The Runners

Three happy guys out running at Skeppsbron in Stockholm. It sure was a nice day for it.

Musköloppet

The annual Muskö run took place yesterday. Muskö is an island in the Haninge archipelago, and you get there by car driving through the 3 km long tunnel. Around 300 people call this home. The island was crowded with many runners of all ages, and there was also a (crap), market at the old ice-hockey rink. We had "plastmuggskaffe" and cake and my buddy Hasse bought some locally made marmalade.

Haninge Trail

The Haninge Trail took place at the picturesque Rudan Nature Reserve in Handen yesterday. Three hundred and fifty people of all ages took part in the event. There was one 5k run, one 10k run and then last but not least the 17k run for the more dedicated runners. The weather was absolutely fantastic, I have added two such views in the slideshow. On this day everyone was a winner and they all got medals. On the top photo you can see Hanna "Happy" Gunolf. The second photo shows the winner of the 17k run Niclas Sjögren. The smiling people in the third photo are Ulf Elf and Sofie Grundberg. The tough girl in the fourth photo is Ana Fernando. Oh, and if you can't see the slideshow press here.

A Personal Victory

When I arrived to the finishing area at Lake Rudan for the Sörmland Ultra Marathon race yesterday afternoon, the top seven athletes had already crossed the finishing line. This is one of them Victor Kabo. He was stretching after the tough 50K race and had time for a chat. He was very happy with the result and was waiting for his girlfriend to arrive with a change of clothes. Victor lives in Stockholm. He is originally from Växjö in Småland. He runs his own business producing and selling bike equipment. Victor has previously competed in a few orienteering events and also another Ultra race.

Run for your life

Many health related activities in Haninge this week during Health Week. On Saturday there was a lot of goings on down at the lakes where you could try different sports. I was elsewhere, but I did catch the runners that took part in the 10k run arranged by Korpen. The run, called KomIform-loppet, or the Get into shape run passed the Eskils park and my favorite cafe so I used these two places to get a few shots. The runner in this photo is Hanna Sandelowsky. She is a doctor, and super fit. She won the women's run. Her winning time was 43.10. More runners in the slideshow where you can also see Viktor Larsson and Björn Lidman from Team Copy Office. They won the men's 10 k race on the same time, 41.10.

Ultramarathon Runners

For the tenth year running (pun intended), the Sörmland Ultra Marathon took place over the weekend. It's a fifty kilometre run (31.07 miles), from Björkhagen in Stockholm to Lake Rudan in Haninge. The race started at 10 am on Saturday. It's a very tough course with many hills, and you run through the Tyresta National Park equpped with a map. Luckily for the athletes the weather was good. Sunny and around 11 Celsius and there were many stations along the trail where you could get water. I was at the finishing line taking photos and talking to people. This smiling woman is Gloria Vinstedt. She won the women's event with a finishing time of 3.50.54 beating the second placed runner Kajsa Friström with half an hour! After the price ceremony I walked over to Gloria for a chat and a portrait. She told me that it was the first time she had competed in this race. She's raised in Tyresö, the neighbouring municipality to Haninge. Gloria started running ultramarathon races earlier this year. Before that she was a marathon runner for three years. Her best marathon time is 2.56 from the Paris Marathon. Gloria also told me that she is a student at the University of Gävle. Studying to become a health educator. The men's event was won by Brian Buchtrup Nielsen. More photos from this event in the slideshow.