On Saturday, the sun was gentle and the pre-favorites held their ground!
After the storm it's bad weather, that's what Kari Tapiokin also sang. This also applied to Tiirismaa Trail on Saturday, August 5. when the more traditional Tiirismaa Trail trips were enjoyed in the wonderful landscapes of Messilä and Tiirismaa. After Friday's rain, the sun warmed both the participants, the organizers and the public who comfortably arrived at the scenery of the Messilä manor. In traditional style, the first start on Saturday was at 9:00 a.m., when a total of 48 participants of the marathon distance (42 km) set off under the Hoka starting arch towards the slopes of Messilä and the enjoyable trails of Tiirisma. On the 42 km journey, there was a crossing through the event center halfway. At this point, Antti Hartikainen (Team Här-Ski) waved the pace stick in the men's series. Antti Parjanne (Lynx) + 1:45 and Reijo Ronnila (Anti's stable) came in third with already +18:00 from Hartikainen. However, the second round did its job. In the women's 42 km race, the duo Maarja Mägi (Team Untamon Urheilu) and Anna Hopia (Ultra Perros) were seen in the middle groove, Rinna Ikola-Norrbacka (Asikkalan Raikas) arrived in third place. In the second round, however, it mixed things up a bit and did its job, especially on the men's side, small changes were made to the top three. Antti Parjanne was the first to arrive under Lumonite's finish line, who was able to keep up the pace and overtake Antti Hartikainen. The winner of the Tiirismaa Trail 42 km was Antti Parjanne of Lynx with a time of 3:34:33. Antti Hartikainen raced to silver +3:17 and Tiirismaa Trail veteran Jonathan Tolksdorf from Hollola, who made a great climb, took bronze +34:06 from the winner. On the women's side, the lead remained unchanged and Maarja Mäki was able to celebrate the victory in front of the Messilä manor with a time of 4:29:03, second was Anna Hopia +24:27 and third was Rinna Ikola Norrbacka +34:03 slower than the winner. The second start of the day at 10:00 was 8 km, which is aimed more or less as a low-threshold Trek fitness series, but of course there were also young girls and boys under 16 racing series on the starting line. The Trek fitness series attracted a record 39 participants this year. Did the relocation of the event center or the slight increase in the distance by 6 km from the previous year have an effect. The weekend's double champion Axel Koiranen (HU-46) together with his father Jani Koiranen, the fastest in the Trekki series, crossed the final straight of the Messilä children's slope in the same time of 40:27. Second in young boys was Luukas Kirjavainen + 0:52 and third was Leo Lehtonen (HU-46) + 2:04 from the winner. On the girls' side, there were regrettable absences before the race day, and in the end there were no runners at the starting line. Hopefully next year again 🙂 Many happy faces were seen in the Trekki fitness series, and the prize win hit the spot for many. Thank you again at this stage to all the partners for the high-quality prizes. The starting time of the 21 km distance, which was also considered the main start of the day, was at 11:00. The main number was also the largest when a total of 150 eager and excited trail runners were seen under the blue Hoka starting arch, waiting for what the slightly changed 21 km route will bring this year. On the men's side, the mantle of the pre-favorite was naturally placed on the current number one in Finland, Juho Ylisen (Team Hoka), who let off the most steam already on Friday, winning the Messilä Uphill in spectacular style. So Ylinen went to get a double Tiirismaa Trail 2023 for Friday and Saturday, and above all a hat trick from the 21 km distance as a continuation of the previous years' (2021, 2022) championships. Salomon Trail Team duo Tuomas Kari and Eetu Nordman were spotted as the clearest challengers for Ylis. The pre-favorites held their ground. Juho Ylinen's step was delicate from start to finish, and there was no real threat in the others. Thus, Ylinen was able to win Tiirismaa Trail 21 km for the third time with a time of 1:28:43. By the way, time is really hard for the slightly changed route, and at least the changes in the route did not go in an easier direction. This man from Team Hoka is in for a hard fight. There was a tight fight for second place between Kari and Nordman. The solution had to wait until the very last kilometers. The second pole was taken by Nordma with a time of 1:34:57, who was able to get away from Kari on the way up the Laaso lift shaft. Kari's annoying ankle sprains about 1.5 km before the finish took the last blow, and as a result, no chest crease was seen at the end, although the difference between the two was only 5 seconds. Yes, we saw a really tough M21km struggle in Tiirismaa again. What next year!? On the women's side, the pre-favorite cloak was thrown to Karoliina Ukskoski (Perhon Kiri), better known from the orienteering side (or Tiirismaan Trail photographer). Lahti Suunnistajat -37's strong orienteer was finally unstoppable on the climbs of Tiirisma and Messilä, even though Mila Koljonen and Lotta Kirvesmies threw a lot of punch at the carts. Ukskoski tore a clear gap from the others on the climbs of the back leg and was able to enjoy N21km as the winner with a time of 1:57:51. Mila Koljonen took second place with a time of 2:01:46 and Lotta Kirvesmies third with a time of 2:03:30. The last starting group of the day was a 12 km journey that started at 12:00. On the men's side, the interest was particularly focused on the double champion of the Ahkera spring cross-country races in Lahti and Ossi Kekki, the 5000m WC bronze medalist of the Kaleva Games a week ago. On the women's side, Suunta Jyväskylä's Anniina Taipale, who was very successful in Tiirismaa, was perhaps the clearest early favorite. When climbing the first hill, it became clear that Kekki had really come to Tiirismaa to run. and hard, its blood seemed light going Bear 1 in the ascent. Kekki maintained top speed throughout the 12 km distance and stopped the clocks at 50:57. A great ride, and especially when you think about previous years, now we got a real quote even for this 12 km trip. Sure, the route is different and not comparable, but it's okay for everyone to try. Jaakko Ranta (YU-team) ran to second place + 6:23 and third was young Rasmus Töyrylä +11:21 from the winner Kek. On the women's side, Anniina Taipale took her own and improved her silver position from a couple of years ago to gold. Taipale's time of 1:03:42 is also good compared to 2021 (1:02:03). Second place went to Heidi Horttanainen (Imatra Urheilijat) +8:06 and third Anna-Maria Jäpölä (Asikkalan Raikas) +11:52 from Taipale. Tiirismaa Trail 2023 is now slowly being celebrated, but it's always a good moment to get back into the mood, for example through event photos or, for example, to watch the YouTube broadcast afterwards. Thanks to all our great photographers and the results service for all this deliciousness. The Tiirismaa Trail people especially thank all of you participants and spectators, but of course also those who made the event possible; partners, people from Talkoo and others who worked in the background! THANK YOU - We did it, together! We are happy to receive feedback so that we can make Tiriismaa Trail an even better event. Feedback can be sent directly via social media, for example @tiirismaatrail or via email info@tiirismaatrail.fi. A more extensive and detailed feedback survey will be broadcast in the near future. Stay tuned and see you again next year! Tiirismaa Trail – From love to trails!
On Saturday, the sun was gentle and the pre-favorites held their ground! Read More »