{"id":4192,"date":"2024-03-27T11:25:05","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T11:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fossavatn.is\/?p=4192"},"modified":"2024-03-27T11:41:21","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T11:41:21","slug":"ur-gagnagrunni-fossavatnsgongunnar-grein-i-skidabladinu-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fossavatn.is\/en\/ur-gagnagrunni-fossavatnsgongunnar-grein-i-skidabladinu-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Fossavatnsgangan database: an article in the 2024 local ski magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the ski magazine 2024 (which you can read on Snjor.is together with all older ski magazines<\/a>) is an article with various information about the Fossavatnsgangan results database. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article is reprinted here for fun. It is machine translated from Icelandic but the most glaring errors have been corrected by hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

From the Fossavatnsgangan database<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fossavatnsgangan was first run in 1935 and is celebrating its 90th anniversary next year. The route has always been in one way or another from Fossavatn above Engidal and over to Seljalandsdal, although the passage of time and various factors have had an effect on it that will not be discussed here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For quite some time now, I have been working on compiling results from previous years' tunnels into one comprehensive database. Both results have been unpublished, or published in inaccessible excel documents that are difficult to understand properly. With a complete database, you can easily see all the results of each person, and compile various statistical information about the number and more. In order for this to happen, it is necessary to coordinate presentation, ensure that time measurements are machine-readable, that participants' names are recorded the same throughout time (which is especially hard work for participants with middle names), that common names are distinguished and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although I put the foundation together and it was hard work, it builds on the work of many others. The first is to mention the volunteers who have taken care of timing and registration of information every year. Gu\u00f0mundur Sveinsson was devoted to it in the first few years. Gu\u00f0mundur \u00c1g\u00fastsson made great strides in these matters in the eighties and nineties. His son Hlynur helped, Gu\u00f0mundur Rafn Kristj\u00e1nsson (Muggur) also, Einar \u00c1g\u00fast Yngvason and Heimir Hansson. El\u00edas Oddsson technicalized the time trial and was the prime mover there for years until Birgir \u00de\u00f3r Halld\u00f3rsson took over and he has been doing it for the last few years. Finishing and coordinating, typing and programming has been in my hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources can sometimes be found on special papers that have been found, sometimes results have been published in newspapers and on various other platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with recording the results, I have compiled information about walks where it is available, both about periods, dates, location and length of routes and so on. The information is quite fragmentary though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, results have been lost for two years and there seems little chance that this will be improved. However, Kitti Muggs is known to have conquered those tunnels\u2014this was in his golden age\u2014and has been awarded a total time of 100 minutes for those tunnels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The date of the Fossavatnsgangan<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The first thing to look at is the time of year. Before, there was little rule on the dates and it was decided in early March all the way back to the end of May. A rule arrived at dates around 1980 and was then based on the end of the month April-May. It has since been waived for various