Simpanen Is Once Again Chasing the Course Record – Ylläs Pallas Offers a Full Spectrum of Trail Running Drama
This coming weekend, the fells of Lapland will once again be filled with trail runners as the NUTS Ylläs Pallas event brings together both icons of ultra-endurance and rising stars. There’s plenty of excitement in store across many courses—and this time, the weather gods seem to be smiling on the runners compared to last year’s heatwave.
Juuso Simpanen has a long and colorful history at Ylläs Pallas. He’s about to make his seventh start, and along the way he’s racked up victories, silver medals, and some unforgettable mishaps. In 2016, that history took a particularly unusual turn.
– The day before the race, I managed to lock myself out of the cabin. While waiting for help, I decided to snack on a few raw cranberries I’d picked earlier. That wasn’t a very good idea, and I spent the next night throwing up,” Simpanen recalls of the now-legendary episode from 10 years ago.
My stomach had calmed down a bit before the start, but my coordination remained poor.
– Shortly after the race started, I realized my stomach wasn’t cooperating, and I had to drop out after 60 kilometers.
Since then, the path has led upward—both literally and figuratively. In 2017, he took silver in the 134-kilometer race after a strong performance, even though Spain’s Hamal clinched the victory with a dominant run. In 2019, Simpanen was the fastest over 37 kilometers, having managed to open up a small gap from the main leading pack on the climb to Ylläs and in Pirunkuru.
In 2021, he claimed his first victory on the longest course—running solo from start to finish, even though he hit a major slump in the fog of the night at around the 125-kilometer mark. Two years later, Simpanen dominated the 66-kilometer stretch from Hetta to Pallas and set a course record of 5:21:46 that still stands today.
Last year, I won the 160-kilometer race again, but it took its toll.
“The intense heat wave took its toll on my running form. I was battling dehydration for the last 130 kilometers,” Simpanen sums up.
Now all eyes are once again on the course record. We’ve already got the all-time best time on the Karhunkierros harbor leg under our belt, and now it’s time to bring that dominance back to Lapland.
“I’m going to take the first quarter a bit more cautiously than in previous races. My goal is to reach Peurakaltio a little after midnight and then push as hard as possible for the final 50 kilometers,” Simpanen explains his strategy.
The course record set by Marian Priadka of Slovakia (16:28.07) is an extremely tough goal, and it requires everything to fall into place. The record requires an average pace of about 10 kilometers per hour.
Last year, the heat took its toll on many, but now the forecast promises more bearable running conditions.
“I’m simply trying to drink more. Dehydration has been a problem for me in many races held in warm weather,” Simpanen admits.
The most challenging part of the route is a familiar nemesis for him.
– For me, Ketomella–Pallas has always been the place where I’ve struggled due to not drinking enough. The last 50 kilometers have a lot of fast sections, so if you still have the legs and the head for it, you can open up a pretty big gap on the others.
Training has gone well since the Karhunkierros, despite a minor cold.
– I had the flu the week after KK, which slowed down my recovery. I recovered just before the Peura Trail and was able to run a solid 100-kilometer race there on technical trails. Since then, I’ve had a month of quality training under my belt, and I’m in good shape right now.
Huopaniemi tries to replicate KK’s move
In the women’s 160-kilometer race, the favorite is clear, even if the competition isn’t. Ulla Huopaniemi arrives in Lapland not only as the recent, dominant winner of the 166-kilometer Karhunkierros but also as a new grandmother.
– Things have indeed turned out so happily: my eldest daughter had her first child at the end of June, and I became a “grandma.” The child will be strongly influenced by her parents’ love of music, and I hope I can instill a passion for physical activity. Above all, though, I want to be a close and loving grandma. We’ll see if I end up getting a jogging stroller to go running with my grandchild, Huopaniemi chuckles.
Huopaniemi has run the Ylläs Pallas 100-kilometer race once before, and he has fond memories of it.
– My goal right now is to reach the finish line, enjoy the journey, and hopefully also enjoy good company and amazing scenery. I’ve heard that the most spectacular stretch is Hetta–Pallas, which I haven’t yet seen or experienced myself. So my goal is quite simply to finish the race and continue my quest for the Vaarat Marathon. “In addition to the run itself, an element that’s at least as important to me at these events is the race atmosphere, the wonderful running buddies, preparing together, and the post-race celebrations,” Huopaniemi says.
Huopaniemi’s main challengers include at least Annika Varpe, who finished third in the Karhunkierros harbor race, and Maija Pitkänen, who placed fourth in the same race. It will also be interesting to see how Huopaniemi’s teammate Mai Helske performs, as she finished third in the grueling NUTS 300 race a couple of years ago.
Tuomas Kari has no plans to change his glossy photos
The 37-kilometer race, which is also the fourth stage of the Trail Tour Finland, will feature some interesting names at the starting line.
