Helsinki City Marathon

Helsinki City Marathon
Date	May
Location	Helsinki, Finland
Event type	Road
Distance	Marathon, Half marathon, 5K run
Established	1981
Course records	Men: 2:12:47 (1993) Martín Fiz Women: 2:36:14 (1991) Albina Galimova
Official site	Helsinki City Marathon
Participants	15,000 (2023)

The Helsinki City Marathon is an annual marathon held in Helsinki, Finland. It has been held since 1981 and is the largest marathon event in the country. It is approved by the World Athletics federation as a standard long distance race. While earlier it was held in August, it has been moved to May since 2018 to be conducted on the "Helsinki City Running Day". The event was held in October in 2020 and 2021 as an exception due to COVID-19 pandemic.

History

Runners in the 2011 Helsinki City Marathon.

The first edition of the Helsinki City Marathon was held on 26 July 1981 and was won by Sinikka Toropainen and Günther Mielke. ^{[1] [2]} The largest marathon event in the country, it was held in August every year. ^{[2] [3]} It is approved by the World Athletics federation as a standard long distance race. ^[4] The half marathon Helsinki City Run has been held since 1994. ^[5] Since 2018, the event has been conducted in May annually on the day called "Helsinki City Running Day". ^{[2] [3]} In 2020, the race was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and was held on 3rd October on the same year. ^{[6] [7]} Similarly, the same happened in 2021, when the event was held on the 2nd of October. ^[8]

Events and course

Participants in the Helsinki City Marathon in 2007.

Apart from the main marathon event, other events include half marathon, relay, 5K run and miniathon. ^{[2] [3]} The relay event consists of four legs 12.8 km, 8.8 km, 12.3 km and 8.3 km respectively with transition areas Meilahti, Opera House, and again in Meilahti and is run by a team of four runners. ^[9]

The events usually start near the statue of Paavo Nurmi located in the Mäntymäentie street. ^{[10] [11]} The course runs through the appropriate distance various parks along the route, traverses along the Baltic Sea coastline, before reaching the city centre. ^{[2] [10]} The races usually end at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, which also hosts the refreshment areas. ^{[3] [12]} The marathon route usually traverses at sea level with a highest altitude of 32 m (105 ft) and an average altitude of 8 m (26 ft). Only about 1.1% of the route has a steep uphill gradient along the 42.2 km (26.2 mi) course. ^[13] The temperature ranges from 13–18 °C (55–64 °F) during the race. ^[3]

Participation and prizes

The racers are allowed to participate in different age categories apart from the open category. A participation fee is charged based on the event concerned. ^[10] About 15,000 participants raced in the event in 2023. ^[3] Participants are allowed to participate in multiple events including the double of marathon and half-marathon called the "Helsinki City Double. ^[3]

Cash prizes are awarded for top three finishers overall, and the best placed finishers across various age groups and other specified categories. ^[10] All finishers of the event within a specified time limit (six hours for marathon race) are awarded a participation medal, and other memorabilia. ^[2] Racers who clock a finishing time less than 2 hours 20 minutes (men) and 2 hours 40 minutes (women) are awarded an additional cash prize of 500 Euros each. ^[10]

Winners

Source: ^[14]
Key:   Course record

Men Year Athlete Country Time 1991 Anatoliy Korepanov   Soviet Union 2:18:06 1992 Aleksandr Belyayev   Russia 2:20:39 1993 Martín Fiz   Spain 2:12:47 1994 Zerehune Gizaw   Ethiopia 2:20:18 1995 Tesfaye Bekele   Ethiopia 2:16:59 1996 Julius Mitibani   Tanzania 2:19:00 1997 Julius Mitibani   Tanzania 2:18:07 1998 Julius Mitibani   Tanzania 2:21:24 1999 Pavel Loskutov   Estonia 2:19:18 2000 Nikolaos Polias   Greece 2:18:46 2001 Daniel Komen   Kenya 2:18:43 2002 Sebastian Panga   Tanzania 2:18:39 2003 Giorgio Calcaterra   Italy 2:20:55 2004 Dmitry Kondrashov   Russia 2:21:29 2005 Vener Kashayev   Russia 2:20:07 2006 Francis Wachira   Kenya 2:18:26 2007 Peter Biwott   Kenya 2:20:31 2008 Johnstone Chebii   Kenya 2:24:31 2009 Pavel Andreev   Russia 2:22:34 2010 Gezahagne Girma   Ethiopia 2:22:36 2011 Dominic Ondoro   Kenya 2:23:24 2012 Titus Kurgat   Kenya 2:22:45 [15] 2013 Hosea Kiplagat   Kenya 2:22:26 2014 Justus Kiprono   Kenya 2:20:42 2015 Hiroki Nakajima   Japan 2:38:25 2016 Robert Magut   Kenya 2:27:31 2017 Robert Magut   Kenya 2:27:40 2018 Robert Magut   Kenya 2:29:42 2019 Robert Magut   Kenya 2:27:09 2020 Joni Hirvikallio   Finland 2:29:47 2021 Eric Mangeh   Cameroon 2:21:37 2022 Oscar Holmström   Finland 2:24:57 2023 Eric Mangeh   Cameroon 2:26:14 2024 Oscar Holmström   Finland 2:24:10 2025 Jack Nixon   United Kingdom 2:25:17

