# Nordic Exercise > Nordic Exercise is an independent guide to the races, challenges and training culture of the Nordic countries. It lists the big ski, trail, swimrun, obstacle, cycling and winter-swimming events of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, rates each one for toughness with a published method, and explains how to train the Nordic way: outside in all weather, with little equipment and no excuses. > Full content available at: https://nordicexercise.com/llms-full.txt ## Pages - [Nordic Exercise: the toughest races in the Nordics and how to train for them](https://nordicexercise.com/): Every big race and challenge in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, rated for toughness, with how to enter, how to train and how to get there. Plus the Nordic way of training: outside, all year, little equipment. - [The toughest races in the Nordics](https://nordicexercise.com/toughest-races-in-the-nordics/): All 41 Nordic races and challenges on Nordic Exercise ordered by toughness: duration first, then terrain, cold and cut-offs, each from a published method. - [How we rate toughness](https://nordicexercise.com/how-we-rate/): The four meters behind every race page on Nordic Exercise: duration, terrain, cold and cut-offs, each scored 1 to 5 from stated inputs, and how the ranking is built from them. - [Become a Nordic Exercise ambassador](https://nordicexercise.com/ambassadors/): Done a Nordic race? Write a dated report with your own photos and get published under that race on Nordic Exercise, with a link back to you. - [About Nordic Exercise](https://nordicexercise.com/about/): Who is behind Nordic Exercise, how the race pages are researched and rated, how the ambassador programme works, and how we handle advertising. - [Privacy policy](https://nordicexercise.com/privacy/): How Nordic Exercise handles personal data: the contact form, cookies and Google Analytics, how long data is kept and your rights under GDPR. - [Contact Nordic Exercise](https://nordicexercise.com/contact/): Get in touch about advertising, partnerships, corrections to a race page, or anything else about Nordic Exercise. ## Races and challenges - [Races and challenges in the Nordics](https://nordicexercise.com/events/): 41 races and challenges in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland: ski, trail, swimrun, obstacle, cycling and winter swimming, each rated for toughness with how to enter and how to train. - [Norseman Xtreme Triathlon](https://nordicexercise.com/events/norseman-xtreme-triathlon/): Norseman is a 226 km point-to-point triathlon held on the first Saturday of August: a 3.8 km swim in the Hardangerfjord after jumping off a ferry at 05:00,… - [Lofoten Ultra-Trail](https://nordicexercise.com/events/lofoten-ultra-trail/): Lofoten Ultra-Trail is a series of point-to-point trail races that all finish in Svolvær, the longest being the 100 Miles (about 165 km with 7,000 m of… - [ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship](https://nordicexercise.com/events/otillo-swimrun-world-championship/): ÖTILLÖ is the race that started swimrun: teams of two run and swim about 70 km from Sandhamn to Utö across the islands of the Stockholm archipelago, held on… - [Fjällräven Classic Sweden](https://nordicexercise.com/events/fjallraven-classic-sweden/): Fjällräven Classic Sweden is a guided-logistics trek, not a race: 110 km on the Kungsleden from Nikkaluokta to Abisko, carried out in 3 to 7 days over one… - [NUTS Ylläs Pallas (66 km)](https://nordicexercise.com/events/nuts-yllas-pallas/): NUTS Ylläs Pallas is a mid-July trail race weekend in Finnish Lapland under the midnight sun, with distances from 15 km to 160 km. The 66 km follows the… - [IRONMAN Copenhagen](https://nordicexercise.com/events/ironman-copenhagen/): IRONMAN Copenhagen is a full-distance triathlon of 3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling and a 42.2 km run, held on a Sunday in mid to late August. The swim is in… - [Vaarojen Maraton](https://nordicexercise.com/events/vaarojen-maraton/): Vaarojen Maraton (the Marathon of the Hills) is Finland's oldest trail race: a rocky, rooty 43 km loop out of the Koli hills in the first weekend of… - [Finlandia-hiihto](https://nordicexercise.com/events/finlandia-hiihto/): Finlandia-hiihto (Finlandia Ski Marathon, "Finski") is Finland's largest mass ski race and a Worldloppet member race since the series began: a weekend in… - [Skellefteå Winter Swim (World Cup Winter Swimming)](https://nordicexercise.com/events/skelleftea-winter-swim/): A winter swimming meet in northern Sweden where you race 25 to 200 metres in a pool cut into the sea ice, in water the local paper describes as