Birkebeinerrennet (lit. The Birkebeiner race) is a long-distance cross-country ski marathon held annually in Norway. It debuted in 1932 and has been a part of Worldloppet since Worldloppet's inception in 1979.
The Birkebeinerrennet is one of three races held under the Birkebeiner moniker, the other two being Birkebeinerrittet (bicycling) and (cross-country running).
The race was inspired by a notable journey made by the Birkebeiner loyalists Torstein Skevla and Skjervald Skrukka to save the infant heir to the Norwegian throne, Håkon Håkonsson, in the winter of 1206.
Researchers at the Manchester Metropolitan University found that the metabolic cost for modern ski models is about 2.5 J/kg*m as compared to about 5 J/kg*m for ski models dated 542 AD. They also estimated maximum cross country speed for the 542 AD ski to 5 m/s, compared to about 12 m/s for modern cross country skis; for long distance skiing (several hours) results were 3 and 7 m/s respectively. This corresponds to about 5 hours for the original 1206 AD Birkebeiner flight.Formenti, Federico et al. (2005): Human locomotion on snow: Determinants of economy and speed of skiing across the ages , Proceedings of the Royal Society B, vol. 272 no. 1572, 1561–1569 .
Race The race starts at Rena and ends at Lillehammer, a distance of . The number of participants has been steadily increasing each year, and for the 2011 race, the limit was set at 16,000.
The following aid stations are present: Skramstadsetra, 9 km Dambua, 15 km Kvarstad, 28 km Midtfjellet, 35 km Sjusjøen, 40 km
History Origin
The Birkebeinerrennet has been held since 1932, and commemorates a trip made by the Birkebeiner loyalists Torstein Skevla and Skjervald Skrukka to save the infant heir to the Norwegian throne, Håkon Håkonsson, in 1206. All participants carry a backpack weighing at least 3.5 kg, symbolizing the weight of the then one-year-old king. The inaugural edition was won by Trygve Beisvåg. An own class for women was established in 1976. Until 1991, the start city was alternated between Lillehamer (finish at Rena) and Rena (finish at Lillehamer). The last time that Birkebeinerrenet started at Lillehammer, the start was located on the site where the Lysgårdsbakken ski jumping arena were built for the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Special 2002 FIS World Cup Race In 2002, the race was included as the last event in the FIS World Cup. The World Cup class was won by Thomas Alsgaard and Anita Moen Guidon finishing in 2:24:08.7FIS-Ski Results Lillehammer 2002, Men and 2:43:39.1,FIS-Ski Results Lillehammer 2002, Woman respectively, faster than all records set prior to 2012 for men and prior to 2015 for women. However, the participants in the World Cup class were not required to carry the 3.5 kg backpack, and these times set in 2002 were therefore not considered as records.
Recent years In 2007, the race was cancelled for the first time in history due to extremely high winds (90 km/h or 55 mph). However, at the time of cancellation, the event had been under way for nearly an hour, with roughly a quarter of the 13,000 competitors already on course. Despite the efforts of officials to send everyone back to the starting point, 55 competitors eventually reached the finish in Lillehammer, and upon being interviewed, blasted the decision to cancel the event .
The race was also cancelled in 2014, only 15 minutes before the start due to high winds of 15 m/s. Despite the cancellation, thousands of skiers completed the route from Rena to Lillehammer (and from Lillehammer to Rena) and criticized the decision. The organizers also decided not to give any refunds, which caused an investigation by the Norwegian Skiing Federation. In 2015, conditions were good for skiing fast and new records were set in both the men's and the women's classes. Petter Eliassen skied in 2 hours, 19 minutes and 28 seconds, more than two minutes faster than the previous record set by Anders Aukland in 2012. Therese Johaug skied the 2015 edition in 2 hours, 41 minutes and 46 seconds and set a new record for female skiers. The 2020 edition was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Past winners Course record in bold.
