Marcus Hellner and Gunde Svan are two of all those who go out in the ski tracks and stand on the starting line at 20.00 on Friday night gets to go the nine miles between Sälen and Mora.

The night vase is a party competition where you go two and two and then cross the finish line together.

Hellner goes with his friend Lars Tuoremaa, who competes for Kiruna X-country IF. The 34-year-old tells NSD that the shape is not the best. In all honesty, he has not trained or competed at all since his career ended in March 2018.

- I've been driving here this week and that's probably what I've done. I've been pretty much on the batsman here this winter and I've got four passes together, so it'll be exciting. I haven't really run anything since I quit, neither training nor competition. There has only been some running and cycling in the summers, he tells the magazine.

For the first time in life, nine miles now await skiing for the former Olympic gold winner.

- Now that I've been skiing a little, the craving has come back and I have a good idea that I will run some more competitions this spring. Skating and a little longer running would have been fun, he says.

HARD HISTORIES: Hellner, Olsson and the 2010 Olympics

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