Women Year Athlete Country Time 1991 Albina Galimova   Soviet Union 2:36:14 1992 Garifa Baijanova   Kazakhstan 2:42:41 1993 Anne Jääskeläinen   Finland 2:43:32 1994 Sylvia Renz   Germany 2:41:30 1995 Roza Vladimirova   Russia 2:54:03 1996 Svetlana Netchaeva   Russia 2:47:38 1997 Galina Zhulyeva   Ukraine 2:41:38 1998 Tatyana Maslova   Russia 2:45:30 1999 Tatyana Maslova   Russia 2:47:10 2000 Tatyana Zolotareva   Russia 2:44:31 2001 Tatyana Zolotareva   Russia 2:45:56 2002 Tatyana Zolotareva   Russia 2:50:10 2003 Tatyana Zolotareva   Russia 2:57:03 2004 Jennifer Lotoiywo   Kenya 2:57:31 2005 Minna Kainlauri   Finland 3:00:29 2006 Haile Kebebush   Ethiopia 2:52:47 2007 Flora Kandie   Kenya 2:51:05 2008 Margarita Plaksina   Russia 2:40:47 2009 Margarita Plaksina   Russia 2:45:28 2010 Leena Puotiniemi   Finland 2:49:11 2011 Leena Puotiniemi   Finland 2:38:05 2012 Salome Biwott   Kenya 2:41:54 [15] 2013 Leena Puotiniemi   Finland 2:42:03 2014 Natalya Starkova   Russia 2:37:56 2015 Elina Junnila   Finland 2:54:13 2016 Anna Herzberg   Germany 2:56:29 2017 Anastasia Zakharova   Russia 3:06:44 2018 Katarina Skräddar   Finland 2:54:45 2019 Katarina Skräddar   Finland 2:50:56 2020 Soili Kosonen   Finland 2:55:28 2021 Aleksandra Borodinova   Russia 2:43:22 2022 Annemari Kiekara   Finland 2:41:11 2023 Petra Kilpeläinen   Finland 2:47:54 2024 Koleta Moravcová   Czech Republic 3:07:15 2025 Eira Rapp   Norway 2:48:30

See also

• Paavo Nurmi Marathon

References

1. "Helsinki Marathon 1981". Marathon view. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
2. Annamari Ahonen (6 February 2020). "Reasons to run the number one running event in Finland - The Helsinki City Marathon". World Marathons. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
3. "Finland: famous for fresh air". AIMS world running. 13 May 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
4. List of approved standard distance races (PDF). World Athletics (Report). p. 4. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
5. "Half marathon". Helsinki City Running Day. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
6. "Helsinki City Running Day postponed to early autumn due to Coronavirus". Helsinki City Running Day. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
7. "Helsinki City Running Day postponed to 3rd of October and returns to the Olympic Stadium". Helsinki City Running Day. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
8. "Helsinki City Running Day siirtyy lokakuulle". Helsinki City Running Day (in Finnish). 25 March 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
9. "Helsinki City Marathon relay". Helsinki City Running Day. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
10. "Helsinki city marathon". Helsinki City Running Day. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
11. "Paavo Nurmi sculptures". Ham Helsinki. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
12. "Helsinki city run marathon". Runna. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
13. "Helsinki marathon course map". Go and Race. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
14. "Helsinki City Marathon". Marathon view. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
15. "Results 2012". Helsinki City Marathon. Retrieved 17 November 2012.

External links

• Helsinki City Marathon
• Marathon Info
• Pictures of Helsinki City Marathon 2008