Finnmarksløpet – the longest dog-sled race in Europe challenge mushers to explore the limits of their capabilities and perform. The dogs and mushers must be top-trained, but also the dogs needs trust and dedication to the mushers to perform. This is achieved through taking good care of the dogs, and give them plenty of attention, food and rest. The musher must not only work while racing, but when the checkpoint is reached he or she must prioritize the dogs before resting. A good support team and training is important to success. To win Finnmarksløpet you need to sacrifice everything, that’s why we love mushing!
Everybody on the podium
Finnmarksløpet was first organized in 1981 with three contestants. There were few rukes and the mushers were out on their own. Back then mushing was a sport for a few dedicated people. Today mushing is a sport that engange thousands of people.
As the years passed the race grew, both in contestants and audience. In 1985 there were two race classes, in 1992 the length grew to 1000km and 12 dogs as a maximum. While the class for 8 dogs were 600 km. In 2000 the open class was extended to 14 dogs and the 8-dog class reduced to 500 km. Finally, in 2018, the race is extended to 1200 km. There has been a lot of smaller changes during the years, we listen to the competitors and try to make the race as fun and challenging as possible.
A big celebration
In 2001 Finnmarskløpet AS was established as a race organization. From then on the race has become more professional. What used to be a small event organized by mushers is now the largest annual sport and cultural event in the region.
Finnmarksløpet has become a symbol that unite the people in the region in celebration. NRK (The Norwegian national broadcaster) has daily bulletins from the race and the interest has escalated. The TV program has a national market share of 33%.
This webpage has about 1 million visitors during the race. This is due to people checking the GPS trackers and following the contestants live as the race enfolds. Stay tuned!
The race today
Finnmarksløpet consist of three race classes
Finnmarksløpet junior (FL-junior)
6-dogs, 200 km (125 miles), mushers from 14 to 18 years old.
Finnmarksløpet 600 (FL-600)
8-dogs, 580 km (360 miles). Normally around 70-80 mushers partissipate.
Finnmarksløpet 1200 (FL-1200)
14-dogs, 1200 km (745 miles), Normally around 40 mushers partissipate.
Race start is Friday evening (FL-1200) and Saturday afternoon (FL-junior/FL-600) in week number 10 in central Alta.
This is a big event with speaker, live music and thousands of people. For more details about the race start, check out our program.