In the spring of 1996 Thunder Bay’s National Team Development Centre coach Pekka Kemppi decided to challenge himself… how far could he could ski in 24 hours. He managed a distance of 350Km after about 22 hours of skiing, using classic technique the entire time. Pekka undoubtedly had some thoughts of matching the world record of 415.5Km set by Finnish countryman Seppo-Juhani Savolainen in Saariselka, Finland on April 8-9, 1988.
Instead of attempting the feat again, Pekka suggested a team format for 1997, and the 24 Hour Relay was born.
Following are some of Lappe’s 24 Hour records that have been achieved since. Pekka’s 1996 effort is not included in these records since the event was not yet ‘official’.
The distances recorded in the Lappe 24 Hour Relay are exact. A shotgun blast signals the end of the event at exactly 24:00:00. Skiers stop where they are on the ski course (typically a 4.2Km loop) and wait for a course marshall to mark the location. This allows for the exact distance skied to be determined. This is in contrast to some other 24 hour events where participants can travel beyond 24 hours by starting their last lap before the 24 hour mark.
Open Team – up to 10 skiers – The 500K Club
| Team | Year | Distance (Km) |
| NTDC Mike Somppi Luke Viljakainen Harry Seaton Jesse Winter | 2009 | 556.4 |
| Lappe and One Wannabe Steve Hart Timo Puiras Paul Inkila Evan Palmer-Charrette Jeff Budner Jeff Cameron | 2011 | 544.6 |
| Mister Big Eric Bailey Cory Berg Timo Puiras Phil Brown Chris Butler Kevin Paradis Joel Gerry Gabe Viljakainen | 2009 | 523.2 |
| NTDC Kerrie Fabius Tara Redpath Timo Puiras Riku Metsaranta Will Fitzgerald Sean Crooks Jeff Seguin | 2002 | 517.4 |
| NTDC Megan McTavish Karla Mika Chad Yurick Dan Roycroft Karl Saidla Lee Churchill Mark Tierney Steve Bursey | 1999 | 516.8 |
| Crusty Old Guys + Becky (aka the Lappe 6) Werner Schwar Paul Inkila Timo Puiras Becky Puiras Riku Metsaranta Brian Berry | 2006 | 513.3 |
| Lappe 6 Timo Tikka Peter Myllymaa Paul Inkila Juha Metsaranta Craig Storey Derek Maepea | 1998 | 511.7 |
| NTDC Kerrie Fabius Skeets Morel Stephen Hart Jeff Seguin Mallory Deyne Eric Bailey | 2005 | 508.8 |
| Raha Joukkue Angus Foster Katherine Stewat-Jones Sadie White Julian Smith Mia Serratore Sam Greer Scott Hill | 2016 | 505.8 |
| Wed Night Warriors Will Fitzgerald Riku Metsaranta Paul Inkila Jeff Moustgaard Werner Schwar | 2004 | 500.6 |
Four Person Team – 450K Club
| Team | Year | Distance (Km) |
| NTDC Mike Somppi Luke Viljakainen Harry Seaton Jesse Winter | 2009 | 556.4 |
| Triple Nelson & May Brian May Dave Nelson Grant Nelson Per Nelson | 2002 | 492.9 |
| Money Team Evan Palmer-Charrette Andy Shields Graham Ritchie Julian Smith | 2018 | 490.4 |
| NTDC Angus Foster Pierre Grall-Johnson Levi Nadlersmith Conor McGovern | 2018 | 486.4 |
| Manopause & Todd Paul Inkila Werner Schwar Brian Berry Todd Inkila | 2008 | 467.4 |
| NTDC Pekka Kemppi Werner Schwar Chad Yurich Martin Bojesen | 1997 | 454.4 |
All-Female Team
| Team | Year | Distance (Km) |
| Ms Big Thunder-5 | 2009 | 478.7 |
Mixed Pair (male/female)
| Team | Year | Distance (Km) |
| The Solicited Galavanters Jennifer Jackson Andy Shields | 2014 | 455.0 |
| Omituiset Becky Laakso Timo Puiras | 2004 | 447.2 |
| Fast & Faster Kerrie Fabius Jeff Seguin | 2004 | 432.8 |
| II Neety Panu Juha Metsaranta | 2002 | 382.2 |
Duo
| Team | Year | Distance (Km) |
| Werner Schwar Paul Inkila | 2009 | 425.7 |
Solo
| Male (300K+) | Year | Distance (Km) |
| Werner Schwar | 2005 | 407.8 |
| Jussi Piirainen | 2004 | 387.5 |
| Jeff Cameron | 2005 | 354.6 |
| Werner Schwar | 2001 | 315.7 |
| Christian Byar | 2018 | 310.0 |
| Jeff Lewis | 1999 | 305.3 |
| Female (225K+) | ||
| Kelly Henry | 2009 | 284.8 |
| Nancy Viljakainen | 2005 | 265.9 |
| Kelly Henry | 2008 | 265.0 |
| Becky Laakso | 2002 | 252.5 |
| Nancy Viljakainen | 2004 | 234.2 |
12 & 6 Hour Records (added in 2013)
| 12 Hour Open Team | Year | Distance (Km) |
| Mad Moose | 2015 | 225.68 |
| 12 Solo Male | Year | Distance (Km) |
Michael Somppi | 2016 | 201.02 |
| 12 Solo Female | Year | Distance (Km) |
Becky Puiras | 2014 | 163.99 |
| 6 Hour Open Team | Year | Distance (Km) |
Team PED | 2016 | 117.38 |
| 6 Hour Female Team | Year | Distance (Km) |
NDC Ladies | 2013 | 89.93 |
| 6 Hour Male Solo | Year | Distance (Km) |
Fergus Foster | 2018 | 94.66 |
| 6 Hour Female Solo | Year | Distance (Km) |
| Sarah Peters | 2016 | 98.12 |
World Record Male: New! 433.459 km (269.34 miles) by Teemu Virtanen (Finland) at Kuortane, Finland, on 16-17 November 2010.
Formerly 415.5 km – Seppo-Juhani Savolainen April 8-9, 1988 in Saariselka, Finland
World Record Female: 333 km – Kamila Horakova (Czech Republic) April 12-13, 2000 at the Canmore Nordic Centre
Fastest Lap (4.3K loop to 2009, 4.27K from 2011)
| Year | Name | Time | Approx. time of day | Lap Length |
| 2004 | Timo Puiras | 9m 51s | 2pm | 4.3 |
| 2005 | Riku Metsaranta | 10m 5.7s | 9am | 4.3 |
| 2006 | Adam Kates | 9m 35.9s | 9am | 4.3 |
| 2008 | Werner Schwar | 11m 29.3s | 5pm | 4.3 |
| 2009 | Mike Somppi (M) | 9m 36.5s | 9pm | 4.3 |
| 2009 | Karla Bailey (F) | 11m 13.6s | 8pm | 4.3 |
| 2011 | Steve Hart (M) | 9m 43.9s | Noon (1st lap) | 4.27 |
| 2011 | Andrea Lee (F) | 11m 49.0s | 5pm | 4.27 |
| 2016 | Michael Somppi | 12m 16s | 11am (1st lap) | 5.29 |
| 2017 | Bob Thompson | 11m 46s | 4:25 am | 4.919 |
| 2018 | Julian Smith Graham Ritchie | 11m 48s | 3:01 pm 11:35 am (1st lap) | 4.919 |
