Two ski races will change names before Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2020. From now on Kortvasan will be known as Vasaloppet 30 and Halvvasan becomes Vasaloppet 45. "We see this as a natural step in our development; the new names fit well into our varied family of races," says Vasaloppet's Development Manager Johan Eriksson.
Nattvasan 90 and Nattvasan 45 will, from Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2020, be part of Vasaloppstrippeln 90 and Vasaloppstrippeln 45. Because of this, so-called roping, where participants link up with a rope to help one another, will no longer be allowed in Nattvasan, though participants still ski together in two-person teams.
In 2020 it will be 500 years since Gustav Vasa's adventure in Dalarna, 1520–21, and 98 years since the first Vasaloppet in 1922. This last decade Vasaloppet has seen the number of registered participants double! These past five years we've been able to celebrate getting close to 100,000 participants, though that magic number hasn't been reached yet. Vasaloppet can now proudly introduce the Vasaloppet year 2020 with more challenges and races than ever to choose from. Registration for Vasaloppet's Summer Week 2020 opens on Sunday, September 15.
It's finally here! Vasaloppet is launching a new running race for next year's Summer Week; Trailvasan 30, which, as the name implies, runs over the much-requested 30 km distance, complementing Ultravasan 45, Ultravasan 90, Vasastafetten and Vasakvartetten. The launch of Trailvasan 30 also means that it's possible to complete Vasaloppstrippeln 30 in 2020.
Two world stars ran the show in the Vasaloppet Arena this Saturday morning. Jim Walmsley, USA, won Ultravasan 90 with the superior time of 5.47.28. Alexandra Morozova, Russia, won in an even more superior fashion, finishing at 7.11.07. Fredrik Eriksson, IK Akele, and Sofia Byhlinder, IFK Mora Friidrott won Ultravasan 45. Both races saw a new record number of participants.
Vasaloppet's Summer Week and the Vasaloppet year 2019 will wrap up on Saturday, August 17 with the big running day where over 6,000 people participate; both world elite runners and exercisers from 22 countries. About 2,000 run individually and 4,000 are running relay races. Many of the individual runners also hope to complete the year's Vasaloppstrippeln. Here we'll give some facts, favourites, statistics and trivia in preparation for the races.
In the sixth Ultravasan 90 this Saturday we'll see the world's foremost ultrarunner, Jim Walmsley from the US, on the starting line. Walmsley set a new 50 mile world record (80.467 km) at an invitation race in California last May and also won the The Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run for the second year in a row. We got the chance to ask Walmsley, also known as the "Michael Jordan of ultrarunning", a few questions considering his participation in this year’s Ultravasan 90:
Emil Lindgren, Serneke Allebike MTB TEAM, and Elisabeth Sveum, Norway, won the eleventh Cykelvasan this Saturday. Both cyclists snatched their victories on the final stretch in Mora. "It feels insanely good. I've tried and tried so many times. Finally I got it," says 34-year old Säter local Emil Lindgren after being first across the finish line.
Vasaloppet's Summer Week, started in 2009, has one weekend of mountain biking and one weekend of running – ten races, put together. First out is Cykelvasan, now with over 23,000 registered cyclists. The main race, Cykelvasan 90 on Saturday, is fully booked but there are still start places available in all other races for those itching to participating. Just like for our winter races, we've collected news, facts, statistics and information in preparation for Cykelvasan, the biggest Nordic mountain bike race. Follow the race live via radio or stream it online. On Sunday a 45-minute summary will be broadcast on SVT1.
It is still not too late to take on the challenge of biking or running Vasaloppet this year! Almost 30,000 are already registered and Cykelvasan 90 is fully booked but start positions are available in all other races.
