Bodom Trail 21km - PB for everyone

Photo: Rami Valonen

Bodom Trail 21km is my only race in June, as NUTS 326km is coming up in a month. In other words, I was just having fun there!

Photo: Rami Valonen

Bodom Trail has an innovative organization. You can choose from three start times: Friday evening, Saturday morning or afternoon. I selected the morning 9:30am start. It all felt very safe and smooth. 

Photo: Miska Koivumäki

The starters were divided into groups of 50 on a big field. Face masks were mandatory during the start. Each group waited for their turn to get started in smaller packs of 10 runners or so. This worked very well and made the race experience pleasant. Nicely done, please continue doing this in the future!

The route consists of two loops: 12km and 9km. You can choose to finish after 12km loop if you wish. If you feel good, you can take refreshments and start the second loop for a full 21km. There is no need to specify your race distance before, so the decision can be truly based on how you feel. This is such a cool idea! 

I chose 21km as I felt good enough a fortnight after NUTS Karhunkierros 100-miler. My goal was to jog easy pace and finish in under three hours.

We enjoyed the best possible summer weather, sunny with thin clouds and slightly over 20 degrees C.

It was nice to chat with Anthony Gullsten, a top climber sponsored by La Sportiva. In my 10-person start pack everyone's attention was grabbed by this guy handstanding. I thought for a moment that he is going to run with his hands. Back on his feet, I remembered seeing Andy at Kiipeilyareena climbing gyms in Helsinki. He ran 12km much faster than me, but he cheered for me later on at the finish area.

They had three drink stations along the way, which was enough for me to run without a vest. I just had two gels in my short pockets.

The course in Nuuksio Natural Park is fantastic, easily the best near Helsinki. This was my first 21km here, so it would be PB for me. In a way it was a PB for all 255 21km starters/finishers, as the Northern part of the course had to be changed to avoid the new nature reserve. They said the new route is about the similar length, but probably slightly faster.

With top climber Andy Gullsten.

I finished in 2 hours 55 minutes. My friend Mikki ran 12km to test his injured leg, and it passed with flying colors for NUTS300! Esa Lehti from Team La Sportiva Finland had already posted an amazing time 1:57 on Friday. Mårten Boström won in 1:25.

With my ultratrail friend Mikki Kunttu.

Thank you Bodom Trail. See you at Nuts Distance 300 in Lapland in July, when I'm running 200 miles!