{{Short description, Midnight summer running race in Sweden Midnattsloppet 2009

Women in fancy dress costumes at Midnight Run 2015 in Helsinki

Midnattsloppet (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

for "The Midnight Run") is a

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...

competition organised in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

and

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, as well as

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, by Midnattsloppet Nordic AB, a daughter company of

Hammarby IF Hammarby Idrottsförening ("Hammarby Sports Club"), commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of differ ...

.Företagsinformation på www.121.nu
Accessed 16 August 2010.

Stockholm

The first Midnattsloppet run was held in

Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is the southern district of Stockholm City Centre. Overview The Södermalm district covers the island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''), which, however, is not fully separated from th ...

in Stockholm in 1982 and has been held annually since. The length of the run varied until 1995, when it was set at 10 kilometres. In recent years, the run has been controlled by officially licensed referees. The run is held on a Saturday in the beginning of August every year. Originally starting at 22:00, since 2011 the first group starts at 21:30.Midnattsloppet home page
Accessed 22 July 2011. The number of participants varies between 15 thousand and 22 thousand, but the number of spectators is usually much greater. For children and youths, the Lilla midnattsloppet ("little midnight run") is held at 20:00 on the same evening. It started as Middagsloppet ("mid-day run") in 1990, and has since been shifted to the evening. The starting place for Midnattsloppet in Stockholm has been at

Zinkensdamms IP Zinkensdamms idrottsplats, usually ''Zinkensdamms IP'' or colloquially ''Zinken'' or ''Zinkens'', is a sports ground in Södermalm in central Stockholm, Sweden. The ground was designed by architect Paul Hedqvist and was inaugurated on 18 May 193 ...

and Ringvägen in the south since 1991, the goal is at Hornsgatan in the west near Rosenlundsgatan. Since 2004, Midnattsloppet has been held on the same day as the swimming competition Riddarfjärdssimningen, as the Stockholm 2athlon. In 2010, the run was held on an unusually warm and humid day. Two runners died during the run: A 26-year-old collapsed upon reaching the goal near Zinkendamms IP. A 50-year-old man got a heart attack in the steep hill to the

Sofia Church Sofia Church (), named after the Swedish queen Sophia of Nassau, is one of the major churches in Stockholm, Sweden. It was designed during an architectural contest in 1899 and was inaugurated in 1906. It is located in the eastern part of the isl ...

. He died in the

ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...

on the way to

Södersjukhuset Södersjukhuset (Sös) is one of the largest district general hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. Constructed between 1937 and 1944, it was designed by architects Hjalmar Cederström and Hermann Imhäuser, and the construction was contracted to Toll ...

. Many other runners had to be hospitalised because of

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water that disrupts metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds intake, often resulting from excessive sweating, health conditions, or inadequate consumption of water. Mild deh ...

.Löpare dog under midnattsloppet
DN.se, 15 August 2010.

Gothenburg

The Gothenburg Midnattsloppet was held for the first time in 2008. The start and the goal were at Södra vägen at the southwestern corner of

Heden Heden is a ballcourt and public space and square in the centre of Gothenburg, Sweden. Football matches are played there in the run-up to the final of the Gothia Cup. The final is played at Ullevi. Also the largest handball tournament in the world ...

, and the track ran through the city's central districts. Approximately 7 thousand people participated in the 10 km run in the first year. The next year, the run started at Sten Sturegatan, but the goal was still at Heden. The run has been held annually since. Since 2011, the run has started from

Slottsskogen Slottsskogen (, ) is a 137-hectare park located in central Gothenburg, Sweden. History When Gothenburg was founded in the 17th century, the area of Slottsskogen was a forest that belonged to the Old Älvsborg fortress. In the 1880s the city h ...

and gone from there to Linnéstaden. In 2012 there were 10,535 participants, of which 48% were women.

Copenhagen

Midnattsloppet was held in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, at

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

from 2009 to 2010. The run has not been held in Copenhagen since.

Malmö

The first Midnattsloppet in

was held in 2013. The course passes the central districts of the city.

Helsinki

The first Midnattsloppet run in Helsinki was held in 2010, with Helsinki becoming the fourth city to host the run, and Finland becoming the third country to do so. The run has been held annually since and the latest race was held on 1 September 2018. Both the start and the goal of the run are at the

Helsinki Senate Square Senate Square (, ) presents Carl Ludvig Engel's architecture as a unique allegory of political, religious, scientific and commercial powers in the centre of Helsinki, Finland. Senate Square and its surroundings make up the oldest part of central ...

Midnattsloppet Nordic AB

Since 2010, Midnattsloppet Nordic AB has organised the run in Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The company is a fully owned subsidiary of Hammarby IF. The company

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

is Göran Qvarfordt.

References

Recurring sporting events established in 1982 Sports competitions in Stockholm Sports competitions in Gothenburg Sports competitions in Malmö Sports competitions in Copenhagen Sports competitions in Helsinki Foot races in Finland 1982 establishments in Sweden Summer in Sweden Athletics in Helsinki Athletics in Gothenburg Athletics competitions in Sweden 1980s establishments in Stockholm