Finland Ice Marathon 2023 and Linnansaari Skating Trail

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Kara Toms

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Mar 15, 2023, 4:35:46 PM3/15/23
to NHNordicSkating, VTNordicskating
I promised a few fellow skaters that I would post to this group about my skating adventures on a recent trip to Finland. Given the 18" of snow we got yesterday, now seems like a good time to do so. I'll share some details in this email, but you can also check out my blog if you are interested in more. There are lots of pictures, so you can just skim through it. You can also see some of the other entries for my Finland trip if you scroll to the bottom. https://ktfinlandsnowandicecapades.blogspot.com/2023/02/finland-ice-marathon-day.html

On Feb 25, 2023, I competed (and by competed, I mean participated) in the Finland Ice Marathon. I started Nordic skating in 2020, so I am fairly new to the sport. My good friend is spending 6 months in Finland and she invited me to visit her. Once I found out that the Finland Ice Marathon was during the week of my school's vacation, I was sold.

The Ice Marathon takes place on Kallavesi Lake in Kuopio which is 4+ hrs from Helsinki in the Lakeland Region. The length of the loop depends on the weather conditions each year - it was 7.5km this year. For the Ice Marathon, you can register for 25km, 50km, or 100km for skating, but there are also other categories like skating with poles and the kickspark (some years they have had a 200km option). It was 40 euros to compete which came with access to complementary saunas and a bowl of fish soup. 

I signed up for the 50km which was just perfect for me. For training, I just skated on wild ice when conditions, work, and family would allow and I played hockey a few times per week which is just my regular routine even if I wasn't going to do an ice marathon. I used Nordic skates for the marathon which is what everyone doing the 50 or 100km was using. Some folks used hockey or figure skates for the 25km.

The evening before the marathon, there was a torch light skate. It was incredible how many people joined in the fun. The 2km loop was packed with people. I loved seeing how many people came out for this event. In fact, this event really chewed up the ice. The Finns really know how to embrace winter!

For the actual marathon, the race organizers did a super job of making the ice smooth. In my blog, there are photos of the machines they use to do this - they don't mess around. It was a festive atmosphere at the race. Despite the good ice conditions, there were still some decent sized cracks which caused even the best skaters to go flying. On the day of the race, it was in the mid teens Fahrenheit and a bit of a wind - most folks commented that these were some of the best conditions they had had in several years. There were many competitive skaters who were fun to watch and there were also lots of recreational skaters who were in it for the experience. Folks from all over the world participated, but this was actually the Finland Skating National Competition as well. While competing, it seemed like most skaters just got into their own flow states and didn't really interact with the other skaters. I was so happy while I was participating - it was super fun. After the race, the saunas and fish soup were both excellent too!

While in the Lakeland Region, we also checked out the Linnansaari Skating Trail which is on Lake Saimaa (the largest lake in Finland) in a national park. The skating trail is often 20km long from point to point, but when we were there, there had been enough recent snow that they were having trouble clearing the trail so it was only 5km long from point to point. On the weekends, there is a place to get pancakes on an island 5km out when the weather is good, but much to my dismay, the pancake house was closed for the day. It was mostly just locals using this trail as there are very few tourists in the winter in this region. It was a great skating trail and the ice was good despite some windblown snow on it in places. https://ktfinlandsnowandicecapades.blogspot.com/2023/02/linnansaari-skating-trail-olanviina.html

After our skating adventures, we headed up to Lapland for skiing, fat biking, and even some dog mushing. We capped off the trip with a quick trip to Tallinn, Estonia before heading back home. In all, the trip was about 1.5 weeks.

I am happy to try to answer any questions that you might have. Enjoy the snow and maybe consider doing some future ice marathon planning...the Finland Ice Marathon will be celebrating 40 years in 2024 😀

Kara

Allan Reetz

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Sep 24, 2023, 9:07:43 AM9/24/23
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Kara, As I am just reading your post and blog for the first time as I start dreaming about the upcoming season. The start of autumn seems a good time to do that. Your Finnish adventure sounds amazing and looks top notch as well. Thanks for sharing!
Allan
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