News
Who takes the last spot?!
17-Sep-2021
Registration for this year's KBUTC is about to close. Only one spot left.. who is up for the challenge?!
KBUTC closing in
1-Sep-2021
We are closing in on the registration limit for KBUTC. And we are closing in on this years event. Only just over six more weeks left to tune both physical and mental abilities to be ready for the challenge!
In the meantime there are lots of races that can be used as preparation. Romeriksåsen på langs (4.9), Ultrabirken (4.9) og Molde 7 Topper Ultra (11.9) to name a few. Molde is national championship for trail ultra this year.
We should also mention 24 hours in Hell (11.9), with a very strong start field and big expectations for great results!
Ultra super-weekend
17-Aug-2021
Last weekend had a lot of ultra-trail action in Norway. In Siggerud, the Østmarka Backyard lasted for 49 hours until they had a 'Last Man Standing' - shoutout to Luca Ronconi and Jon Asphjell who both earned a ticked to Big Dog's in October.
In Rondane, the "Rondane 100" participants had some really nasty weather with rain, wind and temperatures just above freezing. Lot's of DNFs, and lot's of cudos to all who gave it their best!
Myself, I was in Måndalen and ran the Moon Valley 17 Lakes. Only eight people at the start line, and six finishers. Some more in the 7 Lakes, but surly the event deserves more participation. Rain and wet, but almost no wind and fairly low (but ok) temperatures made it a bit of a struggle, but not too bad. I certainly had a great time!
We now enter the late summer slash autumn season with still many events in the race calendar. I'm looking forward to the national championships in Molde 11th of September. And then the big finale - KBUTC - is coming closer as well. With Jon Asphjell going to Big Dog's, and another participant out with injury, we are now down to 23 who have signed up.
Blog: Environmental sustainability
18-Jul-2021
I have now tidied up the main menu of KrUltra.no and collected all races on a separate page - see Races in the menu. The blog part has also been organized in a separate section - see Blog in the menu.
A new blog entry has been added, and this is on the topic of environmental sustainability and trail running. Check it out! Here is an excerpt from the ingress:
"... my wife has started advocating that I should refrain from future race T-shirts. Her main objection is that T-shirts are harmful to the environment. And how many T-shirts do I really need anyway?"
MVRF registration open
12-Jul-2021
The Moon Valley Run Festival (MVRF, August 14-15) is now open for registration:
https://www.moonvalleyrunfestival.com/events
MMC, MVRF and KBUTC updates
10-Jul-2021
Meråker Mountain Challenge (MMC, July 30) is shaping up, with 41 participants registered so far. The distribution between 21 km, 42 km and 65 km distances is aproximately 50/25/25, with 11 registered for the ultra distance.
The Moon Valley Run Festival (MVRF, August 14-15) has still not opened for registration, but I have information that it will soon. Rumors are that Kilian will participate this year as well, so this will be a chance to measure your level against the absolute world elite (and experiencing some of the most beautiful parts of Norway at the same time).
KBUTC now has 25 registrations, two pending. We will continue to take on four more before registration is closed. The start list shows many returning participants, but also ten newcomers.
Report from SX Femunden (++)
29-Jun-2021
I have had the pleasure to participate in two recent ultra running events. First, the inaugural Hell Backyard on June 19th, which was a huge success. Hell Ultraløperklubb keeps strengthening it's presence on the norwegian ultra running scene. "24 hours in Hell" is coming up, and the KBUTC in Octobre is also under the clubs umbrella. And the club is pregnant with several other ultra (trail) running ideas. Keep posted!
My most recent ultra running experience is however Salomon Xreid Femunden. The event took place on the 25th-26th, one year delayed due to the pandemic. The race is well described by Kondis. The winner time of 12:31 by Morten Antonsen, only 20 years old (!), is pretty impressive.
This year's course was 'only' 110 km with around 2800 meters of ascent. However, much of the trail was very stony and technical, and the average finisher time was close to 21 hours. As usual the nature was stunning, the community very supportive and inclusive as always, and the weather as good as perfect. I had a great time, made new friends, and also made a good result (13th place, 17:02).
