April 05, 2016 (Thunder Bay, ON) – The 24 Hours of Lappe was held over this past weekend at the Lappe Nordic Ski Club with some skiers attaining notable distances in 24 hours or less while raising money for the sport.

Werner Schwar achieved a remarkable 312km skied in the solo male 24h race, averaging 13kmh while Heather Froese skied 145km in the solo female 24h race. Meanwhile, the 24h Open (mixed) Team Raha Joukkue accumulated 506km between them, averaging 21kmh.

Thunder Bay native and former national champion Mike Somppi, recorded the fastest lap of the day, skiing the 5.29km loop in 12 minutes 16 seconds. Somppi continued for the long haul and racked up 201km in the 12 hours solo race while averaging 17.24kmh.

The first edition of the 24 Hours of Lappe dates back to 1997 when a former National Team Development Centre (NDC) coach wanted a quick way to pad his kilometre count; the event has grown into a fun event for skiers of all abilities. The idea is to ski as far as you can on a 5.29km loop in either 24, 12, or 6 hours.

The event also doubles as a fundraiser for the Lappe Nordic and the NDC; both organizations exceeded their fundraising goals in 2016. NDC head coach Timo Puiras mentioned that these fundraising efforts help develop future Olympians in the Thunder Bay area.

Two teams from Duluth, Minnesota added an international flavour to the race. Conditions were described as “midwinter” by local media.

Full results can be found here.

Article in Thunder Bay Newswatch here.