Get ready for Ultravasan, Vasastafetten and Vasakvartetten 2019

Vasaloppet's Summer Week and the Vasaloppet year 2019 will wrap up on Saturday, August 17 with the big running day where over 6,000 people participate; both world elite runners and exercisers from 22 countries. About 2,000 run individually and 4,000 are running relay races. Many of the individual runners also hope to complete the year's Vasaloppstrippeln. Here we'll give some facts, favourites, statistics and trivia in preparation for the races.

Registration can still be completed at vasaloppet.se up until Thursday, August 15. Direct registration (with slightly higher participation fee) will open on Friday, August 16 at 12:00 in the competition offices in Mora and Sälen. On the day of the race direct registration can be completed at the starts in Sälen and Oxberg.

This is the 6th Ultravasan, the 29th Vasastafetten and the 3rd Vasakvartetten. In total there are ten classes (of which eight are competition classes) running on Saturday, August 17:

Ultravasan's two races:
- Ultravasan 90. 90 km. Start in Sälen at 05:00.
Ultravasan 90 starts, like the traditional Vasaloppet, in Sälen, following the course east towards Mora. Two classes: Women and Men.
- Ultravasan 45. 45 km. Start in Oxberg at 09:00.
The 45-km-race starts in Oxberg, largely following Halvvasan's winter track along the Oxberg lake down to Vasslan before joining the Ultravasan 90 course. Two classes: Women and Men.

The two relay races:
- Vasakvartetten. Running relay for four-person teams. Start in Sälen at 07:00.
90 km from Sälen to Mora divided into four sections of 23.5, 23.2, 24.2 and 19.1 km. (Vasakvartetten has three classes: Women, Men and Leisure. Participants in the Women and Men classes compete for prize money. Men = Women are allowed. Women = Only women. Leisure = Any mix of women and men allowed. In the Leisure class a single participant may run several sections.)
- Vasastafetten. Running relay for ten-person teams. Start in Sälen at 09:00.
90 km from Sälen to Mora divided into sections 4.5–15 km. (Vasastafetten has three classes: Women, Men and Leisure. Participants in the Women and Men classes compete for prize money. Men = Women are allowed. Women = Only women. Leisure = Any mix of women and men allowed. In the Leisure class a single participant may run several sections.)

Ultra is the name of races longer than the marathon distance of 42,195 metres, and "trail" or "terrain" means that the main part of the race is not on asphalt. Ultravasan 90, Vasakvartetten and Vasastafetten run on the following surfaces: 60 km forest road/Vasaloppet track, 6 km gravel, 18 km paths and 6 km asphalt. The course elevation is 867 metres. More information on sections and surfaces:
https://www.vasaloppet.se/en/races/running-races/ultravasan90/about/during/course

Apart from the above races, the children's running race "Barnens Vasalopp löpning" runs on Friday, August 16 at 18:00 for those up to about 10 years of age. In Sälen the stretches are 500, 1,000 or 1,500 metres and in Mora about 700 metres.

Track changes 2019
A small change that Vasaloppet hopes will enhance the running experience even further: Right before Mångsbodarna, about twenty kilometres from the start in Sälen, the track has been redrawn and it now runs in the woods over marshlands where newly-built wooden walkways bring the runners through a beautiful pine forest. It's a stretch of about 3 km and this change will affect runners in Ultravasan 90 as well as runners on the first section of Vasastafetten and Vasakvartetten.

Registrants, Tuesday 2019-08-13
We have a record number of participants in Ultravasan. In total there are 2,323 registered for the two races. Together with Vasastafetten and Vasakvartetten there are 6,319 runners registered for the Saturday races:

Ultravasan 90: 1,280 (of which 954 are men and 326 women) from 16 nations, aged 19–76.
Ultravasan 45: 1,043 (of which 478 are men and 565 women) from 17 nations, aged 16–73.
Vasastafetten: 3,640 runners in 364teams.
Vasakvartetten: 356 runners in 89 teams.

NOTE! The teams (meaning the team leader) in Vasastafetten and Vasakvartetten should fill in their team line-up on "My Pages" at vasaloppet.se, and it is possible to make changes up until the start of the race.

