Pirkan Hölkkä 33 km

Pirkan Hölkkä 33 km

The route runs one way from Valkeakoski to Tampere. The first 3 km are streets, the next 3 km a running track through an outdoor area to Leppäjärventie, then varied forest path and a little gravel road to Rutajärvi at km 11. From Rutajärvi a 3.5 km forest road leads to Vähä-Kausjärvi, forest road and path to the Savontie crossing and Taivalpirtti, gravel and forest path to Suolijärvi, and finally 3 km of gravel trail between Hervanta and Koivistonkylä, with a few climbs, before the finish at Kurssikeskuksenkatu 11.

The organiser counts up to six aid stations, all with first aid, and sweepers follow the field. Marking is blue: tapes, signs, kilometre boards and spray paint. Timing is gross, from the gun to the line, the finish closes at 17:00, and the event also has a walking class without timing. Morning buses run from Tampere to the start, a lorry carries spare clothes to the finish, and ten or twenty completions give the right to buy a plaque, thirty a bib of your own.

A 33 km line through forest is exactly where people waiting in Nirva lose track. With the runner’s own Livebib link, opened in a browser without an account or app, they follow the position on the course line, the distance covered and a finish estimate that updates as the race goes, marked as an estimate. Where the phone loses signal between the lakes, the position is carried forward along the route and marked estimated instead of freezing.