FKT Report – Storsjön Circumnavigation
Part of my Five Lake Challenge
This was my second lake in the Five Lake Challenge I’ve set myself.
I travelled up the day before to stay with my friend, Chris, who would be crewing me. Trying to keep the challenge as environmentally friendly as possible, I took public transport all the way from home — suitcase, backpack and cooler bag in tow. Photos show part of the journey to the start as well as the type of fuel I was using. The VOOM nutrition bars were a delight to eat - something new for me.
On Friday morning (12th September), Chris drove me into Östersund. We parked down by the lake in the long-stay car park, just a short walk from the centre. After a final toilet stop at the public facilities nearby, I made my way to Stortorget, the official start point. Chris suggested The Bishop’s Arms pub as my start/finish landmark — a nice nod to our British roots. I touched the door, Chris hit record, and I started the GPX on my Garmin Enduro 3. I’d made a slight adjustment to the route earlier in the week after spotting an anomaly near Mattmar.
The weather forecast promised cloud until midday, then sun, with temps between 9–16°C. A light breeze made running comfortable. I started in jumper and trousers and was glad to wear them. At around 3 km I hit a detour, trusted my instincts instead of checking the phone, and promptly got lost. Not being able to cross the train line complicated things. A couple of kilometres later I was back on track — laughing it off, but with an extra kilometre already added on top of the 206 km loop.
Pit Stops
I had mapped out stops where Chris could park, I could refuel, and (ideally) have access to toilets:
- 27 km – Tand substation
- 61.5 km – Svenstavik ICA
- 90 km – Myrviken
- 113 km – Låsbolé
- 135 km – Ocke camp site
- 155 km – Mallbyn rest area
- 171 km – Ytterån Circle K
- 185 km – Krokom rest area
Early on, the stops were further apart, but as the run progressed I shortened the gaps to ~20 km (just over 2 hours) for better rhythm, morale, and foot care. That strategy worked well — I wouldn’t change it.
Early Stages (0–90 km)
The first 60 km brought a couple of downpours, but morale stayed high. I rotated clothes, brushed teeth, drank protein shakes (water-based), and kept breaks short — 10–15 minutes max. Putting my legs up each time after the first stop helped recovery.
After leaving Svenstavik I rang my Nana to wish her a happy 98th birthday. I used the first kilometre or so of each restart to walk and loosen up stiff legs, sometimes making calls — a small mental boost.
By Myrviken (90 km) it was getting dark. I had my first proper solids — mashed potato — but quickly got cold. A short chat with my wife lifted spirits as I headed into the night.
Middle Stages (90–155 km)
The plan was to meet Chris at Låsbolé (113 km), but I found him asleep roadside at about 113km — one hour ahead of my schedule. I let him rest and pushed on, conserving Tailwind as my stomach was a little unsettled.
By not stopping here I skipped one pit stop entirely, saving ~20 minutes, and carried on to 124km where Chris met me. After this stop I pushed on around Ockesjön. Technically I didn’t need to — if you cross the water at its meeting point with Storsjön you can cut out ~14 km. At night, though, running past the rapids felt safer (but it would have been more epic and easier on the legs to go across the water). Future runners: a boat crossing here could save around 100 minutes.
Part of this section was gravel with lots of potholes, and I was trying to conserve headtorch battery after forgetting the spare, so pace dipped slightly. Still, I reached Mallbyn rest area (155 km) 90 minutes ahead of target, joking with Chris we might have breakfast in Östersund instead of lunch.
Final Stages (155–206+ km)
The joke didn’t age well.
At Mallbyn I’d planned a quick 20-minute reset — porridge, coffee, toilet, socks. But when I pulled my socks off I found new blisters. Foot care stretched into a 55-minute stop. Heading back out, the pain from a blister under my right foot was intense. At 163 km, one popped, leaving me in agony. Chris helped bandage it, and from then on I switched to power hiking with poles.
This was crushing — I’d been so far ahead of target, feeling strong, but was reduced to walking the last 42 km. Still, it’s exactly these experiences that build resilience for the future.
My Topo Atmos shoes performed well overall: excellent cushioning and roomy toe box. The problems came from:
- Insoles for pronation, which seem to have caused friction under the foot.
- Swelling, which pushed big toes into the shoe edge.
Next time I’ll likely rotate into a half-size-up pair after ~100 km. Thanks to Injinji toe socks and Vaseline, I avoided toe-to-toe blisters entirely — a first on such a long run.
Walking with poles was exhausting in its own way. 10:30 min/km felt harder than the 6:30 min/km I’d been running earlier. I also struggled to get calories down as I was holding poles rather than opening gels or drinking tailwind, and definitely under-fuelled the last 42km. Around 3 km from the finish I mentally shut down - not sure if this was due to lack of fuel or I knew it was near the end - one foot in front of the other - that's all I needed to do. Chris walked the final stretch with me.
With 300 m to go my right knee gave a shooting pain that nearly floored me. Thankfully the poles carried me into Stortorget. I touched the Bishop’s Arms door and immediately rewarded myself with the mjukglass I’d been fantasising about for the last 30 km.
Reflections
If anyone else takes on this route:
- Consider a boat crossing at ~135 km (Ockesjön junction) to save ~14 km.
- A slightly earlier start time would make for an earlier finish the following day - if that's what you'd like.
- September seems a great time: cool but not cold, and no mosquitoes.
Despite the tough finish, I wouldn’t change much else. These challenges are as much about problem-solving as running, and every problem teaches me something new for the next one.
I'd like to give Chris Pawley a big shout out for crewing me on this run. I couldn't have made such good progress on the run without him and the way he helped me deal with not only the blister problems but also looked after me after the finish when I didn't feel great was massively welcomed. I know he won't want to crew me again anytime soon but he'll be a miss on my next one.
As ever, if anyone wants advice or to talk through an attempt, feel free to reach out. Onto planning for my next Five Lake Challenge...
Run. Repeat. Inspire.