Finlandia Ski Marathon has for a long time offered something to
all skiers whether in classic or free, longer or shorter distances. This
year it offers equal fun for younger skiers as well at the inaugural
Children’s Finlandia on February 19th. It will be a fun ski sport day
for regional schools, distances varying from one to five kilometres.
Everyone will be awarded with a medal.
”After this experience we’ll
make a proposal to Finnish Ski Association having this kind of event
everywhere in Finland. We all want children to ski and enjoy it”, says
marketing manager Matti Haapoja.
Finlandia Ski Marathon is to be held
in February 22-23. Winter in south of Finland has been mild with only
little snow. However, since last week there has been a 1,5 km course in
Lahti Ski Stadium and artificial snow has been produced, thanks to
freezing temperatures.
“We are confident there will be more snowfall soon, and we’ll be able to continue our grooming on the entire course.”
Last
winter Finlandia Ski Marathon attracted more than 7000 participants.
Aims are at breaking those numbers, and so far it is looking good. At
this point, more than 4500 skiers from 28 nations have entered.
Finlandia remains international, among the participants there is 3577
Finns, 413 Russians, 71 Estonians, 57 Czechs, 38 Spanish and 33 Swedish.
Finlandia has gotten some excellent business partners like Stadium who has organized together with Finlandia Ski Marathon 12 promotional events at their sports stores in Helsinki, Tampere and Lahti. The themes have been 100 and 30 days to go.
Several Finnish well known names have again decided to challenge themselves in Finlandia. Legendary Juha Mieto is still active on ski trails, participating in 32 km classic for 16th time. Another legend, Olympic gold medallist in skijumping, Toni Nieminen will be skiing Finlandia. The face and voice of Finlandia Ski Marathon has this year been former runner Wilson Kirwa, known for his positive personality. Kirwa, originally from Kenya, is a popular story-teller who has written many books. He has started cross-country skiing from the very basics, thus 20 km being suitable distance for him.
Contributed by: Finlandia Hjito