Covid-19 Race Status - Finnmarksløpet
The world’s northernmost sled dog race, Finnmarksløpet, will once again be held in the breathtaking areas in the northern parts of Norway in 2021. Close to 100 dog teams have already signed up for either the junior, 600k or 1200k distance, starting March 12th 2021.
Finnmarksløpet will be held for the 41st time in 2021!
The organisation of Finnmarksløpet have informed all mushers who has signed up that they will have to expect changes to the organisation of the race. Speaking strictly about the competition aspects of the race, they are aiming for minimal changes. Regarding everything around, there will definitely be taken measures to account for the current pandemic. As the regulation from the authorities are changing by the day and week, Finnmarksløpet have chosen to not communicate details around their Covid-19 measures just yet.
“We are still four months away from the race, and a lot can happen in the . However, this does not mean that we are not working on a Covid-19 plan. We have designated a person responsible for the infection control measures within the organisation. A good and positive dialogue with the municipality doctor is established, and we are constantly working on how we will treat different scenarios that might unfold”, says Head of Communication, Trond Anton Andersen.
Covid-19 Race Status - Femundløpet
As of November 13th 2020, race info meetings with the mushers are planned to be held online. Registration and veterinary checks will be arranged in a way that prevents accumulation of large crowd at the same place. The organisation are confident that they will be able to accommodate fans and audience outdoors in some way, while still making sure that distance between people is maintained.
A dog team crossing a lake in northern Norway during the 2020-edition of Finnmarksløpet.
“What we know already now, is that we will forbid large gatherings of people, especially indoors. Banquets and similar events will probably not be held as normal. In 2021, we will also put great efforts into digital communication of the race. We have been working on this constantly throughout the last years, but plan to take this even further in 2021,” says Andersen.
It is great to see that our friends in Norway are planning for a healthy, safe and fun race also in 2021. As of November 13th 2020, Finnmarksløpet 1200k has 35 mushers signed up, while 51 mushers has signed up for the half distance, FL600, and 9 teams are in the list for the junior category.