NUTS Syöte brought warmth, course records and a new participation record
This is a machine translation generated by ChatGPT. Original text by Marko Krapu in Finnish.
NUTS Syöte brought warmth, course records and a new participation record
The second NUTS event of the season, Syöte, took place in sunny conditions – and brought along a new, impressive participation record.
A total of 694 runners hit the trails over the weekend – over 40 percent more than last year. Syöte is designed to be a low-threshold event, and the trails welcomed a delightful number of first-timers.
“We naturally want to continue developing the event. For example, the new start and finish area worked well. For next year, we’ll discuss with Metsähallitus whether it would be possible to avoid the out-and-back section on the climb to Iso-Syöte. We received some feedback about that,” says event producer Teemu Takkula.
Leinonen cruises to victory despite a fall
Juho Leinonen delivered the most impressive athletic performance at NUTS Syöte, beating the favorites in the 25 km Trail Tour Finland race.
Leinonen started fast despite temperatures nearing 20°C. He ran the first 10 km at a 3:55/km pace – only Ole Antti Halonen could keep up early on.
“Bit of an all-in start. My last race was about a year ago, when I got injured. But the run flowed nicely and the pace felt good,” Leinonen said with a smile.
Leinonen, who also enjoys aviation, stayed airborne figuratively – his lead kept growing. After the Iso-Syöte summit, Halonen was two minutes back. But then things almost turned upside down.
“I had a great rhythm going and was running 3:02/km down a rocky section, but then I slipped in a muddy patch, fell, and hit my kneecap on a slab of rock. It hurt like hell and I limped a bit, but it loosened up eventually. We’ll see if it left any damage.”
Fortunately, the knee held up to the finish – where he set a new course record: 1:44:35. Halonen followed about three minutes later. A spectacular return for Leinonen after a year-long break from Trail Tour Finland.
Eetu Nordman (1:50:25) took third – this was his first race of the season due to spring illness.
“The weather was way too summery for me. At 6 km I already felt like jumping into a lake. I honestly can’t remember feeling this exhausted,” Nordman panted at the finish, face red from effort.
Heikkilä shows speed on trails too
In the women’s 25 km, attention was on 17-year-old Juulia Ojala and experienced former track runner Laura Heikkilä.
Heikkilä, a multiple-time 10,000m finalist at Finnish nationals, admitted to feeling nervous – this was only her second trail race. But Syöte’s runnable trails suited her perfectly.
She led from start to finish, winning in 2:13:17.
“Great course, very runnable. I may have started a bit fast. Glad I checked out the climb to Iso-Syöte the day before – otherwise it would’ve been quite a shock,” Heikkilä laughed.
Ojala paced herself well and improved on last year’s bronze, finishing second in 2:16:02.
Greta Sariola placed third (2:17:10).
The Trail Tour Finland overall standings didn’t change much at the top. Mai Helske remains the only woman to have run all stages and moved into second. Kristiane Width stays in the lead.
The men’s top five also remained unchanged, with Markku Elo still on top. The next Trail Tour race is the NUTS Ylläs Pallas 37 km.
Mäki couple take 40 km victories
Maarja and Risto Mägi were favorites for the 40 km – and they both delivered, though Maarja had to fight for it.
She ran most of the race with Matroona Heikkinen, and the decisive moment came on the long climb to Iso-Syöte.
“Uphills are my strength, and I managed to build enough gap there. The heat made things tough – I only drank about 1.2 liters, which wasn’t nearly enough,” Maarja Mägi said.
Her time was 3:38:11 – just four seconds short of Maija Oravamäki’s course record.
Heikkinen finished just under two minutes behind. Sofia Muinonen took third (3:46:41).
Risto Mägi chased the sub-3-hour dream, but the heat held him back. He finished in 3:07:52 – just a couple minutes off his 2024 winning time.
“I had to drink a lot from the start. At the top of Syöte, every muscle in my legs nearly cramped. The end was super tough. Still, I’m satisfied,” said Risto, who will next race the Eiger Ultra Trail 101 km with Maarja.
Second and third place went to Sakari Vanhanen (3:20:56) and Sasu Halme (3:30:26).
On Friday evening, Syöte hosted the kids’ fun run and a 10 km race for adults.
Fastest adults were Austria’s Sigrid Eder (57:06) and Ole Antti Halonen (41:45), both setting new course records.
Among under-16s, Elis Häggblom (1:14:31) and Eedith Törmänen (57:29) took top honors. Törmänen also placed second overall – even against adults – and broke the youth course record.
Text:
Marko Krapu