Men Year Name Club/Nation Time 1932 Norway 4:51.04 1933 Arne Rustadstuen Norway 4:24.12 1934 Arne Rustadstuen (2) Norway 5:41.25 1935 Olaf Hoffsbakken Norway 4:10.35 1936 Oscar Gjøslien Norway 5:16.05 1937 Gunnar Hansveen Norway 4:44.45 1938 Olaf Hoffsbakken (2) Norway 3:56.34 1939 Norway 4:09.05 1940 Gunnar Hansveen (2) Norway 4:30.09 1946 Leif Haugen Norway 3:54.59 1947 Norway 4:38.24 1949 Olav Kveberg Norway 4:13.55 1950 (2) Norway 4:28.15 1951 Thorfinn Staff Eid Norway 4:12.01 1952 Norway 4:17.50 1953 Johs. Woxen Norway 4:20.25 1954 Norway 4:30.18 1955 Oddmund Jensen Norway 3:57.31 1956 Einar Skaaren Norway 4:03.33 1957 Oddmund Jensen (2) Norway 3:48.46 1958 Oddmund Jensen (3) Norway 3:39.34 1959 Einar Skaaren (2) Norway 4:01.33 1960 Martin Stokken Norway 3:34.19 1961 Ole Ellefsæter Norway 3:44.02 1962 Oddmund Jensen (4) Norway 3:43.15 1963 Magnar Ingebrigtsli Norway 4:04.59 1964 Egil Tvedt Norway 3:23.31 1965 Oddmund Jensen (5) Norway 3:41.48 1966 Egil Tvedt (2) Norway 3:36.34 1967 Norway 4:00.39 1968 Erik Solberg Johansen Norway 4:16.50 1969 Niri Helleberg Norway 3:20.51 1970 Arne Vehus Norway 3:21.40 1971 Bjørn Arvnes Norway 3:40.30 1972 Erik Solberg Johansen (2) Norway 3:24.19 1973 Per Knotten Norway 3:06.07 1974 Dag Anmarkrud Norway 3:22.42 1975 Ivar Formo Norway 3:25.35 1976 Audun Kolstad Norway 3:12.10 1977 Audun Kolstad (2) Norway 3:05.39 1978 Anders Bakken Norway 3:14.04 1979 Anders Bakken (2) Norway 3:14.35 1980 Dag Atle Bjørkheim Norway 3:16.05 1981 Sven-Åke Lundbäck Sweden 3:16.25 1982 Dag Atle Bjørkheim (2) Norway 3:02.43 1983 Per Knut Aaland Norway 2:51.25 1984 Norway 2:59.28 1985 Ola Hassis Sweden 2:53.11 1986 Örjan Blomquist Sweden 3:08.30 1987 Pierre Harvey Canada 3:08.30 1988 Jo Helgestad Norway 3:08.08 1989 John Kvale Norway 2:58.56 1990 Per Knut Aaland (2) Norway 3:03.44 1991 Per Knut Aaland (3) Norway 3:05.07 1992 Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset Norway 3:15.34 1993 Aleksandr Golubev Russia 2:45.42 1994 Erling Jevne Norway 2:36.10 1995 Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset (2) Norway 2:57.18 1996 Erling Jevne (2) Norway 2:39.12 1997 Erling Jevne (3) Norway 2:33.05 1998 Erling Jevne (4) Norway 2:43.19 1999 Erling Jevne (5) Øyer-Tretten IF, Norway 2:50.45 2000 Erling Jevne (6) Øyer-Tretten IF, Norway 2:41.53 2001 Erling Jevne (7) Øyer-Tretten IF, Norway 2:38.45 2002 Stanislav Řezáč Czech Republic 2:39.08 2003 Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset (3) , Norway 2:39.56 2004 Italy 2:48.55 2005 Stanislav Řezáč (2) Czech Republic 2:37.37 2006 Anders Aukland Oseberg SL, Norway 2:52.13 2007 Cancelled 2008 Stanislav Řezáč (3) Czech Republic 2:24.33 2009 Jerry Ahrlin Sweden 2:36.58 2010 Anders Aukland (2) Oseberg SL, Norway 2:27.19 2011 Stanislav Řezáč (4) Czech Republic 2:39.54 2012 Anders Aukland (3) Norway 2:21.34 2013 Anders Aukland (4) Norway 2:42.38 2014 Cancelled 2015 Petter Eliassen Team LeasePlan Go, Norway 2:19.28 2016 John Kristian Dahl Team United Bakeries, Norway 2:27.34 2017 Martin Johnsrud Sundby Team United Bakeries, Norway 2:20.52 2018 Team Santander, Norway 2:33.13 2019 Petter Eliassen (2) Team BN Bank, Norway 2:23.47 2020 Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic 2021 Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic 2022 (2) Team Santander, Norway 2023 (3) Team Santander, Norway 2024 (4) Team Santander, Norway 2025 (5) Team Santander, Norway
