For the second year in a row, Fýri Trail by Solomon in Hemsedal, Norway, will be the stage for the Golden Trail National Series – Nordics finale. 448 runners will toe the line on this 29 kilometer course with 1350 meters of elevation gain, all competing for golden tickets to the ultimate showdown: The Golden Trail World Series Finale, which takes place from October 17-20 in Ascona-Locarno, Switzerland.

Last year, the gold medal was won by two Swedish athletes—Oscar Claesson, who finished in 2:19:38, and Johanna Gelfgren, crossing the line at 2:49:10. As the inaugural edition of the race, these times also stand as the current course records. However, with an exceptionally strong field this year, and both golden tickets and serious prize money on the line, don’t be surprised if the men’s course record falls below 02:15:00 and the women’s record dips under 02:40:00.

Segments and cash prizes

To spice things up, the organizers have introduced two competitive segments along the course, each with cash prizes up for grabs. The first, called “Queen of the Hill,” is a grueling 3 km uphill section with 550 meters of vertical gain. The second, “Master of Disaster,” is a lightning-fast 4 km downhill section, featuring a 600-meter drop—right at the race’s final stretch. It’s going to be a thrilling finish, to say the least.

Queen Of The Hill 2023 winners:

Anders Haga: 00:24:00
Eef van Dongen: 00:27:59

Master Of Disaster 2023 winners:

Ånung Viken: 00:13:10
Marte Emilsen: 00:16:12

The course

Golden ticket qualifiers

While some of the fastest runners have earned their bibs, travel, and accommodation by podiuming at earlier Golden Trail National Series Nordics, anyone can still sign up, grab a bib, and join the race. Here’s a rundown of the golden ticket qualifiers who have punched their tickets to Hemsedal through this season’s qualifying races.

GT = Golden Ticket / qualifying race

The Swedish Brigade 🇸🇪

Johanna Gelfgren

Nurse from Gothenburg who masters all distances.

GT: 2nd @ Nøsen Hundreds 21K 2024
Returning Fýri Trail champion and course record holder (2:49:10)
1st @ Åre Fjällmaraton 100K 2024

Malin Barrulf

Nurse living Orsa, Dalarna. Prefers longer races, but crushes the shorter ones when she shows up.

GT: 3rd @ Nøsen Hundreds 21k
13th @ CCC 2024 (13:44:31)

Louise Jernberg

Working for the Swedish Defense Ministry and a truly strong trail runner.

GT: 3rd @ Sandnes Ultra Trail 23K 2024
GT: 2nd @ Salomon 27K 2024
1st @ Skyrunning World Championships SKY 2024

Lisa Åkesson

Småland runner whose twin Erik also is a great trail runner.

GT: 2nd @ Nøsen Hundreds 21K 2024

Oscar Claesson

Blasted in to the elite of trail running in Sweden summer of 2022 by winning the Golden Trail National Series race in Åre Salomon 27K (in borrowed Salomon-shoes!) and then continuing his victories at Kia Fjällmaraton 45K. Last year, at his first ultra ever, he won Kullamannen 100K by UTMB. Besides being somewhat the nordic trail king, Oscar is a seriously friendly and a warm person. A likeable and funny guy grown up in the deep woods of Småland in Sweden.

Returning Fýri Trail champion and course record holder (2:19:38)

Jonatan Fridolfsson

A post doc with a lightning fast brain as well as fast legs. Jonatan is a shoe nerd and a great overall runner, leaning and specializing in trail the last couple of years. A tall and fast force to be counted with at Fýri Trail 2024.

GT: 1st @ Nøsen Hundreds 2024

Martin Nilsson

GT: 2nd @ Salomon 27K 2024

Anders Fox

GT: 3rd @ Sandnes Ultra Trail 23K 2024

Linus Wedin

GT: 1st @ U23 Salomon 27K / 8th overall

The Norwegian Brigade 🇳🇴

Marte Emilsen

Oslo based runner who pretty much podiums all the races she shows up at. Just look at her race streak in the GTNS this season:

GT: 2nd @ Sandnes Ultra Trail 23K 2024
GT: 1st @ Nøsen Hundreds 21K 2024
GT: 1st @ Stranda Fjord Trail Race 25K 2024
5th @ Salomon 27K 2024

Ida Amelie Robsahm

Teacher based in Oslo with lightening fast legs, both uphill, flat and downhill. Has been traveling the world this season doing lots of the Golden Trail World Series races. 14th at Marathon du Mont Blanc, 9th at Zegama, 1st at Torekov-Båstad and 19th at OCC. Also a good sport climber.