Tuomas Kari arrives in Ylläs as the pre-race favorite. The Salomon Finland runner, who finished third in this race in 2022 with a strong final push, stopped by the Scottish Highlands last week to prepare for the CCC during UTMB week—and at the same time put the finishing touches on his training for Ylläs.
– My visit to Ylämaa was short and to the point. Exactly three days, during which I ran about 12 hours, covering 111 kilometers and 5,000 meters of elevation gain and loss. There were varied trails and, at times, off-trail sections in the fells and forests. The landscapes of Finnish Lapland and Kilpisjärvi came to mind many times, Kari says.
However, the start of the season hasn’t gone exactly as planned. The European Championships fell short of expectations.
– The European Championships didn’t go well, as my body was still somewhat run-down at the time of the competition, recovering from an illness I’d contracted at Transvulcania. “It’s a challenging situation when major competitions are approaching and you’re supposed to be training, but you don’t feel completely healthy. I rarely get sick, but this was a bad illness that came at a bad time,” Kari analyzed.
However, my recovery has been going well since the European Championships.
– Since the European Championships, I’ve been feeling back to normal and have been focusing on training. A week ago in England, I ran a short, fast race, but even that was mainly a good training session.
NUTS Ylläs Pallas is an important stop for Kari on his way to the CCC, but it’s also a destination in its own right.
– It’s really nice to be back in Ylläs for a race—the course has even been updated a bit since last time. There are also a lot of familiar faces competing in the different distances, and I’m looking forward to seeing them. The plan is to build a substantial training block around the race with the CCC in mind—after all, this is one of the best places in Finland to train – but of course I value the event and the race enough that even if I’m not standing at the starting line with completely fresh legs, I’m not going there just to take some glossy photos.
– I haven’t taken a close look at the starting list, but I’m sure there will be some tough competitors on the starting line again, and a good race is always a good race, no matter who wins,” says Kari, who, while in the British Isles, won a small local classic race of about 20 km with a blistering average pace of 3:36 per kilometer.
Leinonen’s Impressive Return to the Trails
Juho Leinonen arrives in Ylläs as the winner of the NUTS Syöte 25-kilometer race. The road to this point, however, has been rocky—literally.
“I’ve basically missed the last two seasons due to injuries, except for the races in Syöte,” Leinonen says.
During a fall at last year’s Syöte race, Leinosen suffered a minor fracture in his knee. After recovering from that, he suffered a stress fracture in the neck of his femur, which ultimately required four months of recovery.
– It also required me to take sick leave from my job as a physical education teacher, which was admittedly a difficult situation, Leinonen admits.
Back around Easter, Leinos was diagnosed with a pre-stress fracture in the hip area. It wasn’t until the end of May and beginning of June that he was able to start running harder.
“I went into the season with pretty low expectations, even though I knew I’d trained a lot using alternative methods. In any case, the run in Syöte was a really positive surprise,” said Leinonen, an avid aviator, commenting on his spirited performance.
After the race in Syöte, Leinonen also set the fastest pace in the Kainuu Trail Half Marathon, and now his plans extend all the way to early October.
– The plan is to run four races organized by TTF. There hasn’t been any specific training focused on Ylläs; rather, the goal is to gradually improve my performance throughout the season.
Leinonen’s approach is pragmatic.
– This is a new experience for me, since I’ve never run that kind of distance at a fast pace on trails before, so I’m treating this especially as a major training session and a step toward something new.
Nordman shifts the pressure onto others
In addition to Karin and Leinosen, Eetu Nordman is definitely worth mentioning on the starting list; he finished nearly eight minutes behind Leinosen at NUTS Syöte. At the 37-km mark in Ylläs, Nordman will surely look back fondly on the year 2023, when only Juho Ylinen and Luca Kovacic managed to finish ahead of him.
– There are definitely two really tough guys on the starting line right now. Everyone knows Mädi (Kari), and at his best, he’s among Finland’s absolute elite in certain distances, even though I’ve heard the European Championships left him a little disappointed.
– Leinonen clocked 26 km at an average speed of just under 4 at NUTS Syöte and probably didn’t even have to give it his all—that’s a challenge for anyone. Honestly, we have to admit that without VAR stepping in regarding mandatory equipment, these guys don’t stand much of a chance. I think I’ll run in the 2:40–2:50 range, but this time that just won’t be enough,” Nordman says, referring to the ongoing World Cup and its video reviews.
Leinonen is excited about the arrangement.
– Both of Salomon’s guys—Eetu and Tuomas—are on the starting line. It’s great to get to run with them, since they’re icons of the Finnish trail running scene and are really experienced runners.
