Vasaloppet’s Summer Week grew by 50 percent!

The three events CykelVasan, VasaStafetten and StavgångsVasan, which together make up Vasaloppet’s Summer Week and which all take place in Vasalopps Arena, this year attracted 12,522 registered entries. This is an increase of all of 50 percent compared with 2010.   

Vasaloppet’s Summer Week was launched in 2009 in connection with the arrangement of the first CykelVasan. This year, with 12,522 registered participants, saw a 50% increase compared with the 8,342 entries for the 2010 Summer Week. Above all it is CykelVasan which has contributed to this great increase, but even VasaStafetten (which also had record participation) of course contributed to the increase. StavgångsVasan this year attracted exactly the same number of entries as last year.
“In our vision we say that Vasalopps Arena should be an inspiration to activities all year round and the Summer Week offers a magnificent example of this,” says Vasaloppet’s CEO, Jonas Bauer.  

Does it feel that Vasaloppet’s Summer Week is now an established concept?
“Absolutely. That Vasaloppet is there and in action in the summer is now very clearly established. That we have a CykelVasa is something which is beginning to be very widely noticed, while VasaStafetten is more known in somewhat smaller circles. But I still believe that we have to bear in mind that there’s a lot of work left to establish the summer week widely known to the general public all over the country. But we’ve come a long way over these past three years, and we’re proud and happy about that.   

And we should also be grateful that we’ve come this far, since there has been so much voluntary effort and support, & from partners and others in the region, which makes it possible to run the summer week. There is no doubt at all that an important key to the success of CykelVasan is the Vasalopps Arena Project. This has made possible that, with the support of three municipalities, two saving forests and two Leader areas, we’ve been able to build up so much along the Vasaloppet course, and this year we’ve had enormous positive feedback about our cycle course. It was a big change from last year that we went down from eleven road crossings to only two, which meant that everything flowed well on both track and road – incredibly satisfying.”  

This was the third year for CykelVasan, the 21^st for VasaStafetten (of which the fourth under Vasaloppet’s management) and the ninth year for StavgångsVasan.
“Yes, and at the same time as we’ve had much exposure and attention for CykelVasan, we’ve also managed to communicate well around VasaStafetten so that it’s growing, and that pleases me just as much as CykelVasan’s success. When we took over the relay there were 302 teams and now it’s grown to a record 442 registered teams.  

As long as we don’t take StavgångsVasan into the system with advance registration, it will be a little different; but this year there was as many participants as last year, and we noted that there were more that took on the longer distances.”  

So Vasaloppet’s various races attract both elite and others, even in the summer!  
“Yes, and this is completely in line with our main competition, Vasaloppet, where the elite and all the recreational enthusiasts meet on exactly the same terms and conditions in the same arena. CykelVasan has become a fantastic example of this, a manifestation where we have the absolute best cyclists, like Gustav Larsson, together with sheer leisure bikers, and all can take on the same distance. In VasaStafetten, too, we had a really strong elite team but then there were all the marvellous gangs of friends who also ran. And this is really what Vasaloppet is all about, and all are heroes in their own way. It’s this which is so very fascinating,” concludes Jonas Bauer.

Facts: Vasaloppet Summer Week, summary 2011
                                          Entries        Started         Finished
CykelVasan 90 km             6028            5555           5417
CykelVasan 45 km             1131             988             981
CykelVasan 30 km               715             644             640
Total CykelVasan               7874             7187          7038
VasaStafetten (teams)        442              419            415
StavgångsVasan                  228               228            228
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Total                               12,522             11,605       11,416

Coming arrangements in Vasalopps Arena

Vasaloppets Winter Week 2012: 
Friday 24 Feb: KortVasan, 30 km. Start Oxberg.
Saturday 25 Feb: TjejVasan, 30 km Start Oxberg.
Sunday 26 Feb: UngdomsVasan, 3/5/7/9 km. Start Hemus.
Sunday 26 Feb: Öppet Spår, 90 km. Start Sälen.
Monday 27 Feb: Öppet Spår, 90 km. Start Sälen.
Tuesday 28 Feb: HalvVasan, 45 km. Start Oxberg.
Friday 2 Mar: SkejtVasan, 30/45 km. Start Oxberg.
Friday 2 Mar: StafettVasan 9 km – 24 km. Start Sälen.
Sunday 4 Mar: Vasaloppet, 90 km (FULL). Start Sälen.