The biggest counties in Ultravasan 90 2019
Stockholm has 270 registered participants, Västra Götaland 188, Dalarna 89, Skåne 68, Östra Götaland 61. (All Swedish counties have participants registered for Ultravasan 90 and Ultravasan 45.)

Breakfast run hosted by Jonas Buud as a warm up
On Friday, August 16 at 09:00: Elite and recreational athletes will run together. A jog and breakfast. Mora Ski Stadium in Hemus, Mora. Members of the media are very welcome to photograph and interview participants.

Winning prizes
The winners of Ultravasan will receive, apart from a garland and kiss, 60,000 SEK. In Ultravasan 45 the winner gets 15,000 SEK. Ultravasan 90 has spurt prizes in Mångsbodarna (5000 SEK) and Hökberg (5000 SEK) as well as a hill prize in Evertsberg (10,000 SEK).

Medals
Medals are given to all participants who complete Ultravasan 90, Ultravasan 45, Vasastafetten and Vasakvartetten. Achievement medals are awarded in Ultravasan 90 to participants who complete the race in medal time. The medal time for men is 9.5 hours. Medal time for women is 11 hours.

Ultravasan 90, participants to keep an eye on 2019
The sixth ever Ultravasan 90 is attracting world elite profiles within ultrarunning. 29-year-old Jim Walmsley from Arizona, USA, set a new world record for 50 miles (80,467 km) at the start of May with a time of 4.50.08 at an invitation race in California. This June he also improved on his own record time from 2018 when he for the second time won the big ultrarunning race The Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run (161 km), also in California.

Will Jim Walmsley become the first American to win Ultravasan? Can he challenge Jonas Buud's record time of 5.45.08? His competition this year includes British 100 km Champion Charles Harpur and the two previous Swedish Ultravasan winners: Elov Olsson (2017) and Fritjof Fagerlund (2018).

In the women's class last year's victor and track record holder (6.43.55), Russian Alexandra Morozova, is back to defend her victory. Morozova came second in Comrades Marathon (87 km) in South Africa this June; the world's biggest ultrarunning race.

Elite men in Ultravasan 90:

Jim Walmsley, USA, no 1011, @walmsleyruns
World record holder for 50 miles. Has won the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run both in 2018 and 2019. Read our new interview with Jim Walmsley:
https://www.vasaloppet.se/en/news/jim-walmsley-in-ultravasan-90-i-have-a-good-chance-running-for-a-win

Charles Harpur, Great Britain, no 1012, @charlie.harpur
British 100 km Champion 2019.

Fritjof Fagerlund, Sweden, no 1001, @fritjoffagerlund
Fagerlund won Ultravasan 45 2015 and came second and fourth in Ultravasan 90 2016 and 2017 before winning Ultravasan 90 in 2018. Long list of merits.

Elov Olsson, Sweden, no 1013, @elovolsson
Winner of Ultravasan 90 2017. Came third in the Ultravasan 45 2018. Swedish 100 km champion 2019.

Joacim Lantz, Sweden, no 1004, @joacimlantz
Little brother Lantz ran Ultravasan 45 2015–2017 placing sixth, fourth and second. Fourth in Ultravasan 90 2018.

Johan Lantz, Sweden, no 1007, @johanlantz
Johan came sixth in the first Ultravasan 90 2014, then third place in Ultravasan 45 2017 and seventh in Ultravasan 90 2018.

Patrik Wikström, Sweden, no 1008, @patrikwikstrom92
Tenth in Ultravasan 90 2016 and eighth in 2018 as best placement.

Yoann Stuck, France, no 1009, @yoannstuck
Ninth in Ultravasan 90 2018.

Daniel Nilsson, Sweden, no 1010
Tenth in Ultravasan 90 2018.

Oleg Kharitonov, Russia, no 1014

Linus Wirén, Sweden, no 1016, @linuswireen
Second, first, second and third these past years in the 100 km Swedish Championships.

Aleksandr Cheburkin, Russia, no 1017

Gennady Dubrovin, Russia, no 1018

Erik Anfält, Sweden, no 1015, @runanfalt
Came second in Ultravasan 45 2016 and won in 2017, now running the full distance for the first time.

Jonas Buud, Sweden, no 1019, @jonasbuud
Record holder in Ultravasan 90. Not investing as much now as he did then.