Driving home from Røros, I listned to the latest podcast 'I det lange løp'. Huge shoutout to Mona Kjeldsberg and Simen Holvik, who made appearances on the podcast. We will follow both Oslo Bergen Trail and Simen Holvig's Norge på langs project closely the following days and weeks.
Registration reminders
21-Jun-2021
KrUltra's signature race - Kruke's Backyard Ultra-Trail Challenge (KBUTC) - now has 20 registrations, and we are closing in on the limit of 25 participants.
We also want to remind you about our 'partners in crime':
Meråker Mountain Challenge, 31st of July (65k, 42k, 21k + miniton): Open for registration.
Moon Valley Run Festival, 14th (vertical) and 15th of August (7 & 17 lakes): Registration opens soon.
Norway opens up - ultras are on!
21-Jun-2021
With the recent news from the Norwegian government, we may have seen the last of COV19-related race cancelations. According to the ultra race overview from Kondis, Hornindal Rundt is the only planned, future event that is canceled. We hope all the rest now can stay in the green!
Hell Backyard went down last Saturday, with Jon Asphjell establishing himself as the new backyard king. If I'm not wrong, this was his 4th backyard win if we count the virtual Østmarka Backyard in addition to two KBUTCs and this latest addition. Jon's stated goal this season is to qualify for Big's by winning Østmarka Backyard (14th of August).
Salomon Xreid Femunden is going as planned this week, with start on Friday noon at Elgå, and the finish line in Røros awaiting the participants some 10-20 or even 30 hours later.
Race season is here - for real!
16-Jun-2021
We are still affected by the corona pandemic, but at least we are able to organize sports events again. The SMVE, with it's adaptations due to local pandemic regulations, was a success. As was the newcomer 'Nøsen hundreds' last week. Lofoten UltraTrail went down last week, with only norwegian participants this time. The national ultra-trail championship in Molde had to postpone until september, but most races scheduled from mid June and onwards are good to go. Hell Backyard this weekend, Xreid next week and so on. Good luck to everyone. Looking forward to see you soon - it will be great to meet again!
ITRA and UTMB...
16-Jun-2021
The International Trail Running Association - ITRA - has updated their web site. Not without challenges. The downtime was several days, and the result is not an obvious improvement. Sadly, the conversion from old to new seems to have introduced many errors. Check your runner profile, results files etc. If you are a race organizer (like KrUltra), you should also check your events for errors. I have found several, and haven't been able to correct them yet.
In the meantime, UTMB has - finally - approved the applications from KrUltra for this years events. This means that both MMC, MVRF and KBUTC now have their races approved as UTMB qualifiers as follows:
- Meråker Mountain Challenge, Ultra: 3 points
- Moon Valley Run Festival, 7 lakes: 2 points
- Moon Valley Run Festival, 17 lakes: 3 points
- Kruke's Backyard Ultra-Trail Challenge
- 4 loops: 1 point (approved)
- 8 loops: 2 points (pending)
- 12 loops: 3 points (approved)
- 16 loops: 4 points (pending)
- 20 loops: 5 points (pending)
- 25 loops: 6 points (pending)
KBUTC update
07-Jun-2021
ITRA has adjusted their score for KBUTC, and we now need 8 loops to gain 2 points. Web site and race manual has been updated to reflect this.
We now have 18 registered participants for the 2021 event. Startlist.
Summer-time is running-time!
26-May-2021
May is coming to an end, and summer is here. Warm winds, bright sun and dry tracks awaits!
Many take the opportunity to complete this year's virtual Malvikingen Opp. We count 17 finishers so far, and expect a few more as the weather forecast promises perfect conditions for the last-chance-weekend that is coming up.
We also have 17 brave people registered for the KBUTC. With only 8 vacant spots, those who are sitting on the fence should consider coming down before it's too late!
KBUTC 2021 half full
14-Apr-2021
Half empty or half full? No matter how you see it, half of the available places for this years KBUTC have been reserved. Many familiar names on the startlist. We LOVE return customers 
We are also happy to present this year's motto:
KBUTC 2021 open for registration
31-Mar-2021
As from now, the registration for KBUTC 2021 is open. Please check out the race's home page for more information and links!
