RUN NORGE PÅ LANGS 2022
IDEA
"Norge på langs" means "The length of Norway". It's a legendary adventure and a dream of every active Norwegian. However, just a few people ever dare to fulfill it. There is only one rule. To get from Lindesnes lighthouse in the very south of Norway to the northernmost point of the country, fabled Nordkapp, using only your own power. It doesn't matter which way or direction you choose. Whether you walk on the road or follow mountain trails, go by bike or sea kayak, that's completely up to you. On foot it usually takes from 4 up to 6 months. So far only two people have run it. The runners ran only through civilisation, on the asphalt roads full of cars, nonstop supported by their teams, and they took the shortest possible way, which was 2550 km. Very good sport achievement, but...
Our aim and "perception of an adventure" is totally different.
Filmmaker Petr decided to do the first clean wilderness run ever. Supported by small dedicated media team, he will run alone. His goal is to find and establish the most beautiful path across of Norway. He will run 3000 km through cold unknown mountains, gruelling wetlands with billions of mosquitoes, across the never ending subarctic plateaus. Very often in pure pathless wilderness far from civilization. He'll also try to climb 7 iconic Norwegian mountains. Our immodest goal, beside very authentic daily documentation, is to produce the best trail running film and film series ever made about an adventure like this. Daring words, we know! Will we succeed? It's going to be a life changing experience in the best European nature. Join the story...
TASTE THE ATMOSPHERE
I have been preparing this extremely difficult media project called "Run Norge på langs" (RNPL) for about 5 years. I explored most parts of Norway to know what route might be the nicest. I ran thousands of kilometres of paths on training trips, where I filmed hundreds of hours of film footage and tried to perfect the whole complex process. In 2022, all the aspects finally come together.
GOALS AND MESSAGE OF THE PROJECT
There are 3 main goals of this project
1) To find, finish and establish the most beautiful and clean "benchmark variant of NPL"
Petr has a few own rules. He wants to be fast, so the goal is to run all the runnable parts, of course. But at the same time, the absolute priority is to find "the most beautiful path across Norway", not the easiest or fastest! It often means long detours and a very hard wild terrain with no trails at all.
The goal is to stay off the asphalt roads as much as possible, ideally just to cross them!!! Petr will do the first "wilderness run across Norway" ever, as clean as possible right from the start, with no exits to easier terrains in Sweden, where most of the NPL thru hikers go.
2) World class adventure film & film series about NPL + innovative daily reports
We are mainly filmmakers, so capturing the story of our journey and the "general Norge Pa Langs story" in raw, authentic and professional way is our absolute priority! Much bigger than just running NPL itself. Our cameras must be ready even in the most difficult situations and crisis. Anywhere, every day, several months in a row. This is our strength.
Running the length of Norway in a clean style is super tough challenge itself, even without filming. On such trip, you are tired already after the first week. Filming the whole process and sharing sophisticated daily reports for more than 2 months turn it into absolutely crazy multilayered mental adventure. All details about media outputs HERE
We believe that a strong film can turn "Norge pa langs" into a new "trail legacy" like for example world-famous PCT - Pacific Crest Trail in the USA. Just nicer and a much harder.
3) To do something for "greater good"
It's not only the journey of the body but mainly the "journey of the mind." And this is what matters most in this crazy world we live in the last years. In our preparations, daily reports and the movie we want to talk about meaningful values, healthier life routines, focus, self-discipline, environmental issues etc. We are open to even much bigger ideas in this field.
ROUTE
July - September 2022
Average length of NPL thru-hike is around 2600 - 2700 km, depending on which way you choose. Petr wants to connect the most interesting and various parts of Norway into a logical clean stunning trail. Clean means "to stay off the asphalt roads as much as possible, ideally just to cross them!
Estimated length of this ideal clean variant is 3000 km.
Best case scenario would be to run about 50 km per day = 60 days. However... It won't be real every day. It sounds nice on the paper, but reality it is sometimes much more difficult.
We are in Scandinavia, far in the north. Our route often leads through vast pathless wilderness. In some parts Petr will have to find a way through the labyrinths of steep rock walls, thick forests, deep fjords, glaciers, wild rivers, wetlands etc. In such parts, it is succes if you "run" 1 km per hour, no matter how strong you are. On good trails in some famous national parks like Hardangervidda, you can be quite fast and do up to 90 km in one day.
Our chosen NPL variant is incredibly rich on all kinds of beautiful landscapes. It leads across the most important mountain ranges and plateaus and includes the highest peaks and wildest places of the whole Scandinavia.
Each part of this route is generally very physically demanding. And then there are 2 extremely difficult parts, which we call "Mysterious southern jungle" and "Norwegian Yosemite". In these 2 parts, all other NPL thru-hikers always walk or bike long parts on the asphalt roads, use the ferry boats or go through Sweden in much milder terrain.
We will always try to go through Nature and always try to stay only on Norwegian soil.
Click here for all the interesting details about the ROUTE AND STRATEGY
Exploring the hardest terrain of the whole NPL trip in the narrowest part of Norway between Narvik and Sulitjelma
WHY IS OUR PROJECT "DIFFERENT"?
This multimedia project has many interesting aspects. Sports, adventurous, entertaining, motivational, educational and also commercial. We believe it is real and we believe that it will lead us towards even bigger goals in the future.
1) Historically first clean off/trail run across the most beautiful country in the world
-
no asphalt roads
-
we stay only in Norway
-
establishing new trail across whole Norway
2) 100% authenticity - we think big and YES, we know we are stepping on thin ice - please read more about our ethics
3) Variety of activities
-
Climbing 7 iconic Norwegian mountains - Petr will try to climb to the top of Hårteigen, Kyrkja, Galdhøpiggen, Store Svuku, Kvingtinden, Okssolten and Gasskatjåhkkå + several less known mountains along his way north
-
Blåmannsissen glacier traverse - the only way how to get from Sulitjelma to Narvik fjellet with "dry feet" and not using the main E6 road or Sweden. Most dangerous part of the whole trip.
-
Sea kayaking - in case of steady weather, the runner will try to get to Magerøya (here lies mysterious Nordkapp, the final destination of our journey) on the sea. People normally use the 7 km long underwater tunnel.
-
Canoeing on rivers Susna, Reisaelva and paddling the southern part of lake Femunden
4) Daily reports from the run
Both runner Petr and Radka in the support team will share visually attractive daily reports on several types of social media and also here, on this dedicated website, where it will "stay forever". Photos, short smart video stories, sometimes livestream from the run and of course backstage point of view. Every day we will also post facts about the current area, daily maps, statistics, equipment etc.
We won't publish just a few simple Instagram-stories, but hopefully interesting level of newscast straight from the action.
5) Motivation and going for dreams
"Hardest run across Norway... Detailed daily reports... World-class film, succesful film series and a cool book... Wow... "
It all probably sounds like a total SCI-FI, naivity or at least total lack of self-consciousness. Right?
It would be a very hard work even for a big film teams, and not for just 2 people with small budget. Yes, normally yes! It will be brutal and we are fully avare of it.
But sometimes pure passion is stronger than all the money in the world...
We have worked hard on perfecting every aspect of the whole process for 5 hard years with many ups and downs. It is Petr's life project, where he can use all the skills he got during his 16 years of professional outdoor sports filmmaking. Radka is super hardworking, reliable, creative and equally motivated as him. It's a great match for project like this.
Read about our filming strategy HERE
We will try to reach high level of sharing such a complex outdoor project, yes. But at the same time, we will put huge emphasis on preserving the authentic atmosphere and genuine spirit of a small and free adventurous journey.
Become a part of this story...