Vaarojen Ultra 130 km

Vaarojen Ultra 130 km

This page covers the 2026 Vaarojen Ultra. The course is 130 km: two 65 km laps around Lake Herajärvi, passing back through the race centre at the Ukko nature centre at halfway. Each lap has three organiser water points — the Herajoki ford at about 19 km, Kiviniemi at about 39 km and Peiponpelto at about 54 km from the race centre — and at Ukko each runner’s own drop box of about 55 litres waits, along with soup, bread and coffee.

The organiser says plainly that this is not a fast course: the climbs, the dark of night and technical trail slow everyone down, and runnable pine-needle path is only a small share of it. The Herajoki is waded on a cable twice, once on each lap. Runners must leave halfway by 07:30 on Saturday and Kiviniemi on the second lap by 17:00; the finish closes at midnight. The field is capped at 100, and entry requires a previous mountain-trail ultra over 80 km. Mandatory kit includes a headlamp, a reflector, a waterproof jacket and a charged phone. The race is the finale of the Ultra Trail Tour Finland, first run in 2016 after a storm cancelled the planned 2015 edition.

For family this is an overnight watch. The Livebib link shows the runner’s position on the course line, distance covered and a finish estimate that sharpens lap by lap; where the forest swallows the signal, the position is carried forward along the course and marked as estimated.