Finland Ice Marathon Day

Ice marathon day! From the time I found out that the Finland Ice Marathon was during my school's break, I got super psyched for the opportunity to experience it. I don't know why, but the idea of it stirred something in me.

False advertising 😉 I thought I had signed up for 50km, not 52.2km. Doing the 50km seems appropriate this year since the kilometers matches my age (let's hear it for being 50!).

At races I have done before, you get a t-shirt or a hat or even chocolate milk. There is nothing more Finnish than having complementary fish soup and saunas after your race.

At the torch light skating last night, the ice was quite chewed up, but on the morning of the race, the ice was great. The Finns take their ice skating trails seriously (further down in the blog there are photos of the trail machines). Unfortunately, Sarah's knee was injured, so she couldn't race which meant I was flying solo.

The start, lap, and finish line area 

The gear tent for the racers - it's right on the ice so you can skate in and out.

Your bib can go on your leg or back for the race.

Of course I made special team name bibs.

The ice surface was so nice, but there were some big cracks that sent even the best skaters flying.

Pre-race warm ups.

Pre-race excitement 

Skaters starting to line up at the start.

In the beginning of the race, skaters were closer together, but it did not take much time at all for everyone to spread out. It was helpful to have someone near you so you could work together in the headwind. 

The whole experience was just such a treat. Nobody really talked to each other and the fans didn't even cheer (even when someone took a big digger - which there were a lot of). I imagine that the other skaters, like me, just got into their own flow state. I kept thinking "I don't want this to end." Don't get me wrong - it was a grind, but just so enjoyable.

Over the 7.5km track skaters were quite spread out.

When the lead pack of skaters lapped me, it was like I was standing still. They were so fast!

Just after crossing the finish line.

I finished in 2:57 (the 1st...and only woman from the USA in the 50km)

Some cute mascot type folks at the race.

The mascot type critters cracked me up.

Ice is serious business in Finland

After the race, my body was definitely feeling like it was pushed so I got my stuff and headed to the sauna. It was my 1st co-ed sauna experience - some people wore bathing suits and some didn't and whatever you did was totally fine - there is an awesome level of comfort that people seem to have with their bodies here. Everyone was chatting in Finnish so I had no idea what they were saying, but I think they all had done the race.

One of the post race saunas 

Sarah and I met up right before getting soup. We have been talking about the soup since finding out that it comes with the race registration. Fish soup is definitely a thing here - it is everywhere. It may have been because I was quite hungry, but it really hit the spot.

The line of people waiting for fish soup.

My very valuable fish soup ticket.

Serving up the soup

The soup hit the spot despite my reservations about having fish soup as a post-race food.

So excited!

Long tables for eating your soup (or whatever) is traditional - not lots of separate tables.

Nope - I didn't become Finnish after finishing the ice marathon.

After the marathon, we got back in Mr. Toad's car, said goodbye to Kuopio, and headed to the tiny town of Oravi (2 hrs away). The drive was beautiful. It was pretty flat, but the trees and snow made for some good eye candy.

In Finland, the roads are just left snowy - unlike their ice trails which they clear diligently.

The GPS showed a picture of a boat for about 40km. Of course, Sarah and I did not figure out that it was for a ferry until we arrived at the dock 🤣

What we thought was a bridge on the map was actually a ferry.

The "town" of Oravi is where we stayed in the Lakeland region.

Our lodging 

The hotel - the sauna is the black smaller bump out on the near end.

After we checked in, it was close to sunset, so I headed out to the ice trail for a short walk. On the ice trail, there were a few locals going out for a sunset skate (despite the cold and setting sun). I loved this! The Finns put the effort into get out into nature.

A cool fence on the way down to the lake.

Waiting for spring...

Sarah met me part way into the walk.

After our sunset walk, we headed over to the main building for dinner a little after 6:00. Someone told us to make ourselves comfortable because the cook was in the sauna, but she would be out soon. So awesome! I'm loving the Finn culture.

This place is set up for lots of tourists in the summer, but in the winter it is a bit of a ghost town. We were the only ones eating and the cook gave us two options for dinner: reindeer meat with potatoes or mushrooms and potatoes with pike fish balls (very traditional food). Sarah and I both got the mushroom and fish ball option which turned out to be delicious (It definitely would not have been Dan's favorite meal ever).

The main building in town. It contains: a small grocery, bar, restaurant, gift shop, gear rental, and fishing supplies. What else could you need?

Mushroom and potatoes and pike fish balls for dinner.

Chocolate mousse with wild berries for dessert.

The restaurant/bar

The gear rental area 

We tried capping the day off with a sauna, but we kind of failed at getting it super hot. So, we did a sort of hot sauna which was actually really nice because I'm a hot sauna wimp. All in all, it was an outstanding day full of lots of authentically Finn culture. This kid is definitely feeling euphoric about the day.