Elite women in Ultravasan 90:

Alexandra Morozova, Russia, no 3001
Last year's winner and Ultravasan 90 record holder. World star.

Frida Södermark, Sweden, no 3007, @fridasodermark
Sixth in Ultravasan 90 2014, fourth in 2017 and sixth in 2018. A row of international merits.

Jenny Ramstedt, Sweden, no 3006, @jennyramstedt
Seventh in Ultravasan 90 2017 and sixth in 2018.

Johanna Nilsson, Sweden, no 3005, @johannavindenmotkinden
Johanna came second in Ultravasan 45 2016 and fourth in 2017, and fifth the first time she ran Ultravasan 90 in 2018.

Amelie Karlsson, Sweden, no 3010, @amelie.karlsson
Tenth place in Ultravasan 90 2018.

Cathrine Walle, Norway no 3012, @catwal
15th in Ultravasan 90 2018.

Ultravasan 45
Here are some interesting names in this race:

Elite men:

Roman Ryapolov, Russia, no 4012, @roman.ryapolov
This Mora runner came first, second, first and fourth 2014–2017, but did not start in 2018.

Fredrik Eriksson, Sweden, no 4004, @freddaeriksson
Fifth place 2017 and fourth 2018.

Simon Hodler, Switzerland, no 4011
Orienteerer running for IFK Mora.

Elite women:

Lisa Ring, Sweden, no 5001, @lisaspring93
Lisa ”Spring” has placed first, second and first in the three previous Ultravasan 45. Lisa won the 100 km Swedish Championship this summer. She's also aiming to become the first woman to complete Vasaloppstrippeln 45 in under 10 hours. Lisa has completed Halvvasan 2019 in 3.27.37 and Cykelvasan 45 in 2.06.39.

Sofia Byhlinder, Sweden, no 5003, @sofiabyhlinder
Has the following placements in Ultravasan 45: fifth in 2015, seventh in 2017, third in 2018.

Camilla Berggren (formerly Larsson), no 5004
Fourth in Ultravasan 45 2018.

For media: What runners are participating in Ultravasan 90 and Ultravasan 45?
Start lists: https://media.vasaloppet.se/2019/?lang=EN_CAP
Username: vasa
Password: media

Number bibs for the ten classes this Saturday
Ultravasan 90 – Orange number bib, W = Women, M = Men + course profile.
Number series: Men no 1001–2299. Women no 3001–3299.

Ultravasan 45 – Blue number bib, M = Men, W = Women + course profile.
Number series: Men no 4001–4999. Women no 5001–5499.

Vasastafetten Ahlsell (the race's host)
– Red colour, black numbers D = Women. Number series: 1–99.
– Green colour, black numbers H = Men. Number series: 100–199.
– Blue colour, black numbers M = Leisure class. Number series: 200–599.

Vasakvartetten Ahlsell (the race's host)
– Red colour, white numbers D = Women. Number series: 600–659.
– Green colour, white numbers H = Men. Number series: 660–799.
– Blue colour, white numbers M = Leisure class. Number series: 800–999

TV and radio
Saturday, August 17 from 04:30–20:30 Vasaloppet.TV is broadcasting live from Ultravasan 90, Ultravasan 45, Vasastafetten and Vasakvartetten with commentary, cycling reporters and features as well as separate livestreams from the starts in Sälen and Oxberg, the Hökberg checkpoint and, of course, all the finishes from the finish line in Mora. Broadcasts can also he viewed after the fact.

NOTE! Commentator broadcasting will start at 08:00 when the Ultravasan lead is passing Evertsberg.
http://www.vasaloppet.tv

The Vasaloppet radio is broadcasting live at 04:45–15:00. Listen in the Mora/Siljan area at 94.1 MHz, Oxberg/Älvdalen at 89.1 MHz and Sälen at 107.6 MHz. Also online and via your phone. You can find the Vasaloppet Radio in our free app Vasaloppet Sommar 2019.
http://www.vasaloppsradion.se

Estimated finish
Those who want to see the first runners finish should be in place no later than 10:40 on Saturday morning. The finish line closes at 20:00.

