Vaarojen Maraton, live.

Across the Herajoki on a cable

Trail, stones and rock in October — and, partway round, a river you cross on foot.

Vaarojen Maraton was run on 2–3 October 2026 in Koli National Park in eastern Finland. The longest race, Vaarojen Ultra 130 km, started on Friday at 18:00 and is run as two 65 km laps around Lake Herajärvi, with the race centre at the Ukko nature centre doubling as the halfway point. On Saturday came the Extreme 65 km at 07:00, the Maraton 43 km at 09:00, the Puolikas 21 km at 10:00 and the Pyrähdys 7 km at 11:00, the last three with rolling starts inside a half-hour window.

The Herajärvi circuit wades the Herajoki river about 19 km from the race centre: roughly 15 metres wide, crossed along a guide cable, often more than 30 cm deep in early October according to the organiser, over a rocky bed. The 43 km instead crosses a strait about 50 metres wide by rowing boat or pull ferry, and time spent queuing is not credited back. The organiser hands out water only, and no outside support is allowed — runners carry their own drink, food and salt.

Long stretches without aid are exactly the hours when the people at home want to know where things stand. The runner shares a link to their own Livebib broadcast, and family and friends open it in a browser, with no account and no app: position on the course line, distance covered and a finish estimate that updates as the race goes. When the phone loses signal in the forest or behind a hill, the position is carried forward along the course and marked as estimated, never as measured. The runner decides who gets the link.