Heikkinen Goes Straight from the Army to the Gray Mountains
In the women’s equivalent race, for example, there are no national team runners. One of the interesting names is Matroona Heikkinen, who is returning to the race course after a one-year hiatus following her completion of military service in the Kainuu Brigade’s intelligence officer training course.
– It was an amazing experience, and I haven’t regretted leaving for a single moment. In addition to my branch-specific training, I learned how to cope in challenging conditions. “One of the biggest lessons was learning how long I can actually keep going, even when my mind tells me I can’t anymore—and that has definitely helped me develop the mental toughness needed for longer endurance sports as well,” Heikkinen reflects.
However, combining the military and sports proved to be a challenge.
– There are a lot of field exercises, which make it impossible to do a proper workout. Of course, the physical demands are part of the training, which has certainly helped develop my strength and basic endurance. My regular training was also hampered by constant illness.
Heikkinen, who has racked up numerous podium finishes in trail ultraruns, admits that his confidence in his own fitness was low this spring. After returning home, things changed.
“I did, however, have a few training sessions that were a pleasant surprise, which boosted my confidence that I might even be able to run a race this summer.” Then, on the very last day, I decided on the spur of the moment to sign up for the race in Ylläs,” Heikkinen says.
“I don’t really have any specific goals for the race; I’m just going to see what kind of shape I’m in right now and how far that will take me,” Heikkinen says modestly.
Among others, Heikkinen will face the TTF’s current top players, Kirsti Savola and Emmi Salmela.
66 kilometers – Women’s All-Star Game
If any race stands out in this weekend’s women’s schedule, it’s the 66-kilometer race. This race is likely to be the most competitive women’s event of the weekend.
Kaisa Pirkonen is the defending champion in this race. Pirkonen, who has been dealing with ankle problems for about two years, also took first place in the 55-kilometer NUTS Karhunkierros race this spring.
– Feeling good as we head into Friday. Compared to last year, we’re moving a lot more nimbly this year. Training has gone well since the Karhunkierros, so our fitness should be on the rise, Pirkonen said.
The list of challengers is long. Suvi Patrikainen finished second in the Karhunkierros, about 16 minutes behind Pirko. Satu Väänänen came in third on the trails of Kuusamo, and Elina Hartikainen came in fourth.
Katri Virtanen brings with her experience from this year’s grueling 83-kilometer Karhunkierros, where she finished third. Her list of achievements also includes a first-place finish in last year’s 57-kilometer Kaldoaivi Trail and a silver medal in the 100-kilometer Ylläs Pallas race two years ago.
And let’s not forget Ella Keski-Panula, who last July took second place behind Pirkonen in the 66-kilometer race at Ylläs Pallas. At that time, Pirkonen had a 33-minute lead.
This is a journey with long intervals between service stops, and in warm weather, many people run out of fluids, especially toward the end of the trip. Tactical wisdom will be just as important as physical fitness.
Varis is testing his limits
In the men’s 66-kilometer race, Kari Varis represents an interesting trajectory. The reigning TTF champion and last year’s winner of the 37-kilometer race in Ylläs has decided to step outside his comfort zone and test his endurance over a distance nearly twice as long.
– The route is very familiar during the snowy season, since most of the way is apparently along the same trail as the Lapponia ski race at Karra Huikonen. “The scenery will be beautiful if the weather is clear, and it’s great to be able to experience that stretch in the summer as well,” Varis muses.
At the European Championships in early June, Varis finished 18th in the 52-kilometer (2,591 m+) race, making him the second-best Finnish finisher behind Ylinen.
“The European Championships went well, and it was a successful race. I was still in good enough shape to run the Jukola relay the following weekend, and my legs felt especially light,” he says.
However, after achieving the main goals, the momentum has slowed down a bit.
– Since I reached my main goals, I haven’t been training, eating, or sleeping as well as I used to, so I’m not exactly in top shape right now.
He, too, is thinking about staying hydrated, especially since the trip has gotten significantly longer.
– I’m used to drinking fairly little during races, and now I’m supposed to drink more than usual. I haven’t received any specific instructions for this route, but apparently staying hydrated will be a challenge since there are few aid stations. I’ll have to rely on mountain streams if I start to feel like I’m overheating.
Variksen already has a clear goal for early fall.
“The Nuuksio Classic will be the main race of the fall, and I’m going to try to be in top shape for it. And if Juho Ylinen were to win, then I’d have achieved everything there is to achieve in trail running,” he smiles.
In the 66-kilometer race at Ylläs Pallas, Variksen will face competition from at least Benjamin Holmgren, who celebrated wildly after winning the 55-kilometer race in the darkening night in Kuusamo this spring.
In addition to the races mentioned, the event will also feature competitive 15- and 100-kilometer races. Children and teenagers will get a head start on Thursday with their own races (2.5 and 6 km). In total, more than 3,200 participants have registered for the event.
Text by Marko Krapu