Bodom Trail Race 21km in 2022: Photos and thoughts

I already posted these photos on social media, but I am reposting on my webpage with a few thoughts for future review. As I mentioned in social media, I am very grateful to the photographers at this event; they have thousands of subjects and little time. Even more impressive is that many photos are posted quite soon after the race.

I only need one or two paragraphs for my thoughts in this post about the Bodom Trail. I appreciate that this race allows runners to choose between one loop (12 km) or two loops (9km) before or even during the race (in the first loop). By the way, the second loop is not the same as the first. In fact, the second loop is wetter, steeper, and more challenging (at least for me). This year I should have probably stopped after the first loop and walked away with a fast (ish) time, but no, I almost always go for the longest available distance at any event. The problem this year, however, is that I was still experiencing considerable discomfort from a months-old hamstring injury that become more of a problem after about 75 minutes. The course for this event is fairly technical though much of it can be run at high speeds.

I really like this event because it is well organized, the atmosphere is positive, and a race for kids WITH MEDALS is available (which I did with my 8 year old this year, after my race). I do wish the second loop had a bit more dry ground… but hey, wetland areas really put the ‘suo’ in Suomi. I might consider doing only doing one loop in the future unless I am totally ready for the full challenge.

Bonus paragraph (particularly relevant for people coming from outside Finland): My first time in this event (2017), I was really pumped up and ready to go. I took off from the start line nearly as fast as possible and ran well for a few easy kilometers. But then the course’s technical sections, tight turns, and mud quickly humbled me to the point of near exhaustion. So if you have been running on fairly smooth and easy trails, you should probably do some recon on this course before blasting off like me. 🙂