zero… - [Birkebeinerrennet](https://nordicexercise.com/events/birkebeinerrennet/): Birkebeinerrennet is a 53 km classic-technique ski race from Rena over three mountain areas to the Olympic ski stadium in Lillehammer, skied every March… - [Åre Extreme Challenge](https://nordicexercise.com/events/are-extreme-challenge/): Åre Extreme Challenge is a multisport race that has run since 1997: paddle from below the Tännforsen waterfall, run over the Åreskutan fell, then ride a… - [Birkebeinerløpet](https://nordicexercise.com/events/birkebeinerlopet/): Birkebeinerløpet is a 20.2 km trail run on the Olympic ski tracks and forest paths above Lillehammer, held on a Saturday in mid June as the main race of the… - [Birkebeinerrittet](https://nordicexercise.com/events/birkebeinerrittet/): Birkebeinerrittet is Norway's largest mountain-bike race: 84 km from the town square in Rena over the mountain to Håkons Hall in Lillehammer on the last… - [TrygFonden Copenhagen Swim (Christiansborg Rundt)](https://nordicexercise.com/events/christiansborg-rundt/): Once a year the harbour and canals around Christiansborg, the Danish parliament, are closed to boats and 2,000 m of them are opened to swimmers. It is the… - [Copenhagen Half Marathon (CPH Half)](https://nordicexercise.com/events/copenhagen-half-marathon/): CPH Half is a fast, flat half marathon on closed streets in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg, held on a Sunday in September since 2015 and rated an elite Gold… - [Copenhagen Marathon](https://nordicexercise.com/events/copenhagen-marathon/): Copenhagen Marathon is a flat, closed-road city marathon on a Sunday in May, run since 1980 and now the largest marathon ever held in Denmark: 22,424… - [Cykelvasan](https://nordicexercise.com/events/cykelvasan/): Cykelvasan 90 is a 92 km mountain bike race and ride along the Vasaloppet ski course from Berga by in Sälen to the finish in Mora, held in August and billed… - [Fossavatnsgangan](https://nordicexercise.com/events/fossavatnsgangan/): Fossavatnsgangan is Iceland's oldest ski race, first held in 1935, and its Worldloppet event: a 50 km classic-technique loop on groomed track in the… - [Göteborgsvarvet](https://nordicexercise.com/events/goteborgsvarvet/): Göteborgsvarvet is a half marathon (21.0975 km) through Gothenburg, run every May since 1980 and billed as the world's largest, with 55,000 registered in… - [Salomon Hammer Trail Spring (50 km)](https://nordicexercise.com/events/hammer-trail-bornholm/): Hammer Trail is billed as Denmark's toughest trail race: cliff paths, scree slopes, steps down to the sea and heath on the northern tip of Bornholm, run on… - [Helsinki City Marathon](https://nordicexercise.com/events/helsinki-city-marathon/): Helsinki City Marathon is Finland's oldest and largest marathon, run since 1981 and now the Saturday centrepiece of the two-day Valio Helsinki City Run… - [Hengill Ultra](https://nordicexercise.com/events/hengill-ultra/): Hengill Ultra Trail is Iceland's largest trail-running weekend, held on the first weekend of June in the greenhouse town of Hveragerði with five distances… - [Höga Kusten Trail](https://nordicexercise.com/events/hoga-kusten-trail/): Höga Kusten Trail is a two-day trail weekend on the High Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage coast in northern Sweden, with five distances from 14 km to 60 km.… - [IRONMAN Kalmar](https://nordicexercise.com/events/ironman-kalmar/): IRONMAN Kalmar is the full triathlon distance in south-east Sweden: 3.8 km in the Baltic Sea, 180 km across the Öland Bridge and the island, then a marathon… - [Laugavegur Ultra Marathon](https://nordicexercise.com/events/laugavegur-ultra-marathon/): The Laugavegur Ultra Marathon is a 55 km point-to-point mountain race along Iceland's best-known hiking trail, from the hot springs at Landmannalaugar over… - [Lidingöloppet](https://nordicexercise.com/events/lidingoloppet/): TCS Lidingöloppet is a 30 km cross-country race on gravel trails and forest paths around the island of Lidingö, just outside Stockholm, run on the last… - [Midnight Sun Marathon](https://nordicexercise.com/events/midnight-sun-marathon/): The Midnight Sun Marathon is a certified, AIMS-measured road marathon through Tromsø, run on a Saturday evening in late June when the sun does not set.