In 2007, Jukka took part in the North Pole Marathon and the North Pole Bike Extreme (both 42.2 km). These events take place on the drifting sea ice between 89° and 90° north – just a stone’s throw away from the geographical North Pole.

“The temperature was around -30C. The marathon consisted of 10 laps with the cold being a constant challenge.  I struggled to run with snow shoes for the first few laps, but eventually relented and ran the rest of the race without them.  For the bike race, we were pedalling on specially designed mountain bikes on a one mile course carved into the ice. It was one of the hardest races I’ve ever done”

Going from one extreme to another, Jukka’s next race took him to the Libyan Sahara.  He was among 100 other runners to complete a non-stop 195km run through the world’s largest desert.

Jukka´s next race was the coldest 100 km in the world.  The race was held at Patriot Hills in Antarctica. Only three runners braved the 100km race with a further 16 tackling the marathon.  It took him 14 hours to complete the 100 km course, finishing in second place.  For Jukka, it was the adventure of his life – not only to participate in the strenuous physical challenge of running in the Antarctic but also to have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world.  Stormy weather conditions kept the group in ANI Base Camp long enough time to spend Christmas Eve with 70 other adventurers and to attend a spectacular Christmas dinner.

During August and September 2010 Jukka and a team of two other runner´s tackled a challenging and historic 1000 km adventure run across the Kalahari Desert.

He works doing mainly corporate & motivational speaking. Jukka guides trekking and running trips to Nepal, Kalahari and other wild places. He also works as a consultant to the Finnish running magazine “Juoksija”.

Jukka has a university degree in business and lives in Espoo, Finland.