The event gathered a good number of participants right from the first time to conquer the highest peaks in Southern Finland. In the end, there were a total of 229 participants. A 21 km distance was selected as the main distance in proportion to the number of participants, and a total of 96 trail runners were seen at the starting line.
The atmosphere of the 21km start. Photo: Touho Häkkinen
The Tiirismaa Trail, which was set up on a fast schedule, was mainly praised for its arrangements. Heinsuo Sports Center offered a great base as the competition center of the Tiirismaa Trail. A compact area that nevertheless had enough space to organize a safe event. There was also a positive feeling at the service points and the operation was otherwise smooth. Together with the people of Talkoo, we managed to create a functional whole for the trail running event, where each participant could focus on the matter themselves and enjoy the day while trail running in a like-minded group.
Tiirismaa - Messilä's versatile and varied trail networks offered curly needle paths, outdoor paths, stone steps and of course hills in all shapes and angles - at least enough. The main theme of the competition was really hills, and there were varying degrees of them on each route. On longer journeys (12 – 42 km) Tiirismaa was rammed on many occasions, and on the slopes of Messilä you could enjoy this delicacy even more on ascents with about 100 m of vertical ascent. A total of 21 km of ascent was offered for 750 m, and in the marathon therefore double 1500 m. Even on the shorter courses, you could also get a taste of Tiirismaa's wonderful hills!
The track master was praised for planning the route. On the longer distances, the runners were really challenged, and on the shorter distances, there was relatively more of an easier section, where the steep ascents and descents were more runnable and shorter. Nobody was offered a lift, so each runner had to fight the laws of physics on the climbs. Children under 12 scratched a fast-paced 2km route, where they also got into the atmosphere of a trail run.
The event also got a clean slate from the marking of the route, and none of the reported missteps came to the ears of the organizers. The route was marked in several ways, which minimized the possibility of getting lost. This was also brought up by Team Hoka's Juho Ylinen, who won the men's 21km series, In Etelä Suomen Sanomat's story (for subscribers).
Tiirismaa Trail has come to stay on the trail running map. Our strong goal is to become one of the biggest trail running events in Finland in the future, which would attract both the top runners and those just starting trail running.
This year, the best cyclists in Finland were already at the starting line.
Veera Lähde representing Mäkimyyri was the overwhelming number one in the women's 42 km series with a time of 4:25:53. The second place was taken by Anne Rauhamäki, Ryläys' friends, and the third was Anna-Leena Korhonen. On the men's side of the same distance, the competition was closer, as the top three reached the finish line in less than eight minutes. Team Hoka's Toni "Nuuksion Susi" Valido was the winner in 3:40:46 ahead of Tero Mietti and UltraSiilien's Joni Lepistö.
A particularly tough coverage was seen in the men's 21 km series, where Team Hoka's Ylinen (1:27:16), Liikupi's Mikko Knuuttila (1:29:16) and Tuomas Kari (1:30:26) took the top spots. The pace in this series was clearly even faster than the track master's estimate in advance, and now Ylinen's pace was around 4:10 min/km on a route with 750 meters of ascent! In the women's 21 km series, SK Pohjantähten's Sofia Haajanen took hers with a time of 1:46:39. The difference to Ruut Uusitalo, who came in second, was 2:51. HK Varma Team's Pauliina Pohja came third, 6:33 behind Haajanen.
The women's 12 km series was as expected smooth, where Heini Wennman of SK Pohjantähti raced to victory with a good final time of 1:00:48. Another competitive orienteer, Anniina Taipale, came closest to Wennmann, who is better known as an orienteer. The difference between Wennman and Taipalee was only 1:15. Team Hoka's Noora Hyyrynen, who is also an orienteer, but also going hard on the track, finished third, 3:12 slower than Wennman.
The men's 12 km was dominated by Mikael Fabritius, also representing Lahti Suunnistajat -37 in orienteering. Fabritius clocked the approx. 12 km route in 54:59. Second came Juho Koskinen (Hollolan Urheilijat -46) with a time of 59:24 and third was Eetu Granqvist, 1:01:38.
The women's 6km top spots went to Camilla Tuominen of Hollola athletes (35:46), Nina Nerg-Toivola (37:58) and Jatta Tuominen of HU-46 (41:05).
In the men's 6km side, the top three were as follows: Eemeli Ruusila, Burn-O Productions (36:12), Jukka Majander, Hämeenlinnan Tarmo (36:42) and Teemu Björn, CustomSki (57:47).
Girls under 16 top3: 1. Ellinoora Kovanen, Tiirismaan Latu (40:03), 2. Sara Muhonen Pakilan Veto (40:15), 3. Peppi Painilainen, Ylästön Urheilijat (50:20)
Boys under 16 top 3: 1. Aato Hämäläinen, Pakilan Veto (30:07), 2. Matias Salmela (39:56), 3. Alvar Krogius, Pikku-Veskun Samoojat (41:06)
The children's (under 12 years old) 2km runs saw close competition and extremely fast finals. On the girls' side, Kiira Tervo of Sajaniemi Sonni had the fastest pace with a time of 10:43. The next places and podium places were taken by the duo of Artjärvi Ahjo, Linnea Simola (11:16) and Lahja Pekko (12:30).
On the boys' side, Elmo Kiiskinen, representing Lahti Suunnitajat -37, was crowned the winner with a time of 9:42. Lukas Lehtosen (Hollolan Urheilijat -36) was only 16 seconds behind the runner-up. Third was Roope Itävuo, Sajaniemi Sonnit 1:37 slower than Kiisk.
So the coverage was tough in each series, but above all, the event also attracted completely new trail runners.
You can find the final results by series from here!
Go back to the atmosphere of Tiirismaa Trail 2021 through event photos, Youtube broadcast (finish camera) and GPS tracking (21km)!
The game and the head is the so-called open! We look forward to what next year will bring!
Now you have a great opportunity to develop the event by telling how the arrangements went from your own perspective. What things were you satisfied with and what would you like for the coming years? We accept all twigs and roses openly.
Together, let's make the Tiirismaa Trail one of the best trail running events in Finland.
One (1) free entry to the 2022 Tiirismaa Trail will be drawn among all those who left their contact information.
WE THANK ALL competitors, partners and people of Talkoo. This would not have been possible without you. The Tiirismaa Trail story continues. Stay tuned!
