Mjøsen Trail

Mjøsen Trail is a new trail-running series held at Hedmarktoppen in Hamar, situated above Lake Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake. The race takes place in August and provides four distances: 10 km, a half marathon, a marathon, and a Backyard Ultra-style event called Mjøsen BackYard. The shorter distances are designed with climbing in mind, as the organizers emphasize rough trails and elevation over flat road speed. The Mjøsen Backyard is the most challenging format: 12 laps covering 2,856 meters of total ascent. The race organizers compare this to ascending more than six times from the bottom of Lake Mjøsa to its surface. The courses utilize the Furuberget area near the limestone quarry, a familiar training location for race creator Jørgen Storhov Elisenberg. He grew up on Furuberget farm and trained there as a young middle-distance runner. Early marathon results indicate a difficult course, with winning times significantly slower than typical road-marathon pace.