Follow participants via live results, text and app
Live results will, as usual, be available at vasaloppet.se. It is also possible to follow specific participants via text message and in the updated free app "Vasaloppet Sommar". Some participants are equipped with GPS. Read more:
https://www.vasaloppet.se/en/races/running-races/ultravasan90/follow-participants

Previous Ultravasan victors
Last year new records were set in three classes– Jonas Buud's 5.45.08 from Ultravasan 90 2015 was the only record to hold.

Ultravasan 90, men
2014 Jonas Buud, IFK Mora FK (SWE), 6.02.03
2015 Jonas Buud, IFK Mora FK (SWE), 5.45.08 (Record time)
2016 Jarle Risa, Undheim IL (NOR) 6.11.49
2017 Elov Olsson, Ockelbo SK (SWE) 6.07.37
2018 Fritjof Fagerlund, LK Roslagen (SWE) 6.01.56

Ultravasan 90, women
2014 Holly Rush, Team Bath AC (GBR), 7.09.04
2015 Jasmin Nunige, Switzerland (SUI), 7.02.35
2016 Jasmin Nunige, Track Club Davos (SUI) 6.54.32
2017 Ida Nilsson, Högby IF (SWE) 6.51.26
2018 Alexandra Morozova (RUS) 6.43.55 (Record time)

Ultravasan 45, men
2014 Roman Ryapolov, IFK Mora FK (RUS), 2.49.47
2015 Fritjof Fagerlund, Rånäs 4H (SWE), 2.45.30
2016 Roman Ryapolov, IFK Mora OK (RUS) 2.41.47
2017 Erik Anfält, Örebro AIK (SWE) 2.40.28
2018 David Nilsson, Högby IF/MotionMetrix (SWE) 2.39.33 (Record time)

Ultravasan 45, women
2014 Gloria Vinstedt, Sweden (SWE), 3.28.13
2015 Caroline Dubois, France (FRA), 3.13.22
2016 Lisa Ring, IK Nocout.se (SWE), 3.04.18
2017 Joasia Zakrzewski, (GBR) 3.06.12
2018 Lisa Ring, IK nocout.se (SWE) 3.03.00 (Record time)

All top ten placements from Ultravasan 90 and Ultravasan 45 over the years
https://www.vasaloppet.se/en/news/200-top-ten-participants-in-ultravasan-2014-2018

Participant statistics for Ultravasan the first five years
Ultravasan 90
2014: 914 registered, 761 starting, 709 finished
2015: 1240 registered, 893 starting, 821 finished
2016: 988 registered, 805 starting, 745 finished
2017: 1,019 registered, 899 starting, 796 finished
2018: 1,168 registered, 1042 starting, 978 finished

Ultravasan 45
2014: 584 registered, 434 starting, 428 finished
2015: 527 registered, 403 starting, 391 finished
2016: 745 registered, 584 starting, 566 finished
2017: 727 registered, 573 starting, 558 finished
2018: 987 registered, 803 starting, 791 finished

All races
30 people have run Ultravasan all five years 2014–2018 and 10 people have run Ultravasan 45 all five years.

Food checkpoints
Apart from the usual offerings, three Vasaloppet checkpoints (Mångsbodarna, Evertsberg and Hökberg) also have sandwiches, pasta with pasta sauce, pancakes, pickles, bananas and candy.
https://www.vasaloppet.se/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/05/karta_UL90_2019-05-24_webb.pdf

Vasastafetten 29 & Vasakvartetten 3
Vasastafetten has been held since 1991, arranged by Vasaloppet since 2008. Two competition classes, women and men, and a leisure class. Vasakvartetten also has competition classes, women and men, and a leisure class. The race had its official premiere in 2017. Here's how it went in 2018:
https://www.vasaloppet.se/nyheter/snabba-lopare-vasakvartetten-och-vasastafetten-2018

Vasaloppstrippeln
2014 was the first calendar year it was possible to complete "Vasaloppstrippeln"; that is completing Vasaloppet/Öppet Spår (skis), Cykelvasan 90/Cykelvasan Öppet Spår (bike) and Ultravasan 90 (running).

In 2019 many people have been completing the 90-kilometre skiing and cycling as well as those who have completed both Halvvasan and Cykelvasan 45. For this Saturday's running 298 and 164 of these people are registered, respectively.

Kranskulla and Kransmas in Cykelvasan 2019
This year's Kranskulla and Kransmas are Emma Höglund and Victor Sticko (both from Mora).