Please also note the date for the 2021 event: 16th of October (not 23rd)!
Malvikingen Opp 2021
31-Mar-2021
Vi ser oss dessverre nødt til å kansellere Malvikingen Opp for andre gang på rad på grunn av korona-pandemien. Det blir for usikkert med gjennomføring tidlig i mai, og vi satser i stedet på en åpen variant som i fjor. Det vil si at de som gjennomfører løypa, med dokumentert bevis, i løpet av mai vil få registrert godkjent gjennomføring på adelskalenderen for Malvikingn Opp. Mer informasjon på løpets hjemmeside og facebookside.
Jon Asphjell wins again!
20-Oct-2020
Weather and trail conditions were challenging, but Jon Asphjell returned to defend his victory from last year - with success! He finished 12 loops, while the runner up, Kentaro Indo, quit after 11.
Check in on the KBUTC page, where you will also find link to the race results for 2020 and an updated Hall of Fame.
KBUTC 2020 - ready to rumble!
11-Oct-2020
Last details are coming in order, and we are very excited to welcome 20+ participants to this years edition of Kruke's Backyard on Saturday 17th!
We are working to provide live results this year as well, and link will be provided on race day. We try to add some new improvements each and every year. Still, we follow the KISS principle - keeping it stupid simple - whenever we can, so don't expect too much luxury!
Our KBUTC home page links to the updated list of participants, and you will also find a brand new "Hall of fame" as well as a collection of DNS'ers 'laying flat'. Check it out!
This year's motto is "Marching On Together" - appropriate for a very special pandemic-ridden year (as well as paying tribute to my fav English football team, Leeds United, finally back in the top league again!) 
Steady growth for MVRF
23-Aug-2020
The second Moon Valley Run Festival (MVRF) went down this weekend and was a great success. The ultra distance - 17 Lakes - had 15 finishers, and Kilian Jornet was of course the winner with a solid course record just below 8 hours.
The weather was great for running, with nice temperature, good visibility and only gentle and sporadic showers. The course is at times very technical, going up and down to cross steep ridges between the lakes of Måndalen. Wet surfaces, tricky boulders and off-track sections with only gps navigation takes down the speed considerably. The views are spectacular and the organizers do a splendid jobb at 17 checkpoints and three food stations.
Next year's event will take place on the 14th-15th of August, and I predict a solid growth in participation - at least if the pandemic is under control at that time. Congratulations to the organizers and all participants at both the vertical, 7 lakes and 17 lakes runs!
KBUTC 2020 - registration closed
12-Aug-2020
Despite minimal PR and advertisements, registration for the 2020 KBUTC is now closed because we have reached the limit of participation - including a generous no-show buffer. The KBUTC startlist shows 32 names, including familiar ones like defending champion Jon Asphjell and local heroes Sindre Johannessen and Geir Jakobsen. We are also happy to welcome quite a few newcomers. Do they know what awaits? I wonder... :-)
KBUTC environmental footprint
11-Jul-2020
As the KBUTC startlist keeps filling up with participants from all over the world - 21 runners from eight nations so far - the question is how this is possible with both corona travel restrictions and the race's aim to keep a low environmental footprint? As it happens, all participants are traveling by car, local public transport or even on bike or by walking from their nearby homes. Many foreign runners live in Norway, and most of our participants work or study in the Trondheim area.
Off to a good start
03-Jun-2020
The 2020 KBUTC registration of applications has had a good start. A total of 18 have already been cleared for the competition. We see many familiar names from the previous years, but also some newcomers. The startlist is updated and available.
KBUTC 2020 - registration open
27-May-2020
The 2020 KBUTC is now open for registration of applications!
Malvikingen Opp 2020
07-Apr-2020
The 2020 edition of Malvikingen Opp has been cancelled due to corona.
Or has it?
The organizers has launched a new challenge; those who complete the race course any time between now and the 10th of May will be recognized as valid 2020 participants on the race's all-time list. This would count towards reaching the various Malvikingen Opp shields. Some may even reach the silver level this year by completing all 10 events since the inaugural 2011 edition. Others may reach for the bronze level, wich requires 5 participations.
More info on the web site (link in the menu above) and on facebook.
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