Paavo Nurmi Marathon

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The Paavo Nurmi Marathon is an annual road running event held each August in Iron County, Wisconsin, in the United States. The course begins in the town of Upson and continues along Highway 77 through the communities of Iron Belt, Pence and Montreal. Near Carey, the race turns down County Highway C, clips past the Gile Flowage and proceeds along U.S. Route 51 into the city of Hurley. The finish line is located on Silver Street in Hurley, where the race finishers are served a traditional Finnish stew called Mojakka.

The Paavo Nurmi was established in 1969 and is considered to be the oldest running marathon in Wisconsin. [1] [2] The 2020 and 2021 runnings of the Paavo Nurmi Marathon were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [3]

As of 2023, the record for the event stands at 2:19.10, set by Richard Wilde of England in 1978. The women's record is held by Mary Bange of La Crosse, Wisconsin, in a time of 2:47.49, set in 1979.

Another marathon bearing the same name has been held since 1991 in Paavo Nurmi's birth city of Turku, Finland.

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Paavo the Great. Great Race. Great Dream. is an opera in three acts by Finnish composer Tuomas Kantelinen to a libretto by the poet Paavo Haavikko. The opera deals with the life of the Finnish middle- and long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi who won a total of nine Olympic gold medals in the 1920s. It was premiered in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in 2000 as Helsinki was one of the European Capitals of Culture. The title refers to Nurmi's great ambition to win the marathon race at the 1940 Helsinki Olympics, which were not held because of the outbreak of World War II.

References

  1. "History of the Paavo". Hurley, Wisconsin: Hurley Chamber of Commerce, Hurley Area Lioness. 2012. Archived from the original on 25 May 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  2. "Paavo Nurmi Marathon: Information". Hurley, Wisconsin: The City of Hurley, Wisconsin. 2006. Archived from the original on 3 September 2006. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  3. Juno, Jason (12 August 2022). "Paavo returns with 52nd running Saturday". The Globe. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.

46°27′00″N90°11′03″W / 46.45000°N 90.18417°W / 46.45000; -90.18417