Over the weekend, Finland also got a taste of long-distance skiing as the Motari100 skiing event took place at the Hämeenlinna Ahvenisto racetrack, serving as an excellent training session ahead of the Teemu Virtanen’s 24-hour skiing world record attempt at the Lahti Ski Stadium in March.

Article written by Teemu Virtanen about his experience at Motari100 in preparation for his 24-hour World Record attempt. 

Hats off to the organizers of the Motari100 event for daring to set up such a race with proper distances. We can genuinely talk about long-distance skiing now, as even the winner’s time was just under five hours. The short lap course worked very well, although, in mass skiing events, races are usually from one point to another or a long continuous loop. The short lap course made service much smoother, and changing skis also allowed for tactical play.

The race started at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, and I decided to sprint to the front from the start and led the first lap, trying out the pace. The free technique skiers’ lead group came alongside us double-polers. My skiing felt quite solid, especially since the climbs were easy.

There were six of us in the leading double-poling group, and we stayed well together, almost to the halfway point. We went a bit faster on the third lap, which was my fastest lap of the entire race. Sometimes, on the flat sections, I had to work hard to keep up with the pace of the younger skiers. At 56 years old, speed is no longer my card, but endurance is still top-notch, as my focus is on that 24-hour ski. 

My skis worked brilliantly in the morning conditions, but after the ninth lap, I had to switch to another pair, which was not quite as good. My lap times dropped after changing skis, so the second pair of skis was not the optimum choice. I was prepared for fresh snow, zero-degree weather in the morning, and then changing conditions, for which I brought two pairs. However, the conditions did not change as I had anticipated, and the snow remained much drier than the previous day’s weather forecast had promised. My top pair of Peltonen skis with red bases remained unused because the expected wet conditions never occurred during the ski. Fortunately, the track was groomed, and the glide of my second pair of skis improved significantly towards the end.

Changing skis also meant I dropped out of the lead group and ended up skiing alone. I managed to catch up with one skier ahead of me and moved up from sixth to fifth place, where I finished the race. Sometimes, it was hard to push myself to ski hard without drafting, but I managed to maintain a good pace, getting a great workout and a solid start to the competition season. However, I plan to ski the Tartu Marathon in Estonia and the Finlandia Ski Race in my hometown before the season’s main event.

Overall, I am satisfied with my performance because I was able to maintain an average speed of 20 km/h throughout the race, and I did not encounter any major difficulties at any point. Of course, the last two laps felt hard, as I tried to give it my all towards the end. My arms were strong, and I did not experience the slightest cramp, but my buttocks and legs were under more strain. Double poling is not often considered to be hard on the legs, but when skiing hard, they tire faster than the arms.

Due to the nature of Motari100, I could drink every lap and consume four gels during the race, which is quite a lot for me. I started carb-loading on Wednesday evening, as I normally avoid eating carbohydrates in the winter to keep my weight in check and keep my fat metabolism active. Of course, I made an exception for Christmas and indulged for a couple of days. During the race, I managed to switch my body back to utilizing carbohydrates quite quickly, so there were no problems with energy absorption at any stage. 

The race has given me a strong belief that I am on the right track towards the tough challenge in March. The training has paid off, and I have already accumulated over 3200 kilometers of skiing this winter. I just hope to stay healthy until spring and that the weather and conditions at the Lahti stadium are favorable.

Matias Nylund won the Motari100, followed by Tuomas Kaukola in second place, Valtteri Härkönen in third place, Kalle Liukkonen in fourth place, and Ville Mäkelä finished sixth behind me. The six of us double poling were also the fastest skiers in the entire race. 

You can see the race results here. Read more articles related to long-distance skiing here.