement some changes and hopefully get even more growth in the 20 and 50km races for 2026.
Father & Son team Simon and Lucas Gater from England arriving in Rödupp, 20km finish line and checkpoint for the 50km race. Photography: Isak Sandling
In the meantime, local hero Andreas Vennberg was in the lead in the 185km on his skis and kept this lead all the way to the finish line. Some athletes in both the 185 and 500km distances faced problems and eventually had to call it a day. Those were Juiko Liao (Taiwan/185/Ski), Rolf Larsen (Denmark/185/Foot), Thomas Werner (Germany/185/Foot), Richard Weremiuk (England/185/Foot), Josephine Bush (England/500/Foot) and Emma Lambert (Austria/500/Foot).
Andreas Vennberg in action on his way to the finish. Photography: Isak Sandling
The overall results for the 185km distance are:
1st Andreas Vennberg (Sweden/Ski) – 39:22
2nd Lee Francis (England/Foot) – 58:05
3rd Evangelos Drosos (Greece/Foot) – 61:36
4th Christian Cullinane (England/Foot) – 71:07
5th Stephanie Grebner (Germany/Foot) – 80:21
6th Melissa Brandner (Norway/Ski) – 88:07
7th Holger Kanzog (Germany/Foot) – 88:33
In the 500km distance the race was on. Juancar Gimeno (Spain/Foot), Jan Rohrberg (Germany/Foot), Eva de Vos (Netherlands/Foot) and John Knapp (England/Foot), during those first few days were all very close to each other. Juancar and Jan eventually were able to pull away from John and Eva, going very hard and with hardly any sleep. Both later had enforced stops twice. The first one to get them some rest – which they did not give themselves. They were held an equal amount of hours in Leipojärvi and thus neither of them lost or gained on the other. Later on, in Nattavaara, both of them again had to stop a little bit longer than planned, due to a necessary trail change ahead of them. Neither Juancar nor Jan had a problem with it because it did not change their positions. Behind them, Eva and John continued going strong and Eva zu Beck (Poland/Foot) did very well, too. Eva zu Beck had been with us already in 2024. At the time, she was in the race with her dog, Vilk, and eventually had to withdraw because of Vilk. This time she had started without her companion. Alexander Dimitriadis (Greece/Foot) who is new to winter ultras did very well until the 185 km finish but decided to not continue beyond. Similar to Palle Andersen (Denmark/Foot) who made it all the way to Lansjärv but then had to withdraw. Team Fire & Ice – consting of Aldo Kane, Karl Hinett, Jason “Foxy” Fox, and 508 Brian “Woody” Wood took some time to get into the groove. They had opted for skis as their discipline and it was not easy for them. But being combat veterans they are no stranger to pushing limits. Also, they know what it means to reach a goal in time and to make sure all in a team make it. So, they managed fatigue, isolation, and icy temperatures. All for their mission to raise £100,000 to support veterans and their families.
After Nattavaara, Juancar was able to gain a good lead over Jan and he kept this lead until he finally reached the 500km finish line in Överkalix. Eva de Vos finished 3rd overall and 1st woman. John Knapp came 4th overall and Eva zu Beck 5th overall and 2nd woman.
Our traditional finish line “selfie”, here with Eva zu Beck. Photography: Callum Jolliffe
Team Fire & Ice also reached Överkalix before the 10-day cut-off, receiving their finisher medals. The only drawback for them was that the results table shows has to show them as “unranked” in the ski division because they ended up doing a good part of the race on foot. Not that it matters, because they did arrive in Överkalix as a team of 4 – which is a monster achievement in itself – and they are very close to their fundraising goal, having raised over £97,000 so far. If you’d like to support their effort and help them smash their target, you can donate here:
Team Fire & Ice at the finish, together with fellow athletes Juancar and John. Photography: Callum Jolliffe
Thank you and congratulations to all athletes who were with us this year!
As always, this is also the time to thank everyone else who made the Lapland Arctic Ultra possible. Thank you to the amazing crew, Sam, Pat, Callum, Sophie, Anna, Anya, Alex, Alastair, Peter, Andy, Carina, Paul our snowmobile guides Henrik, Daniel, Roland, Arnold and Robin, our race photographer Isak Sandling, checkpoints/checkpoint hosts Ann-Sofi, Hans, Robin and Niclas from Jockfall Fishing & Activities, Grand Arctic Resort Överkalix, Lansjärv Folkets Hus, Leipojärvi Snowmobile Club team Eva, Jan, Leif and all the others, Nattavaara Hembygdsförening, Sveaskog, SCA, transfer driver Anne, Linnea and all others who helped with the Lapland Arena project, Jockfall, Gällivare and Överkalix snowmobile clubs, and all who were involved in trail grooming and marking, our sponsors/supporters Bright Equipment, Racelite, Jockfall Fishing & Activities, Grand Arctic Resort Överkalix, SOTO, Wrightsock, Fjällcom, innova, Reko, Acapulka, Gällivare Kommun and Överkalix Kommun.
I am already getting a lot of messages about 2026. Hopefully, I can give some initial information next week and confirm the start date and initial details at the latest in April.
