Kullamannen by UTMB - 2025

Friday 31 October at 18:00 CET I lined up in Höganäs in Sweden 🇸🇪 for the 100 mile Kullamannen by UTMB ultra trail. I reached the tennis arena finish in Båstad on Saturday night after 26 hours 41 minutes of trail- and road running, earning a second finisher ring and basically collapsing onto a pizza 🍕 🤣.

Race Gear

Below you see my race gear. Just the bare essentials to survive in Sweden 🇸🇪 😂…

Head lamps (primary and backup - both with spare batteries) and a light(/reflective) vest. Emergency gear: blanket and first aid kit. Many many gels … as in ~20 for the initial part of the route until the (one and only) dropbag zone after 120K (and 10 more gels for after that). Salt tablets. Three 500 ml water flasks, a soup cup and a normal collapsible cup. Toilet paper emergency kit 💩. Extra calories. Hiking poles (Leki). Extra long-sleeved running shirt. Extra waterproof gloves, jacket and trousers.

Arrival in Båstad

We arrived in Båstad Thursday the 30th - the day before the race. We as in my entire family: Me, my wife Teresa and our 3 children: Casper, Isabella and Noah 🤩. Before we even found Båstad, all of us got ourselves a HUGE bag of Swedish Lösgodis (candy) 🍬. I saved mine until after the race 😇…

We checked in at Hotel Skansen which was right next to the race venue and race finish line. This year the finish line was inside Båstads famous Tennis court. They had already started setting it all up when we arrived. And there were evidence of “UTMB” all around us 👻.

Race Bib Collection

Friday in Båstad was a family affair: exploring the expo, checking the pumpkin-lined hotel, letting my son hunt for my name on the official UTMB tee, and picking up the bib bag with all the mandatory pieces.

Race Briefing and Start

Later on - Friday afternoon - I took the shuttle bus from Båstad to Höganäs. In Höganäs there was a race briefing in the sports hall. After that we went to the starting line.

At the starting line the loudspeakers emitted a (quite amusing) pre-start prayer before the church bells rang. That was our start signal: The Kullamannen knight on horseback led us out beneath neon lights while the crowd cheered for us.

Race in Action

Then followed a very long night run stretch: roughly 13 hours of darkness. Costal paths and forests. Hilly (particularly up/down Kullaberg; Kulla “Mountain”) sections and flat sections. The weather was super nice, helping make a very nice night run.

Up until 100K…110K or so I felt really great. The morning hours were particularly fantastic. And the road running towards Båstad too (beautiful scenery). Energy felt ok - and no stomach issues etc.

At around 09:45 I reached Båstad… the first time. See, Båstad was in addition to being the finish line also “just” the 120K aid station. Here the drop bag awaited. So think about that for a second: There was a single drop bag location and it was after 120K. You’d normally expect either a few of them and/or one after 80K or so. But Kullamannen is different in many ways 😈.

Then off to do the remaining 50K 🤣. And then it got real. In all honesty my power had started to decline before this point - I wasn’t running very well. And soon after I almost couldn’t run anymore. I was forced to walk a lot, attempting to run whenever I had the energy for it. But it only got worse. And worse. For 50K … so the last part was really hard.

On fresh legs it would have been a breeze - but on these super hammered legs it just took quite a while 😂. The last part was also actually super hard - not particularly due to elevation, but more due to long segments of running on small, medium and big stones. Mini boulders 🪨. Effective at exhausting legs, feet and will power.

And of course the second round of darkness began too (starting Saturday at around 16:00). That and then rain 🌧️. That meant: muddy trails up/down the remaining mountain (/hilly) parts. The last descent took me an eternity because my legs were too weak to carry me strong down the mountain. And it was very slippery - super dangerous. Brutal. But you know what they say … “It’s all good training” 😂 👍🏻.

Take a look at the last photo: the weird building illuminated with red light. That was the race’ epilogue: around 5K before the finish line. The race organizers had made the most fantastic loop up to that “castle-looking” building. There were burning torches and theme music playing all the way up to it. And back again 😉 … see after having run up to that, we were sent further away from the finish line! - to cover the remaining 4K. I tried something similar last year (2024) so I saw it coming. But I can imagine the dispair from many runners finding out they weren’t close at all to the finish line 😂.

But let me emphasize: The ending they made this year was the best I’ve ever tried in any race. So original. I simply loved it.

Finish Line

After 26 hours 41 minutes (ish) and 173K (ish) I reached the finish line. Completing the longest race distance ever and also spending the most time out on a race ever.

I was met by my lovely family there. In fact Casper, my youngest boy, joined me to run the last meters all the way to crossing the finish line 🥰. And, of great importance, I got my second Kullamannen ring 👏🏼, earned another 4 UTMB running stones, and a nice pizza at the hotel.

Sunday morning I had the biggest breakfast ever - exactly what I needed 🤤.

By the way: The cup is from the UTMB race venue … I had to buy it myself. But how could I not 😂?

Recommended?

Yes, 100% 🤠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

If you need a true hardcore ultra trail running challenge, then look no further. It’s not that it has the most elevation. But it is extremely tough for other reasons, such as: hard running trails (stones, gnarly trails, muddy paths, leafy forest undergrounds hiding roots and other obstacles), endless night hours, few aid stations forcing you to be more self sufficient than for many other “by UTMB” races, Swedish autumn weather conditions etc.

The 100 miler route has elevation too. It is cleverly concentrated on a few points on the long 173 kilometer route - so you will indeed feel the 2500 meters of elevation gain that my watch measured 🏔️🐐. I was happy that I brought my Hiking poles for sure.

Additionally, it is very well organized from race bib collection, to shuttle logistics to finish-line flow. It has an omnipresent authentic atmosphere. From the communication before the race, to the race start and to the finish line race venue near Hotel Skansen. And it has the best closing kilometres (see the epilogue description above).

And of course: Swedish spectators cheering when you need it the most. And you will 😂