reasons and the date is now determined based on the following rule: Fossavatnsgangan is held on the last Saturday of winter except when it falls on the Easter weekend, in which case the procession is the Saturday before Palm Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Number of recorded hours<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Next is to look at the number of participants. The figure shows how the number first takes off around the 1970s, rises slowly from the turn of the century, but then explodes in 2014 and beyond. In the epidemic year of 2020, the procession fell down and has not reached its former number since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most participation years<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Although the Fossavatnsgangan is in itself a race to finish first, its aim has always been broader than that; to promote the practice of skiing, create goals for practitioners, bring people together and enjoy the outdoors on their own terms, to name a few. It is therefore appropriate to select first the individuals who have participated most often, regardless of the number of victories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a top 20 list of those who have participated most often and walked the most kilometers in the race. If a participant does two or more races in the same year, only the longest one is valid, and race are calculated with an regardless of distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Name<\/td>Distance<\/td>Number of races<\/td>First walk<\/td>Last walk<\/td><\/tr>
Odd P\u00e9tursson<\/td>931 km<\/td>49 <\/td>1955<\/td>2012<\/td><\/tr>
Gunnar P\u00e9tursson<\/td>926 km<\/td>46 <\/td>1955<\/td>2012<\/td><\/tr>
Halld\u00f3r Margeirsson<\/td>1091 km<\/td>46 <\/td>1968<\/td>2021<\/td><\/tr>
\u00c1rni A\u00f0albjarnarson<\/td>1018 km<\/td>45 <\/td>1970<\/td>2023<\/td><\/tr>
Sigur\u00f0ur Jonsson<\/td>875 km<\/td>44 <\/td>1938<\/td>2007<\/td><\/tr>
Kristj\u00e1n Rafn Gu\u00f0mundsson<\/td>910 km<\/td>42 <\/td>1962<\/td>2014<\/td><\/tr>
Einar \u00c1g\u00fast Yngvason<\/td>1233 km<\/td>39 <\/td>1978<\/td>2023<\/td><\/tr>
Elias Sveinsson<\/td>846 km<\/td>39 <\/td>1967<\/td>2012<\/td><\/tr>
Oskar K\u00e1rason<\/td>792 km<\/td>38 <\/td>1971<\/td>2019<\/td><\/tr>
Sigur\u00f0ur Gunnarsson<\/td>753 km<\/td>36 <\/td>1967<\/td>2023<\/td><\/tr>
St\u00edgur St\u00edgsson<\/td>704 km<\/td>34 <\/td>1958<\/td>2015<\/td><\/tr>
Arn\u00f3r St\u00edgsson<\/td>621 km<\/td>32 <\/td>1958<\/td>2005<\/td><\/tr>
Konrad Eggertsson<\/td>626 km<\/td>30 <\/td>1976<\/td>2023<\/td><\/tr>
Sigur\u00f0ur Sigur\u00f0sson<\/td>679 km<\/td>30 <\/td>1955<\/td>2017<\/td><\/tr>
Gunnlaugur J\u00f3nasson (1930)<\/td>524 km<\/td>29 <\/td>1970<\/td>2018<\/td><\/tr>
Thrush J\u00f3hannesson<\/td>642 km<\/td>28 <\/td>1974<\/td>2010<\/td><\/tr>
Gu\u00f0j\u00f3n H. H\u00f6skuldsson<\/td>521 km<\/td>27 <\/td>1967<\/td>2012<\/td><\/tr>
Ragnar Bragason<\/td>1080 km<\/td>27 <\/td>1993<\/td>2023<\/td><\/tr>
P\u00e9tur P\u00e9tursson<\/td>546 km<\/td>26 <\/td>1936<\/td>2014<\/td><\/tr>
Einar \u00d3lafsson<\/td>750 km<\/td>25 <\/td>1978<\/td>2023<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Top 20: Women<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Here is a top 20 list of women who have participated most often and walked the most kilometers in the walk. If a participant walks two or more walks in the same year, only the longest one is valid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Name<\/td>Distance<\/td>Number of races<\/td>First walk<\/td>Last walk<\/td><\/tr>
Rannveig Halld\u00f3rsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>927 km<\/td>24 <\/td>1997<\/td>2023<\/td><\/tr>
Au\u00f0ur Yngvad\u00f3ttir<\/td>530 km<\/td>22 <\/td>1980<\/td>2019<\/td><\/tr>
J\u00f3na Lind Kristj\u00e1nsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>554 km<\/td>19 <\/td>1998<\/td>2023<\/td><\/tr>
R\u00f3sa \u00deorsteinsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>345 km<\/td>17 <\/td>1996<\/td>2014<\/td><\/tr>
Silja R\u00e1n Gu\u00f0mundsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>213 km<\/td>17 <\/td>1997<\/td>2015<\/td><\/tr>
