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The Tough Viking testing endurance

A 5km race near the Arctic Circle brings together over 300 participants with each step testing their endurance levels.

The race takes place in Levi, Finland, and it's the world's northernmost obstacle race - 170km north of Arctic Circle.
By Al Jazeera
Published On 15 Mar 2015

Tough Viking is the largest and toughest obstacle race series in the Nordics.

This year, a total of nine races will be organised in the Nordic countries, two of which are in Finland.

The first, the Arctic Tough Viking was held in Levi, Finland, and is the first extreme obstacle race in the world.

The race was held 170km north of the Arctic Circle with over 300 participants and around 1,500 spectators.

”Arctic Tough Viking is truly a unique race, which combines both physical and psychological strength and endurance,” said race director Jaakko Huovila.

“We are especially excited about the obstacles that we have designed in cooperation with the Finnish Defence Forces.”

The 5km route included obstacles and also forced the participants to crawl, carry logs, run up and down the super pipe and jumping into Arctic ice water tank.

The race course measures 5km (in snow) - with a vertical climb of over 250m - and has 15 obstacles along the route.
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Over 300 enthusiasts took part in the race with an estimated 1,500 spectators.
The route comprised tough climbs, deep snow, crawling, cargo net climbing, rope balancing, and carrying logs.
Participants also need to run up and down the super pipe, climbing over massive walls and huge wooden coils and running up a 6m high ramp made out of snow.
At the end of the race, the participants will be blasted with snow guns before jumping into arctic ice water tank.
Two of the obstacles are designed by the Finnish Defence Forces, including a physically and mentally challenging, over 10m long Quinchee snow tunnel. Relief is visible on the partcipants' faces as they approach the finish line.
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