1965: Sloping premiere with a home victory

It was just six degrees Celsius when the 538 runners set off from Hersby field on Moose Sunday, October 10th. IFK Lidingö's Berndt Ekström helped to mark the course the day before, which did not prevent him from breaking away from the skier Karl-Åke Asph just before Abborrbacken, 5 km from the finish, and winning by a solid minute with a time of 1:52:21.

– Ground wasps attacked us in the peloton during the race and some of those who finished in the top ten were stung, but I was spared, Berndt recounted many years later.

Twelve men took less than two hours to complete the tough course which included rocks, roots, and unevenness to an extent that does not exist today.

The initiator Sven Gärderud was the announcer and secretary, and Lars-Eric Dahlstedt was responsible for the track. The race was great propaganda for long-distance running, and Torsten Tegnér from the co-organizing Idrottsbladet was ecstatic. Financially, the event made a profit of 10,000 SEK, but the downside was that water ran out at several places.

1966: Dominant victory by the world record holder

British Tim Johnston came to Lidingö as the reigning world record holder in the 30,000 m track (1:32:34) and showed his class by easily outrunning all competition and winning by five minutes with a time of 1:45:26. The runner-up was four-time Swedish Marathon Champion, Erik Östbye, from Örgryte who, despite being 45 years old, was the best Swedish competitor. His son Kent, 18, and daughter Ann-Marie, 20, participated out of competition, and thus the first woman completed the thirty kilometers (in 2:40) even though it was without a bib and without running through the finish banner.

IFK Lidingö took the first lien on the challenge trophy, which was Carl Milles' "Diana with the Cloud Ring" valued at 25,000 SEK. The team included Berndt Ekström, Tommy Holmestrand, Sten Andersson, Per Sommerhein, and Jan Söderberg, who later became the marketing manager for the Lidingö Race.

The number of registrants was 1392, twice as many as the inaugural year, and therefore the start was moved to Koltorps gärde, which has been used ever since.

1967: Premiere of TV broadcasting

Already in 1965, Sven “Plex” Pettersson made a TV feature about the Lidingöloppet race, and two years later it was time for the first proper TV broadcast of the race with a 45-minute program that was shown afterwards.

For the most part, the entire thirty-kilometer race was conducted in pouring rain, making it tough for the general mass of participants. The elite fared better, and there IFK Mora's skier Karl-Åke Asph won after a rarely exciting finish. Approaching the finish line at Grönsta, Asph was accompanied by Nedo Facic, and no matter how Facic tried to overtake, it was to no avail, and Asph ultimately won by seven seconds with a time of 1:50:44.

The first two years, the only race was 30 km, but in 1967 the women's class was added, measuring 15.8 km with the start at Fågelöudde. Thirty girls lined up at the start, and the inaugural winner was national team skier Barbro Tano from Kiruna, who finished in 1:12:01, fifteen seconds ahead of the runner-up. Fourth was Anne-Marie Östbye from Solvikingarna, who had run the thirty kilometers non-competitively the year before.

1968: A rush at the start and the debut of the maiden with the wreath

A false start kicked off the fourth Lidingöloppet and how the starter Åke Svensson managed to stop the herd of 1579 runners after 75 meters is something no one really knows. But everyone returned to the correct side of the line and then set off as they should. The strongest in the last mile was 22-year-old Rolf Hesselvall from Mälarhöjden who finished solo on the home stretch and won by half a minute with a time of 1:46:26. Just before the finish line, he was met by Elisabeth Kåremo who was the first official flower-crowned girl of the Lidingö Race, and they afforded themselves the luxury of crossing the finish line together.

47-year-old Erik Östbye finished sixth with a time of 1:48:36, which was still the age record when it was time for the 50th Lidingöloppet in 2014.

In the women's class, last year's runner-up Viola Ylepää won by a whole three minutes with a time of 1:05:34, once again showing that skiers could handle the extremely long distance of 15.8 km. In track running, 1500 m was the longest competition distance at that time.

1969: Wonderful summer weather and lots of spectators

After more or less poor weather in the initial years, the 1969 edition was conducted in glorious autumn weather with almost summer temperatures and a cloudless sky. Up to 10,000 spectators followed the thirty-kilometer race which, with its 1,612 starters, included runners from 22 of the country's 23 districts, with only Dalsland missing.

The South African competing for Fredrikshof, Chris Wade, took the lead at Fågelöudde after 15 km and solo-ran to a commanding victory in the record time of 1:41:58. The national team runner Peter Fredriksson, wearing his characteristic visor cap, reached the finish on tired legs with a time of 1:44:27, narrowly avoiding being caught by the Gotlander Owe Malmqvist.

Records were improved in all age categories including the women's class where Siv Larsson from Umeå won with a time of 1:03:34.

New for the year was the junior class which had the same course as the women's race, and there Göte Midelf from IF Linden in Farsta won with a time of 55.07.

During the first five years, those who finished within the victory time plus 30 percent received IFK Lidingö's bronze plaque with “Lidingöloppet” in relief. In 1969, the medal time was as good as 2:12:33, which 316 men achieved, and thereafter the medal time was set at 2:15:00 regardless of what the victory time was.