Birkebeinerrennet

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.[2]

This article is about the Norwegian cross-country ski race. For the American equivalent, see American Birkebeiner.
Birkebeinerrennet
Birkebeinerrennet 2010
Statusactive
Genresporting event
Date(s)Third Saturday in March
Frequencyannual
Location(s)Rena–Lillehammer
CountryNorway
Years active89
Inaugurated1932 (1932) (men)
1976 (1976) (women)
ActivityCross-country skiing
Sponsor
[1]

The Birkebeinerrennet is one of three races held under the Birkebeiner moniker, the other two being Birkebeinerrittet (bicycling) and Birkebeinerløpet (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.[3]

Race

The race starts at Rena and ends at Lillehammer, a distance of 54 km. The number of participants has been steadily increasing each year, and for the 2011 race, the limit was set at 16,000.[4]

History

Origin
Skiing Birchlegs Crossing the Mountain with the Royal Child, painted by Knud Bergslien. Painting located at The Ski Museum. Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway.

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 2:24:08.7[5] and 2:43:39.1,[6] 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.[7] Despite the cancellation, thousands of skiers completed the route from Rena to Lillehammer (and from Lillehammer to Rena) and criticized the decision.[8][9] 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.[10]

Past winners

Course record in bold.

Birken Ski Festival

In the week preceding Birkebeinerrennet, several cross-country skiing races are held during the Birken Ski Festival:

  • Inga-låmi (ladies – 5–30 km (3.1–18.6 mi))
  • HalvBirken (half – 28 km (17 mi))
  • BarneBirken (kids)
  • UngdomsBirken (9–16 years old – 15 km (9.3 mi))
  • StafettBirken (relay – 50 km (31 mi))
  • FredagsBirken (Friday, original race – 54 km (34 mi))
  • Birkebeinerrennet (original – 54 km (34 mi))

References
  1. "Samarbeidspartnere" [Sponsors]. www.birkebeiner.no/no/ski. Birken. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  2. "Birkebeinerrennet". Worldloppet. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  3. Formenti, Federico et al. (2005): Human locomotion on snow: Determinants of economy and speed of skiing across the ages Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, vol. 272 no. 1572, 1561-1569 .
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-01-23. Retrieved 2011-03-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. FIS-Ski Results Lillehammer 2002, Men
  6. FIS-Ski Results Lillehammer 2002, Woman
  7. "Derfor ble avgjørelsen tatt". birkebeiner.no (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2014-03-25.
  8. "Birken avlyst". dn.no (in Norwegian). Dagens Næringsliv. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  9. "Åpent brev til Birkebeinerrennet". langrenn.com (in Norwegian). Langrenn.com. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  10. "Historic Birken Ski Festival Cancelled". lifeinnorway.net. Life in Norway. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  11. "Derfor ble avgjørelsen tatt". birkebeiner.no (in Norwegian). Birkebeinerrennet. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014.

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