My First Ultra Running Race
It was spring 2020 when we started to work remotely from home, and I decided to start running more, not only sitting behind my work desk. We worried about walking in the city, so I went to a near forest called Nuuksio. I started to run first some 10km trail runs and was thinking how long run I could someday do. Almost every weekend I tested some more distance and planned harder trail routes. And in the same year 2020 September, I already finished the Nuuksio Classic marathon 42km race. It was my first ever run marathon. Then I decided to register for some more challenging race – NUTS Ylläs Pallas 66km in July 2021.
I had about 10 months’ time to train for the 66km race and stopped doing other hobbies and focused only on running and training my legs and core mostly. During the winter season, I got rid of all leg problems and was capable to run almost daily. I got about 1500 running kilometers before the race which was very good for me.
The race started in Enontekiö, Hetta 9.7.2021 at 12:00. The day was beautiful and the sun was shining. The temperature was about 25 degrees which is quite a lot here in Lapland Finland. The race service points were at 10km and 31km and rest of the track there were only natural springs where you can drink water. I took 1,5-liter camelback to my backpack and 2×0,5L bottles to my chest. To the middle point of the race, Ketomella 31km service point everything was good and running was relaxed. After 42km from Hannukuru, my legs started to be heavy and I felt drying and I drank all my water bottles empty. After 50km I wasn’t able to run anymore and I only searched where I can find some more water to drink. I was very thirsty but so were others. We found finally some water in Nammalakuru at 55km and the last 10km started. My legs hurt a lot and it was really painful to slouch on the rocky trails on the Pallas mountains. It took about 2 hours to complete the last 10km.
Here you can see my video of the race and feel some magic of Lapland Finland. Please enjoy!
Even it was a very hard race I am really happy for my new lifestyle and focusing on one long term-goal. It helps me balancing my work and family life when I use one or two hours per day with my own challenges. Now I am ready to going forward and planning to attend UTMB CCC 100km mountain trail running race in the near future. Meanwhile, let’s take some more training competitions and train more.
UltraBasso Trail Tour 