Bjørn Løkken skied 50 nordic miles in 48 hours!

[david-dermott]

WOW! I managed to ski 169 km in 2 days on the Canadian Ski Marathon,
but that's nothing compared to this:

Norwegian article and video from NRK:

https://www.nrk.no/ho/gikk-over-50-mil-pa-ski-pa-to-dogn-1.7526784

In March 11-12,1983 Bjørn Løkken skied over 50 nordic miles in 48 hours on
the 3 km lighted loop in Harestua.

Map of the Harestua track (about 50 km north of Oslo):
https://www.skiforeningen.no/marka/loyper/?id=350

Lots of spectators (see video) were along the track cheering him on
(HEIA! HEIA!) and many skied with him.

He took a 5 minute break every hour for food and drink.

His final count was 159 laps for 513 km

The next day he went to his regular job at the usual time.

Bjørn Løkken has skied Birkebeinerrennet many times and also
the 90 km Grenaderløpet 19 times.

The current (2016) record for 24 hours skiing is 438 km by Erik
Wickström, so in theory it would be possible to break that 48 hr record
(only 75 km more) but most skiers are totally spent after 24 hours!

[LewLasher]

Bjørn Løkken skied over 50 nordic miles in 48 hours on the 3 km lighted loop in Harestua.
...
His final count was 159 laps for 513 km

What is a "nordic mile"? About 10km?

[Magnus Johansson]

Bjørn Løkken skied over 50 nordic miles in 48 hours on the 3 km lighted loop in Harestua.
...
His final count was 159 laps for 513 km

What is a "nordic mile"? About 10km?

Today it is 10 km but a Swedish mile used to be 10 688 m, and a Norwegian mile 11 295 m.

[LewLasher]

Today it is 10 km but a Swedish mile used to be 10 688 m, and a Norwegian mile 11 295 m

So, 10 km is the metric nordic mile.

[Magnus Johansson]

Today it is 10 km but a Swedish mile used to be 10 688 m, and a Norwegian mile 11 295 m

So, 10 km is the metric nordic mile.

Correct.

[JeffOYB]

I don't get it. A guy skied 513km in 48hrs (6mph ave)

But another guy skied 438km in 24hrs. (11mph ave)

These are hugely different records. I mean, the second guy is hugely faster than the first.

[Neuro]

Yeah what a crazy record. He said it likely won't be beaten as not many are eager to try..

Interesting he was fine after the run, but some shorter races would leave him worn out for days, so it seems there's a sweet spot where the body works that much better.

But your 169 km in 2 days is not bad either David.