Marathon Details - Helsinki City Marathon

International Marathons > Finland > Helsinki > Helsinki City Marathon

Helsinki City Marathon & Half Marathon, Relay, 5K

Helsinki, Finland

May 11, 2024

http://www.helsinkicityrunningday.fi/helsinkicitymarathon

More Info:	News
Results:	Top 3 Finishers by Year

Contact

Name:	Pertti Raunio
Address:	Helsinki City Marathon Radiokatu 20, FIN-00240 Helsinki Finland
Phone Number:	358 9 3481 2405
Fax Number:	358 9 3481 2367
Email:	Email the organizers



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Reviews

Course 4.0

Organization 4.3

Spectators 3.5

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Number of comments: 34 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 > ]

M. J. from Copenhagen, Denmark (8/16/2017) "Decent but tough marathon" (about: 2017) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I ran the Helsinki City Marathon in 2017. The race was decent but not nearly as flat as you would have thought. The good: The finisher medal is stunning and chunky, aid stations are good and plenty. The finish is in a stadium and your name and finish time are displayed on a big screen in the stadium, and your name sounds in the speekers once you enter the stadium and cross the finish line. The city is beautiful and worth a visit. You get to see the fiisher medal at the expo, which is motivating as it is really beautiful. The bad: Not many suppoters, and the marathon was not advertised at all in the city, so no locals seemed to know there was even a race. The expo was quite small and poor. The course is a two loop, so a bit boring. There was no 'Finish' sign or anything in the stadium, just a white line on the ground. I had never seen that before, so I was a bit uncertain if I had crossed the finish line at all, which is a bit of an anti climax. The absolut worst part of the marathon is the 3 pm start! This makes no sense for a race held in the middle of the summer. If you are very lucky with the weather, it might not break your race, but the race organizers advertise that the average temperature at that time of year is around 20 degrees. The late start also means that, unless you are a local who can go home to eat a late dinner after the race, you will have a real problem finding dinner after the race. By the time you finish the race, get back to your hotel and clean up and get back into the city for dinner, most restaurants will be closed. In 2017 one in three runners came from outside of Finland, so this was a major issue. The weather also happened to be terrible. 26 degrees and extremely humid. This not only slowed down everyone a lot, but also meant that several people started to feel dizzy in the heat. Of course, you can't control the weather, but if the race had had a 9 am start like most races, this would not have been a very big issue. With a 3 pm start, it was a major issue!
M. V. from Suffolk, England (8/31/2014) "Not as flat as you may expect!" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is a tough race with constantly undulating terrain. The course is not the most inspiring and you don't make it into central Helsinki until just over halfway. A couple of K's round the centre and you are heading back to the outskirts again. There are a number of positives though. Helsinki is generally a welcoming city (if expensive), frequent well stocked water stations, where there were pockets of support everyone was very encouraging and enthusiastic. Really great to finish in the Olympic Stadium and nice touch to have your name and time displayed on the electronic scoreboard as you cross the line. The medal was also nice and chunky and better than a lot of other big city marathon medals. Free entry and warm shower to clean up at the adjacent Olympic swimming pool also good. In 2014 HCM had a deal with a local pasta restaurant chain which was excellent value for pre race meal. Biggest negative was 3pm start - why wait till the hottest point of the day in summer to start the race? Much better if start time changed to 9am. Thankfully it clouded over about 4.30pm and temperature cooled off. Overall, still an enjoyable experience.
I. D. from Dorset (8/20/2013) "Well organised, exciting finish in Olympic Stadium" (about: 2013) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 It seems the Helsinki City Marathon has improved from past years. Good atmosphere at the expo and before, during and after the race. Plenty of refueling available during the race and a variety of food/drink at the end. I guess, just like any marathon, you have to accept the weather on the day. 2013 happened to be good temp with little wind. The finish in the Olympic Stadium was special and the Finnish people offered lots of encouragement around the course.
R. C. from Scotland UK (8/29/2010) "Decent course could be better." (about: 2010) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The race was well organized and well supported. There were lots of spectators applauding along the route. There is such potential for a beautiful run here - on the coast, crossing over islands in the bay - but, oddly, little of it is visible from the route, as it is obscured by buildings much of the way. The heat and humidity were a shock and slowed me down a lot. It was necessary to take in a lot of fluid over the course and there were water/energy drink stops approximately every 2K, which was excellent. Unfortunately, the drinks were handed out in plastic cups. Not sure about you, but I cannot run and drink from a cup... so many stops were inevitable. I would suggest small bottles of water/Gatorade that can be drunk from whilst continuing your run. Apparently, the race used to finish in the Olympic Stadium. This would be a magical finish to the event if it were restored. Overall, well organized, but a couple of little points that would make such a difference.
