Pirkan Hölkkä, live.

From Valkeakoski to Tampere, the same way since 1970

A one-way autumn run through the forests between two towns, held on the first Sunday of October since 1970 on a route that has stayed largely the same.

The 56th Pirkan Hölkkä was run on Sunday 4 October 2026. The organiser calls it a long-distance mass running event: 33 km on foot, running or walking, from Saharan kenttä in Valkeakoski to TAKK’s Nirva campus in Tampere. It is organised by Tampereen Taivaltajat and Valkeakosken Retkeilijät, its history goes back to 1970, and in recent years it has drawn between 1,000 and 1,500 participants. Alongside it runs Pirkan Kieppi, 14 km starting from the finish area in Nirva.

Only about five kilometres of the 33 are asphalt. After three kilometres of streets in Valkeakoski the route takes a running track through an outdoor area, forest path and forest road past Rutajärvi at kilometre 11 and Vähä-Kausjärvi, gravel road to Taivalpirtti, a trail round Suolijärvi, and a last three kilometres between Hervanta and Koivistonkylä with, in the organiser’s words, a few climbs that test Finnish sisu. There are up to six aid stations, each with first aid, and the finish closes at 17:00.

A point-to-point course means the family cannot simply wait at a lap; they have to be in Tampere at the right time. A runner can share a link to their own Livebib broadcast, which opens in a browser with no account and no app, showing the position on the course line, the distance covered and a finish estimate that updates as the race goes, marked as an estimate. In the forest stretches where the phone loses signal, the position is carried forward along the route instead of freezing.