After the races, by the Vasaloppet finish
At 14:30, awards ceremony for Ultravasan 45 (3 first women and men) and Vasakvartetten (first women and men), by the Vasaloppet finish, Mora.
At 16.00, awards ceremony for Ultravasan 90 (6 first women/men), and Vasastafetten (first woman/man), the Vasaloppet finish, Mora.

Events
There is a lot happening in Sälen and Mora during Vasaloppet's Summer Week 2019. Take part in the whole programme:
https://www.vasaloppet.se/en/programme/trade-fair-and-meeting-place

Background – The story of Ultravasan
A happy coincidence led to Ultravasan seeing the light of day. Namely the fact that Mora was home to one of the world's foremost sports organizers, Vasaloppet, as well as one of the world's then most foremost ultrarunners, Jonas Buud! He brought experiences from ultrarunning races all over the world and was eager to give other ultrarunners the opportunity to run a race in the classic terrain between Sälen and Mora. "If you can ski and bike between Sälen and Mora, surely you can run it too," enthusiasts said.

It was not hard to find interested test runners, for there were many who wanted to run an ultramarathon on classic ground. In connection with Vasastafetten 2010 there were therefore about twenty experienced ultrarunners, invited from all around the Nordic region, running a test race to see how it would all work. Yes, a few had actually even run the whole stretch before that. The race was named "SM90", where SM stood for Sälen-Mora and 90 for the amount of kilometres – but unofficially "Ultravasan" was already a potential name associated with this test race.

After a few years of thinking and planning it was time, in 2014, for Vasaloppet to challenge the runners of the world! That was the starting shot for the first real Ultravasan between Sälen and Mora. The trend with individual extreme races is very strong in many parts of the world and the goal with Ultravasan was to become the largest ultra trail race in Scandinavia and attract a strong international elite.

Registration for Vasaloppet's Summer Week 2020
Opens on Sunday, September 15, 2019 at 09:00 at vasaloppet.se

Events in the Vasaloppet Arena

Vasaloppet's Summer Week 2019
Fri 9 Aug: Cykelvasan Öppet Spår. 94 km. Start Sälen
Fri 9 Aug: Cykelvasasprinten. 1 km. Lindvallen, Sälen (Open qualifier on Thursday)
Sat 10 Aug: Cykelvasan 90. 94 km. Start Sälen (FULL 190627)
Sun 11 Aug: Cykelvasan 30. 32 km. Start Oxberg
Sun 11 Aug: Ungdomscykelvasan. 32 km. Start Oxberg
Sun 11 Aug: Cykelvasan 45. 45 km. Start Oxberg
Sat 17 Aug: Ultravasan 45. 45 km. Start Oxberg
Sat 17 Aug: Ultravasan 90. 90 km. Start Sälen
Sat 17 Aug: Vasastafetten. 4.5–15 km. Running relay for ten-person teams. Start Sälen
Sat 17 Aug: Vasakvartetten. 19.1–24.2 km. Running relay for four-person teams. Start Sälen

Vasaloppet Winter Week 2020
Fri 21 Feb: Kortvasan. 30 km. Start Oxberg.
Sat 22 Feb: Tjejvasan. 30 km. Start Oxberg.
Sun 23 Feb: Ungdomsvasan. 9/19 km Start Eldris/Hökberg.
Sun 23 Feb: Öppet Spår Sunday. 90 km. Start Sälen.
Mon 24 Feb: Öppet Spår Monday. 90 km. Start Sälen.
Tue 25 Feb: Halvvasan. 45 km. Start Oxberg.
Fri 28 Feb: Stafettvasan. 9–24 km. Five-person teams. Start Sälen.
Fri 28 Feb: Nattvasan 90. 90 km. Two-person teams. Start Sälen.
Fri 28 Feb: Nattvasan 45. 90 km. Two-person teams. Start Oxberg.
Sat 29 Feb: Blåbärsloppet. 9 km. Start Eldris.
Sun 1 Mar: Vasaloppet. 90 km. Start Sälen.

High-resolution photos from Vasaloppet:
http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/pressroom/vasaloppet/image/list

Text and photos may be freely published.

For more information

Camilla Sandy, Press Manager
+46 (0)70-384 95 00
camilla.sandy@vasaloppet.se

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