GT: 1st @ Sandnes Ultra Trail 23K 2024

Hans Inge Klette

Probably the best trail runner in the world that doesn’t consider himself to be a trail runner, Hans Inge has his eyes on the Olympics in Torino with skimo being his discipline. This dude is fearless.

GT: 1st @ Stranda Fjord Trail Race 25K 2024

Jonas Hesthaug

Physio student based in Voss who grew up not far from the starting line of Stranda Fjord Trail Race, this young gun is one to look out for. He started his career as an uncut gem when he was 17 running Tromsø Skyrace Hamperokken in 2017 and has now developed into a mature black belt any-distance kind of trail runner, mostly focusing on the skyrunning/golden trail series kind of races.

GT: 2nd @ Sandnes Ultra Trail 23 km 2024

Erik Johannes Husom

Trondheim based downhill crusher. With no sleep for three weeks after becoming a father he showed up at Stranda Fjord Trail Race this year and still managed to finish 5th, just 7 minutes behind the winner. Imagine what he could do at Fyri with a couple of good nights sleep.

GT: 2nd @ Nøsen Hundreds 21K 2024
5th @ Stranda Fjord Trail Race 2024

Nikolai Segtnan

Current FKT holder of De Syv Søstre (03:43:00), this Tromsø based dude is known for doing massive amounts of heat training to max his performance in cold races. Just look at his performance at Stranda – shirtless!

GT: 2nd @ Stranda Fjord Trail Race 25K

Eivind Klokkehaug

Growing up in Sykkylven on the west coast of Norway this guy is no stranger to technical trails. Living in Oslo he has developed a really good running stride with a 30:57 pb om 10K and 3:58.89 on 1500m. Last year at Nøsen 21K he was in a legendary sprint finish with Anders Kjærevik and hit the wall just a few meters before the finish line. Kjærevik won the race and Eivind passed out while frothing lactic acid. This dude is ready to go to war.

GT: 3rd @ Stranda Fjord Trail Race 25K
1st @ Nøsen Hundreds 50K

Anders “Ponny” Kjærevik

“Ponny” is known for his fearless downhill stride. He came on to the trail scene in 2020 with a blast when he won the downhill segment in the Golden Trail World Series at the Azores in Portugal. Since then he has traveled the world as an elite on the Golden Trail World Series circuit. This guy races more then most people, this year alone he has done the following races: Pilancones Tunte Trail, Transgrancanaria Maratón, Four Sisters Mountain Trail, Kobe Trail, Zegama-Aizkorri, Traversera Integral Picos de Europa 74K, Stranda Fjord Trail Race and Trofeo Kima.

Golden Trail World Series Elite
4th @ Stranda Fjord Trail Race 2024

The Finnish Brigade 🇫🇮

Anna-Stiina Erkkilä

Mother of two and one of Finland’s (if not THE) best sub ultra trail runners at the moment. Anna-Stiina is a regular top 10 finisher at the Golden Trail World circuit. This year she came 8th at Marathon du Mont-Blanc, 7th at the European Off-Road Championships 58K, and got her Golden Ticket to Fyri by winning Bodom Trail in Finland.

GT: 1st @ Bodom Trail 21K 2024

Heini Hokkanen

GT: 2nd @ Bodom Trail 21K 2024
GT: 2nd @ Nuuksio Classic Trail 42K 2024

Eevi Bengs

GT: 4th @ Bodom Trail 21K 2024
1st @ Nuuksio Classic Ultra 72K 2024

Kristiane Width

GT: 1st @ Nuuksio Classic Trail 42K 2024

Sofia Haajanen

GT: 3rd @ Nuuksio Classic Trail 42K 2024

Juho Ylinen

GT: 1st @ Nuuksio Classic Trail 42K 2024
4th @ Fýri Trail 2023

Tuomas Kari

GT: 2nd Bodom Trail 21K 2024

Benjamin Holmgren

GT: 4th @ Bodom Trail 21K 2024

Mårten Boström

GT: 2nd @ Nuuksio Classic Trail 42K 2024

Tuomas Hapola

GT: 5th @ Bodom Trail 21K 2024

The Danish Brigade 🇩🇰

Line Brandt Pedersen

GT: 3rd @ Salomon Hammer Trail 25K 2024

Max Boderskov

GT: 1st @ Salomon Hammer Trail 25K 2024

Podcasts

Just like last year we will be at Fýri to do a live podcast in front of a live audience and interviews of the top 3 men and women after the race on Saturday. Here are last year’s episodes from Fýri:

Call for comments

Who are you most excited to see race at Fýri this year? We know there are tons of elite runners coming to the race who didn’t do any of the qualifying races who will give these golden ticket holders a solid battle.