Fjällmaraton

Fjällmaraton (literally Mountain Marathon in Swedish) is a long distance race, considered one of the hardest and most important one-day mountain marathons in Sweden. The total route has a length of 43 km (27 mi) with a cumulative elevation gain of 2,100 meters and similar elevation loss. The race takes place between the mountain resorts Vålådalen and Trillevallen in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County since 2005. Until 2012 the race was known by the name Vértex Fjällmaraton, then AXA Fjällmarathon and from 2017 KIA Fjällmarathon depending on varying sponsors.

Over time additional races have been added to the original Fjällmaraton proper, currently:[1]

  • Öppet Fjäll (Open course) runs the marathon course but without the mass start of the racing day so that runners may run at a leisurely tempo at their own convenience
  • Halvmaraton (Half-marathon, in 2016 called Salomon 27K), 27 km (17 mi) with a cumulative elevation gain of 1,150 meters
  • Kvartsmaraton (Quarter-marathon), 13 km (8.1 mi) with a cumulative elevation gain of 600 meters
  • Minimaraton (Mini-marathon), a children's race with two age categories: 0–6 years run 800 meters, 7+ years run 1,500 meters
  • Vertical K (Vertical kilometer), a race to the peak of Åreskutan
  • Inov-8 sprinten, a sprint where competitors take on qualifiers and heats before reaching the final

In 2012-2014 Ottfjället upp was a vertical race to the peak of Ottfjället, but this was replaced by Vertical K to the peak of Åreskutan in 2015.

Winners

The course has changed over time in different ways so course records are not listed here. The fastest male winning times have been under 3 hours 30 minutes and the fastest female winning times a little under 4 hours, so considerably slower than a normal asphalt marathon race.

Andreas Svanebo has won the race six times in seven starts. On the women's side Ida Nilsson has won four times in four starts.

Emelie Forsberg's first win in 2009 is widely cited, including on CNN. She had borrowed a backpack from a friend and brought a chocolate mud cake that she had baked. Before the last big ascent, she stopped for 20 minutes and ate the cake, got new energy and won the race. Two years later she was back, did not stop to eat en route and improved her time by 30 minutes.[2][3] In 2014 the by then established world class runner Forsberg was back again and improved her time by another 30 minutes.[4]

Year Country Man Country Woman
2005 SwedenAndreas Svanebo SwedenHanna Wikberg
2006 SwedenFredrik Sätter SwedenKicki Fransson
2007 SwedenAndreas Svanebo SwedenTherese Svensson
2008 SwedenAndreas Svanebo SwedenMaria Lundgren
2009 SwedenAndreas Svanebo SwedenEmelie Forsberg
2010 SwedenAnton Sjöholm SwedenTherese Svensson
2011 SwedenAndreas Svanebo SwedenEmelie Forsberg
2012 SwedenAndreas Svanebo SwedenAnnika Billstam
2013 SwedenAnders Kleist SwedenLena Gavelin
2014 NorwayEirik Haugsnes SwedenEmelie Forsberg
2015 SwedenAnders Kleist SwedenIda Nilsson
2016 SwedenAnders Kleist SwedenIda Nilsson
2017 SwedenAndreas Svanebo SwedenIda Nilsson
2018 NorwayJo Forseth Indgaard SwedenFanny Borgström
2019 SwedenAndré Jonsson SwedenFanny Borgström
2020 SwedenOlle Kalered SwedenTove Alexandersson
2021 United KingdomJonathan Albon SwedenIda Nilsson

References
  1. "Races". Fjällmaraton. Archived from the original on 2015-05-15.
  2. Paul Gittings; Olivia Yasukawa (8 October 2014). "Emelie Forsberg: Running's sky queen with a sweet tooth". CNN. Archived from the original on 2015-07-26.
  3. "Axa Fjällmaraton" (in Swedish). Runner's World. 14 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2015-10-17.
  4. "Resultat Damer Solo" (PDF). Fjällmaraton. 9 August 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-26.
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