Gu\u00f0bj\u00f6rg R\u00f3s Sigur\u00f0ard\u00f3ttir<\/td>439 km<\/td>16 <\/td>1991<\/td>2018<\/td><\/tr>
Katr\u00edn Sif Kristbj\u00f6rnsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>364 km<\/td>16 <\/td>1998<\/td>2023<\/td><\/tr>
Stella Hjaltadottir<\/td>592 km<\/td>16 <\/td>1985<\/td>2019<\/td><\/tr>
J\u00f3hanna Oddsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>295 km<\/td>15 <\/td>2002<\/td>2018<\/td><\/tr>
Kristin H\u00e1lfd\u00e1nsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>270 km<\/td>15 <\/td>1995<\/td>2018<\/td><\/tr>
Arna Kristbj\u00f6rnsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>221 km<\/td>14 <\/td>2002<\/td>2019<\/td><\/tr>
Emel\u00eda \u00de\u00f3r\u00f0ard\u00f3ttir<\/td>377 km<\/td>14 <\/td>2000<\/td>2015<\/td><\/tr>
Katr\u00edn \u00c1rnad\u00f3ttir (1983)<\/td>318 km<\/td>14 <\/td>1994<\/td>2019<\/td><\/tr>
Oddn\u00fd Nj\u00e1lsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>146 km<\/td>14 <\/td>1993<\/td>2012<\/td><\/tr>
Sigr\u00ed\u00f0ur L\u00e1ra Gunnlaugsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>123 km<\/td>13 <\/td>1994<\/td>2018<\/td><\/tr>
Gerdur Steinth\u00f3rsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>295 km<\/td>12 <\/td>2007<\/td>2021<\/td><\/tr>
Ingibj\u00f6rg El\u00edn Magn\u00fasd\u00f3ttir<\/td>291 km<\/td>12 <\/td>1999<\/td>2023<\/td><\/tr>
Nanny Arna Gu\u00f0mundsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>307 km<\/td>12 <\/td>2000<\/td>2023<\/td><\/tr>
Gu\u00f0finna Hrei\u00f0arsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>339 km<\/td>11 <\/td>2002<\/td>2018<\/td><\/tr>
Gudn\u00fd Katr\u00edn Kristinsd\u00f3ttir<\/td>228 km<\/td>11 <\/td>2010<\/td>2023<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Most wins<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

When we count the number of victories, it can be done in various ways. Both have been competed in age groups and different distances, especially in recent times. If we limit the calculations to the longest distance of each year (excluding N\u00e6turfossavatnin), and skip sorting by age, Kristj\u00e1n Rafn Gu\u00f0mundsson comes out on top with twelve victories. Next is Einar \u00d3lafsson with seven victories, but he has considerably more gold after winning the 20 km walk in the first years that the 50 km walk was held.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Number<\/td>Name<\/td>Year<\/td><\/tr>
12<\/td>Kristj\u00e1n Rafn Gu\u00f0mundsson<\/td>1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>Einar \u00d3lafsson<\/td>1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1995, 1997<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>Stella Hjaltadottir<\/td>1985, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2001<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>Magnus Kristj\u00e1nsson<\/td>1935, 1936, 1937, 1938<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>Odd P\u00e9tursson<\/td>1955, 1956, 1957, 1961<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>Thrush J\u00f3hannesson<\/td>1978, 1979, 1980, 1981<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>Olaf Th. \u00c1rnason<\/td>2000, 2002, 2003, 2004<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>G\u00edsli Einar \u00c1rnason<\/td>1992, 1994, 1996<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>Au\u00f0ur Yngvad\u00f3ttir<\/td>1980, 1986, 1987<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best average speed<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

As all participants in the Fossavatnsgang can tell long stories about, the conditions vary greatly from year to year. Weather and snow conditions affect both how the walk works, but also which track you can tread. This means that there can be a considerable difference between the actual distance and the installed distance. In the old days, distance estimation was also quite imprecise. The total time of the winner is therefore not a particularly good measure of how the race is done, and manages to take an average speed. I have estimated the distance back to 2012 based on the average Strava registrations of the participants, but before that time an actual distance of 50 km is assumed. By convention, average speed is recorded as the number of minutes per kilometer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men with the highest average speed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Name<\/td>Year<\/td>Actual length<\/td>Time<\/td>Average speed<\/td><\/tr>
