Wow, what a great race we’ve had! Of course, it could have been a bit colder towards the middle and end of the race, but we were lucky to start in a true winter wonderland. Our training course participants even experienced temperatures close to -30°C. That’s great preparation for any future winter adventures they will hopefully undertake.
Day one was as good as it gets. Perfect conditions and an amazing setting with the “Lapland Arctic Arena” right at our Grand Arctic Resort start line. Överkalix Kommun and many local businesses and initiatives were there hosting a variety of activities, including a kids’ race. This year’s program even included kick sled races in Rödupp, our 20 km finish line, and later in Lansjärv, where we have one of our checkpoints on loop #2. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this effort – Överkalix municipality for coordinating and the local businesses for their support!
With a record race roster, there are always challenges. You wonder if everything will work the way you want it to. We made some changes, added more guides and volunteers, set up more tents on Laxforsberget, and updated some procedures for this crucial checkpoint. It worked really well. Jockfall checkpoint ran like a charm, and Polar Circle Cabin #1 – which was very busy and operating with limited infrastructure – also handled everything perfectly.
Another important aspect was being transparent with the athletes and making sure they understood that checkpoints would be busy, with a lot of movement and noise. Those who needed peace and quiet were able to adjust and find places to rest between checkpoints. At the same time, I believe we still managed to maintain the personal contact with our athletes that we value so much. For me and the entire team, getting to know our participants – and if possible, knowing them by name rather than just by a bib number – is very important. That was still possible this year, and I loved it.
If any of you are wondering whether we want to have even more athletes in the future, the answer is “no” – at least not in the longer distances. We may be able to grow the 20, 50, and 85 km races, but we will keep the 185 km and 500 km races at roughly the same total we had this year.
Speaking of numbers, here are some short statistics on how many started and how many finished:
20 km: 7 starters, 6 finishers
50 km: 7 starters, 7 finishers
85 km: 3 starters, 2 finishers
185 km: 35 starters, 28 finishers
500 km: 24 starters, 15 finishers
For a winter ultra, I would say these are really good numbers in terms of finisher percentages. The results for the 185 km race are particularly impressive. For those who are new to this type of ultra, it’s the perfect distance – and the training course before the race helps a lot as well.
Like in any ultra, some athletes were not able to achieve their goals. A couple of participants had stomach problems, there was a chest infection, and others struggled with the physical strain that this kind of race can cause – and of course simple exhaustion. As frustrating as that can be, I hope you have all recovered well and will give it another go!
To all athletes who finished – once again, congratulations! You all did incredibly well, from the first finisher to the last.
A big thank you also to the entire crew: Sam, Pat, Marie, Peter, Alastair, Callum, Anya, Maud, Julia, Anna, Brie, Alex, Alex B., Trish, Sophie, Magdalena and Erik.
Thank you to our guides: Roland, Arnold, Henrik, Daniel, Mats, David, Robin, Tord and Mikael.
Thank you to our checkpoint hosts: Robin, Ann-Sophie Hans & Team at Jockfall, Eva, Jan and all the others who put in so much work at Leipojärvi, and Tord and all the helpers in Lansjärv!
Thank you to all the snowmobile clubs for the endless hours of trail breaking, grooming and marking!
And last but not least, thank you to our sponsors and supporters: Bright Equipment, Jockfall Turist & Konferens AB, Grand Arctic Resort Hotel, Reko, Sveaskog, SCA, Peter Mild Designs, SOTO, Fjällcom, innova, Heart of Lapland, Swedish Lapland, Överkalix Kommun, and Gällivare Kommun.