July 2022

Tiirismaa Trail, which was organized for the second time, gathered a record number of participants when almost 300 registered runners set out to conquer the highest peaks in Southern Finland. Heinsuo Sports Center once again offered a guarantee for a safe competition center event, which nevertheless had enough space to organize a safe event. Special praise was heard during the event for the operation of the route, its markings and service points. Special thanks for this goes to the great team of workers, who happily served and encouraged the runners at the service points - thank you! According to Kuulemaa, the snacks at the service stations led by Nosht sports drink also provided energy for the needs of even the most demanding refuellers. This year, 31 runners responded to the challenge of the 42 km distance hosted by Hoka. The rains in the morning made the route slower in some places than last year, but everyone managed to clear the route in well under 7 hours! Suunto's Jere Lallo started fast and after the initial scramble, he took last year's third runner-up Joni Lepistö with him. Halfway through, the advantage was in Lepistö's favor for just under a minute, didn't the step of Lepistö's ultra runner give others chances after that. Turning last year's 3rd place into a convincing win in under 4h with a time of 3:59.50. Jere Lallo fought for second place before Hollola's Jonathan Tolksdorf who convincingly tightened up at the end. Anna-Leena Korhonen managed to improve her last year's time by more than five minutes, with the remaining time dropping to just under 5 hours, 5:01.44, maybe next year will already go to a new number of hours. Anne Rauhamäki continued from last year, taking second place ahead of Teija Reijo. The most popular route of the Tiirismaa Trail was once again illuminated by Lumonite headlamps, as no less than 122 people raced the 21km route. Team Hoka's Juho Ylinen left no room for chance and showed why he has risen to the brightest elite of national trail running. Even in the ascent of Marta's hut, the gap between the three coming behind Samuel Heinosen, Tuomas Kari and Eetu Nordman was more than half a minute. Ylinen was able to win his second consecutive Tiirismaa Trail victory with a time of 1:29.15, at the same time getting a good workout for the international races at the end of the season. "A hard trail is easier to put a number tag on your chest with the encouragement of others, so @tiirismaatrail was the number one choice for longer intensive training. A suitable amount of ascent, technical small paths and a varied route easily attracts us, at least. So I can recommend it wholeheartedly! 💪🏼", said the winner of the day on Instagram." The organizers thank and wish Juho light feet for the rest of the season's competitions! Samuel Heinonen tormented Tuomas Kari's downhill speed already halfway on the slopes of Messilä, but kept his cool and pedaled away on the uphills. Karin taking 3rd place like last year. The great 6th place of Burn-O Productions Ibai Mendia Iztueta and the 12th place of CustomSports' Matti Salmensuu can also be considered as an important improvement. On the women's side, HK Varma Team's Pauliina Pohja, who has merited even on longer distances, convincingly took control of the competitive needle trails, improving her time from last year by almost two minutes, 1:51.38. Laura Seppänen fought herself for second place before a tight battle for 3rd place, which Anna Hopiaa turned into a victory 11 seconds ahead of Mia Tuoriniemi! Anna-Maria Jäpölä of Asikkala Raikka and Miika Heikkilä of Espoo Ski Association rolled to victory in the 12km series. The podium was completed by Emmi Teva and Liisi Koskelainen on the women's side, and Eero Leino before Juho Koski on the men's side. The trip offered by travel host Toolpoint saw a lot of smiling faces, maybe next year for a longer trip? The 6km offered by the organizing organizations CustomSports and Burn-O Productions was seen as a counterbalance between a relaxed atmosphere in the brands of the Trekki series and fast-paced racing by the future stars of the young series. Eelis Koskinen of HU-46 took the victory in the boys' under 16 series ahead of Alvar Krogius of Helsinki Suunnistinaje. On the girls' side, Ella Lehtisuo of Lahti Ski Club took the win ahead of Iira-Nella Norrbacka and Petra Rautiai of Saarijärvi, who narrowly finished third. It's great to see young people from different sports and clubs participating! The children's 2km distance saw the dominance of Hollola's athletes as the club took the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th places on the boys' side, Axel Koiranen taking the win followed by Kasperi Pakkala in second and Lukas Lehtonen taking the third place ahead of his brother Leo Lehto! In the girls, Hyvinkää's Neela Hyötynen took the win while Aurora Salminen Fernandez finished third, and Hollola's Athletes' Daniela Mattila took third place at the end of a tight final battle. Several new young people were seen on the trip offered by Umacon, and for next year the organizer aims to multiply the number of youth series! At the finish, Nosht's speed candies also did their business - sweet! You can find the final results by series on the competition pages! Go back to the atmosphere of Tiirismaa Trail 2022 with event photos and a YouTube broadcast (finish camera). The organizers have now "played through" organizing a trail running event twice in just over a year, and it's time to aim for the next step in the trail running scene! WE THANK ALL competitors, partners and people of Talkoo. This would not have been possible without you. The Tiirismaa Trail story continues, bigger and better next year! Thank you!