… - [Suzuki Midnight Sun Run (Miðnæturhlaup)](https://nordicexercise.com/events/midnight-sun-run/): The Midnight Sun Run is a Thursday-evening road race in Reykjavík's Laugardalur valley around the summer solstice, with a half marathon, a 10 km and a 5 km… - [DNB Oslo Maraton](https://nordicexercise.com/events/oslo-maraton/): DNB Oslo Maraton is Norway's biggest road race, held on the third Saturday of September with start and finish at the City Hall square (Rådhusplassen). The… - [Reykjavík Marathon](https://nordicexercise.com/events/reykjavik-marathon/): The Íslandsbanki Reykjavík Marathon is Iceland's big city race, run every year since 1984 on the Saturday of Reykjavík Culture Night, the city's birthday… - [adidas Stockholm Marathon](https://nordicexercise.com/events/stockholm-marathon/): The adidas Stockholm Marathon is a 42.195 km road race through central Stockholm, held on a Saturday around the end of May, with a finish on the track of… - [Stoltzekleiven Opp](https://nordicexercise.com/events/stoltzekleiven-opp/): A 900 m uphill time trial on the stone staircase from Fjellveien to the saddle below Sandvikspilen above Bergen: about 800 steps and 300 m of climb at an… - [Styrkeprøven](https://nordicexercise.com/events/styrkeproven/): Styrkeprøven (Den Store Styrkeprøven) is a Norwegian touring ride from Trondheim to Oslo, about 515 km on public roads, held since 1967 and billed as the… - [Sulkavan Suursoudut (Sulkava Rowing Race)](https://nordicexercise.com/events/sulkava-rowing-race/): Sulkavan Suursoudut is a four-day festival of wooden-boat rowing on Lake Saimaa, held since 1968 in the village of Sulkava in the second week of July. Its… - [Tahko MTB](https://nordicexercise.com/events/tahko-mtb/): Tahko MTB is Finland's largest mountain-bike event, held at the Tahko ski resort north of Kuopio on the weekend after Midsummer since 1999. The Classic 60… - [Tough Viking Stockholm (Stockholms Stadion)](https://nordicexercise.com/events/tough-viking-stockholm/): Tough Viking Stockholms Stadion is an urban obstacle course race of about 8 km that starts and finishes inside the Olympic stadium and runs out through the… - [Toughest Stockholm](https://nordicexercise.com/events/toughest-stockholm/): Toughest Stockholm is a mass obstacle course race in the Lida recreation area south of Stockholm, held on a Saturday in early or mid June. The Main race is… - [Tromsø Mountain Challenge](https://nordicexercise.com/events/tromso-mountain-challenge/): A late-August trail weekend in the mountains behind Tromsø, 350 km north of the Arctic Circle, run by the same foundation as the Midnight Sun Marathon. The… - [Vansbrosimningen](https://nordicexercise.com/events/vansbrosimningen/): Vansbrosimningen is Sweden's biggest open-water swim: 3,000 m in two rivers in Vansbro, started in 1950 and one of the five En Svensk Klassiker races. The… - [Vasaloppet](https://nordicexercise.com/events/vasaloppet/): Vasaloppet is the world's biggest cross-country ski race: 90 km of classic technique from Berga by in Sälen to the finish portal by the belfry in Mora, held… - [Vätternrundan](https://nordicexercise.com/events/vatternrundan/): Vätternrundan is a 315 km recreational ride all the way round Lake Vättern, starting and finishing in Motala, and billed as the world's largest recreational… ## Disciplines - [Disciplines: ski, trail, swimrun, obstacle, open water, bike](https://nordicexercise.com/disciplines/): The eight kinds of race and challenge you find in the Nordics, what each one takes, how to start and the races in each. - [Trail running](https://nordicexercise.com/disciplines/trail-running/): Trail running is running on paths instead of pavement: forest tracks, fell trails, coastal cliffs and mountain ridges, marked for the day by the organiser.… - [Road running](https://nordicexercise.com/disciplines/road-running/): Road running is the measured distances on closed city streets: 5 km, 10 km, the half marathon and the marathon. It belongs on a site about rough Nordic… - [Cross-country skiing](https://nordicexercise.com/disciplines/cross-country-skiing/): Cross-country skiing is the Nordic winter sport: thin skis in prepared tracks through forest, over fells and across frozen lakes, in classic or skate… - [Swimrun](https://nordicexercise.com/disciplines/swimrun/): Swimrun is running and swimming in alternation along a marked course through nature, in the same kit from start to finish: a wetsuit, trail shoes that go in… - [Obstacle racing](https://nordicexercise.com/disciplines/obstacle-racing/): Obstacle course racing (OCR) is running through terrain with walls, rigs, carries, crawls, mud and water in the way. In the Nordics it grew from a… - [Open water and winter swimming](https://nordicexercise.com/disciplines/open-water-swimming/): Open water swimming in the Nordics is two sports with one habit. In summer it is river, lake and harbour races such as Vansbrosimningen in Dalarna and… - [Gravel and mountain biking](https://nordicexercise.com/disciplines/gravel-and-mountain-biking/): Gravel and mountain biking in the Nordics means long days on forest