Ilya Chernousov<\/td>2018<\/td>50 km<\/td>02:13:59 <\/td>2:41<\/td><\/tr>
Mathias Aas Rolid<\/td>2023<\/td>46 km<\/td>02:04:02 <\/td>2:42<\/td><\/tr>
J\u00f8rgen Aukland<\/td>2006<\/td>50 km*<\/td>02:17:00 <\/td>2:44<\/td><\/tr>
Gard Gjerdalen<\/td>2006<\/td>50 km*<\/td>02:17:02 <\/td>2:44<\/td><\/tr>
Petter Soleng Skinstad<\/td>2023<\/td>46 km<\/td>02:06:42 <\/td>2:45<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

* Actual length not known and calculated with 50 km.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women with the highest average speed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Name<\/td>Year<\/td>Actual length<\/td>Time<\/td>Average speed<\/td><\/tr>
Maria Gr\u00e4fnings<\/td>2018<\/td>50 km<\/td>02:36:17 <\/td>3:08<\/td><\/tr>
Nadja Kaelin<\/td>2023<\/td>46 km<\/td>02:26:15 <\/td>3:11<\/td><\/tr>
Britta Johansson Norway<\/td>2017<\/td>50 km<\/td>02:41:03 <\/td>3:13<\/td><\/tr>
Anouk Faivre Picon<\/td>2018<\/td>50 km<\/td>02:45:20 <\/td>3:18<\/td><\/tr>
Selina Gasparin<\/td>2018<\/td>50 km<\/td>02:46:56 <\/td>3:20<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


The first 50 km walk was in 2004. Comparison back in time, before the start of the 50 km walk, is difficult for several reasons. Actual distances are imprecise. The walks are shorter, so a higher average speed could be expected. But equipment and conditions were more difficult. Thus, the first machine-trodden track was in 1967, and progress in skiing, pushing technology and various other things has been great when you look at almost a century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1965, when Kitti Muggs was in her prime, machine grooming had not yet begun. In that year, a report states that the walk began \"at the bottom of Engidalur at the top, then the usual route over Galtarhryggur, the goal below Gullh\u00f3ll, about 17 km\". Kitti's time was 1:03:36, which gives 3:44 min\/km.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The online database<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The database is online and open to everyone. <\/a>Naturally, the most fun is to look it up yourself. There is also an option to find your main opponents, which are the participants who have most often walked the same distance in the same year. It is still to be expected that there will be some pen slips or errors in the basis or the calculations, and any suggestions on this are welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00cd sk\u00ed\u00f0abla\u00f0inu 2024 (sem h\u00e6gt er a\u00f0 lesa \u00e1 Snjor.is \u00e1samt \u00f6llum eldri Sk\u00ed\u00f0abl\u00f6\u00f0um) er grein me\u00f0 \u00fdmsum uppl\u00fdsingum um gagnagrunn Fossavatnsg\u00f6ngunnar. Greinin hefst \u00e1 bls. 13, en er birt h\u00e9r til gamans, l\u00edti\u00f0 eitt aukin. Auk \u00feess hefur veri\u00f0 skili\u00f0 betur \u00ed sundur milli alnafna, en Sigur\u00f0ur J\u00f3nsson (B\u00fabbi prentari) var \u00ed prenta\u00f0ri \u00fatg\u00e1fu […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fossavatn.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fossavatn.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fossavatn.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fossavatn.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fossavatn.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4192"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fossavatn.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4199,"href":"https:\/\/fossavatn.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4192\/revisions\/4199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fossavatn.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fossavatn.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fossavatn.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fossavatn.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}