John Bauer Trail Run, live.

The mountain troll is crowned on a ski slope

A hilly trail race on Huskvarnaberget whose final kilometre climbs a ski slope, and whose fastest climber of that slope gets a title of their own.

John Bauer Trail Run is held on Saturday 3 October 2026, starting and finishing at IKHP-stugan, Norra Klevaliden 13 in Huskvarna, on the old ski stadium at the top of Huskvarnaberget. It is organised by the club IKHP. The three adult distances — 18 km, 10 km and a 5 km run without timing — all start together at 11:30, with the children’s and youth races earlier in the morning. The organiser calls it a tough, properly hilly trail race, partly on paths and partly off them.

The course begins on the lit ski track, runs diagonally down Huskvarnaberget above the houses to the lift hut at Strutsabacken, and turns uphill through a tunnel under the lift. It follows part of Bauerleden, the 50 km trail from IKHP-stugan via Bunn to Gränna, reaches its high point with a view over southern Vättern after about three kilometres, and drops steeply into Ulvadalen. Later come gravel road, pasture, a stretch of boggy ground that soaks your shoes and an aid station at Hulustorp. Last is Strutsabacken: about 500 metres straight up the lift slope. That climb is timed on its own, and the fastest man and woman on the 10 and 18 km become this year’s Bergatroll.

A race in forest and valleys is hard to follow from the finish area, because runners vanish onto the paths for an hour or more. With Livebib the runner shares a link to their own broadcast, and family open it in a browser, with no account and no app. They see the position on the course line, the distance covered and a finish estimate that updates as the race goes, so anyone who wants to watch Strutsabacken knows when to walk over. If the phone loses signal down in Ulvadalen, the position is carried forward along the course and marked as estimated instead of freezing. The runner decides who gets the link.