roads, ski-trail boardwalks and mountain plateaus, in events that were built for… - [Multisport and adventure](https://nordicexercise.com/disciplines/multisport-and-adventure/): Multisport on this site means any challenge that strings disciplines together: triathlon from a sprint to the Norseman, adventure racing with a map and a… ## Countries - [Races by country: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland](https://nordicexercise.com/countries/): The races and challenges of each Nordic country, with what a visitor needs to know: season, weather, travel, the right to roam and where the classics are. - [Races in Sweden](https://nordicexercise.com/countries/sweden/): Sweden races in the mass-participation tradition: the big events are owned by sports clubs, open to anyone who enters in time, and measured in tens of… - [Races in Norway](https://nordicexercise.com/countries/norway/): Norway races the way it lives outdoors: on skis over the mountain in March, on foot and by bike over the same mountain in summer, and in the sea at any… - [Races in Denmark](https://nordicexercise.com/countries/denmark/): Denmark races on roads, beaches and in harbours more than on mountains: the country is flat, the coast is never far, and the big city races in Copenhagen… - [Races in Finland](https://nordicexercise.com/countries/finland/): Finland races by the calendar of its seasons: a mass ski marathon on the Lahti tracks in February, the Helsinki marathon weekend in May, trail runs under… - [Races in Iceland](https://nordicexercise.com/countries/iceland/): Iceland has fewer than 400,000 people and a racing calendar that punches well above that: the Reykjavík Marathon weekend draws more than 16,000 entrants,… ## Training guide - [The training guide: the Nordic way](https://nordicexercise.com/guide/): Eleven chapters on training the Nordic way: outside all year, strength with little equipment, Norwegian intervals, carrying, winter running, cold water and sauna, your first race, and three programmes. - [The Nordic way](https://nordicexercise.com/guide/the-nordic-way/): What Nordic training culture actually is: outside all year, simple sessions, little equipment, and why it works for ordinary people with jobs and families. - [Train outside all year](https://nordicexercise.com/guide/train-outside-all-year/): How to train outside through a Nordic winter: layering that works, hands and feet, head torches and dark forests, and the habits that keep you going from November to March. - [Strength with little equipment](https://nordicexercise.com/guide/strength-with-little-equipment/): Strength training the Nordic way: a door-frame pull-up bar, a log or sandbag and your own weight. The movements, the reps, a two-day week and how to progress for a year. - [Norwegian 4×4 intervals](https://nordicexercise.com/guide/norwegian-4x4-intervals/): The Norwegian 4×4 interval session: what it is, how hard it should feel, how often to do it, what the NTNU research found, and how to run it on a hill, a bike or cross-country skis. - [Carrying and rucking](https://nordicexercise.com/guide/carrying-and-rucking/): How to train by carrying: rucking with a loaded pack, carrying sandbags, buckets and logs, hauling a sled, and how much weight to start with. - [Four weeks to start](https://nordicexercise.com/guide/four-weeks-to-start/): A four-week starter programme with no equipment: three outdoor sessions a week of walking, running, carrying and climbing, in a table, with how to adjust it. - [Twelve weeks of base](https://nordicexercise.com/guide/twelve-week-base/): A twelve-week base programme, week by week: easy sessions, one Norwegian interval day, two strength days and a growing weekend outing, with how to adjust it. - [Sixteen weeks to race day](https://nordicexercise.com/guide/sixteen-weeks-to-race-day/): A sixteen-week programme for a half-day trail, ski, swimrun or obstacle race, week by week, with discipline swaps, a taper and a race-week checklist. - [Winter running](https://nordicexercise.com/guide/winter-running/): Running through the Nordic winter: studded shoes and strap-on spikes, dressing for minus fifteen, headtorches and reflectors, technique on snow and ice. - [Cold water and sauna](https://nordicexercise.com/guide/cold-water-and-sauna/): How to start cold-water swimming and sauna sensibly: the cold-shock response, the rules that keep people alive, how the sauna fits, and what the research actually shows. - [Your first Nordic race](https://nordicexercise.com/guide/your-first-nordic-race/): How to choose a first Nordic race you can finish, read the four toughness meters, enter before it sells out, pack the kit, travel, and get through the day.