Helsinki City Running Day

The Helsinki City Marathon will be on Helsinki City Running Day this May! Helsinki City Running Day connects five different running events under one day. Find your distance from the marathon, a half marathon, a marathon relay, a half marathon + a marathon, a five kilometer street run and childrens’ Minimarathon.

By combining all Helsinki City Running Events, we are creating a running festival like no other in Finland. Helsinki Running Day will gather the beginners and elite runners to compete and to exceed oneself, says the CEO of Finnish Athletics Federation, Mr Jarmo Mäkelä.

The goal is also to organize the event in a more cost-efficient manner. Organizing a full marathon as an individual event is getting more and more expensive, as the amount of marathon runners in Finland is declining due to demographic changes. The revenue of Helsinki City Running Events is used to support athletics across Finland.

Different events also offer a wider public the possibility to feel the atmosphere of a major running event. Globally many midsize marathons also organize shorter distances in conjunction with the full length marathon. It is also great that all runners, regardless of their level, can feel togetherness in a major sports event, CEO Mäkelä describes.

The Helsinki City Marathon can be run as a relay with four runners in each team. The team divides the full length marathon into 12, 7, 8 and 12 kilometre legs.

In the Marathon Relay everyone can join the marathon ambiance; only the distance is shorter. The Marathon Relay is a great experience for the team as a whole, CEO Mäkelä says. The second new event is the five kilometre Helsinki City 5. This distance is great for both beginners and for those elite runners, who are ready to break records. Five kilometre road run was recently introduced as an official record distance by the IAAF.

The five kilometre race is for everyone. You can race for the victory but even walk through the route. The feeling and the atmosphere, however, are the same for everyone. This is also a great activity for a group of friends or colleagues.

Double the experience in the new event Helsinki City Double! Challenge yourself and run both the half marathon and the marathon on the same day. Runners will get the services and results from HCR half marathon and also from HCM marathon events but also participate in Helsinki City Double general series. During Helsinki City Running Day everything is possible!