Women Year Name Club/Nation Time 1976 Berit Mørdre Lammedal Norway 3:54.44 1977 Valborg Østberg Norway 3:31.04 1978 Birgit Øverby Tennøe Norway 3:49.01 1979 Anna Bjørgan Norway 4:07.48 1980 Anna Bjørgan (2) Norway 3:47.15 1981 Vigdis Rønning Norway 3:43.19 1982 Birgit Øverby Tennøe (2) Norway 3:40.55 1983 Hilde Riis Norway 3:26.47 1984 Gry Oftedal Norway 3:27.00 1985 Gry Oftedal (2) Norway 3:25.45 1986 Ellen Grepperud Norway 3:52.45 1987 Astrid Dæhlie Norway 3:47.32 1988 Elisabeth Tharaldsen Norway 3:50.13 1989 Marthe Flugstad Norway 3:13.35 1990 Mona Fugli Norway 3:51.50 1991 Ragnhild Bratberg Norway 3:38.54 1992 Anne Jahren Norway 3:52.00 1993 Astrid Kristin Ruud NTHI, Norway 3:24.25 1994 Marit Elveos Norway 3:21.12 1995 Unni Ødegård Norway 3:28.15 1996 Marit Mikkelsplass Norway 3:05.12 1997 Marthe Flugstad (2) Norway 3:10.46 1998 Anita Moen Guidon Trysilfjellet SK, Norway 3:03.21 1999 Anita Moen Guidon (2) Trysilfjellet SK, Norway 3:21.22 2000 Anita Moen Guidon (3) Trysilfjellet SK, Norway 3:06.24 2001 Anita Moen Guidon (4) Trysilfjellet SK, Norway 3:03.27 2002 Marthe Flugstad (3) Gjøvik SK, Norway 3:08.27 2003 Annmari Viljanmaa Finland 3:05.16 2004 Annmari Viljanmaa (2) Finland 3:03.47 2005 Cristina Paluselli Italy 3:10.59 2006 Hilde Gjermundshaug Pedersen Nybygda IL, Norway 3:08.10 2007 Cancelled 2008 Nybygda IL, Norway 2:52.04 2009 Hilde Gjermundshaug Pedersen (3) Nybygda IL, Norway 3:05.00 2010 Jenny Hansson Sweden 2:57.33 2011 Seraina Boner Switzerland 3:11.17 2012 Seraina Boner (2) Switzerland 2:47.03 2013 Seraina Boner (3) Switzerland 3:09.12 2014 Cancelled 2015 Therese Johaug Norway 2.41.46 2016 Seraina Boner (4) Switzerland 2:55.04 2017 Justyna Kowalczyk Team Santander, Poland 2:46.40 2018 Justyna Kowalczyk (2) Team Santander, Poland 3:06.10 2019 Justyna Kowalczyk (3) Team Trentino Robinson Trainer, Poland 2:51.31 2020 Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic 2021 Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic 2022 Astrid Øyre Slind Norway 2023 Astrid Øyre Slind (2) Norway 2024 Magni Smedås Norway 2025 Stina Nilsson Sweden
Birken Ski Festival In the week preceding Birkebeinerrennet, several cross-country skiing races are held during the Birken Ski Festival: Inga-låmi (ladies – ) HalvBirken (half – ) BarneBirken (kids) UngdomsBirken (9–16 years old – ) StafettBirken (relay – ) FredagsBirken (Friday, original race – ) Birkebeinerrennet (original – )
References
External links
KMZ file tracing out the route of the race Requires Google Earth software. 2D View in Google Maps. Official homepage (in Norwegian) English version of the official homepage German version of the official homepage