James Skinner from Gloucestershire, England (10/6/2009) "Scenic Scandinavian Course" (about: 2009) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Helsinki has a picturesque marathon course, which essentially covers the main harbor area whilst crossing to some of the inner harbor islands. The race is medium-sized, although with a small feel. It's extremely well run - this event has been going for nearly 30 years. Race conditions were good with temperatures around 19/66 and dry, bright skies. The only concern was a stiff breeze blowing in off of the Baltic Sea. This has been mentioned in previous years by other competitors. The race starts and finishes outside of the Olympic Stadium, which is quite cool. My only criticism would be the 3 p.m. Saturday start time, which just feels too late. It means you're hanging around all day waiting to run. Whilst this year was fine, if you had a hot day, then this could be a real problem as opposed to starting early morning, as most marathons do. It would also have been nice to see more marathon merchandise for sale at the expo. The only souvenir available was a free t-shirt that everyone received. Overall, I would recommend this marathon. It offers you the chance to do a marathon in August (unusual), and Helsinki is an interesting city, where Scandinavia meets Russia.
A. P. from Rome, Italy (10/2/2009) "If you're traveling in the north country fair..." (about: 2009) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 ...make a stop in Helsinki and run the marathon. I did it in 2009 and it was great. Lovely weather (the organizers say it's like that every year, despite my "Finland-equals-long-sleeve-running-t-shirt-even-in-August" belief), a very scenic racecourse, all around the harbor, jumping from one island to another through nice (and sometimes painfully steep) wooden bridges. Very enjoyable atmosphere, and friendly and efficient organization. I agree: plenty of porta-potties - and I know what I am talking about, having tried them all (reindeer meatballs on the previous night weren't exactly the most suitable fuel). Abundance of water and sports drink. Beautiful support on the racecourse (apart from kilometers 5-15). It was even elegant, I'd say (with well-dressed people cheering and smiling; forget the "way to go"'s and "one-two-one-two"'s), and many hidden lawns to lie on when you were out of stamina but didn't want to be bothered by runners-by. Well... I would have loved to be bothered by some Finnish girls, as I was stretching my aching muscles on the grass, but the organization wasn't (yet?) that perfect. Do it!
F. O. from Co Mayo. Ireland (9/8/2009) "Beautiful, brilliantly organized, spacious maratho" (about: 2009) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Really scenic route that's not flat, but with not too frequent, manageable, gentle hills. Beautiful to run alongside marinas, parks, modern and classic city architecture. Hydration stations every 2K or so with personal drinks, Gatorade and water available at every single one. Plenty of toilet facilities also. Easy access to the start, with secure baggage drop right beside the start/finish area. NO congestion meant that you could get into your stride within the first 20 meters of the race, but always with runners alongside you. The sunny day, with temperatures of 20 degrees, meant lots of spectators, but they clap and support without shouting and screaming at you. Runners dont tend to chat to each other as they go along. Not sure if this is due to iPods, but I suspect it is not in their nature to be chatty. Excellent marshaling of the roads and pacers were also available. Great lump of a medal and reasonably good goody bag. Would do it again.
R. H. from Houston, TX (8/24/2009) "Good (but not great) marathon" (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I rated the course at a "three" because I was hopeful that the route would run through more of Helsinki. It seemed that we spent a lot of time on the outskirts of town. While it was very beautiful scenery, I would have liked to see more of the sites of Helsinki. My final observation of the course is that it finished outside of the Olympic stadium. Why couldn't we finish inside? Organization was great. Registration was easy, final race instructions were clear, and packet pick-up was easy. Having the sports hall to store bags in was also a great plus. Spectators were great and vocal, but they were sparse. There were plenty of times along the course where we were outside of the city and no spectators were around. Overall it was a good race. I don't know that I would recommend making a special trip to Helsinki just to run it. If you're in the neighborhood, though, it's worth your while. They have some work to do before I would consider it to be a destination marathon like.
B. H. from Minneapolis, United States (8/19/2009) "Beautiful and well organized" (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Helsinki puts on a fantastic marathon - a gorgeous and relatively flat course, a well organized event, great T-shirt and medal, and plentiful (if frenzied) water stops (plus pickle and banana stops). As an international runner, they couldn't have made it easier, from the special check-in desk and support for international runners to the 3 p.m. start time (a relaxing option that I hope more races will consider). Thanks to Helsinki for a fantastic race and great vacation!
H. T. from Houston, TX (8/18/2009) "Nice, smallish marathon!" (about: 2009) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I just ran the 2009 Helsinki City Marathon. Definitely not my best time, due to the hilly nature of the course. Weather was great - in the mid 60s. The starting time of 3 p.m. is a bit strange. Spectators were pretty minimal throughout. But the organization of the race was great! And a very scenic course.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 > ]

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M. J. from Copenhagen, Denmark (8/16/2017) "Decent but tough marathon" (about: 2017) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I ran the Helsinki City Marathon in 2017. The race was decent but not nearly as flat as you would have thought. The good: The finisher medal is stunning and chunky, aid stations are good and plenty. The finish is in a stadium and your name and finish time are displayed on a big screen in the stadium, and your name sounds in the speekers once you enter the stadium and cross the finish line. The city is beautiful and worth a visit. You get to see the fiisher medal at the expo, which is motivating as it is really beautiful. The bad: Not many suppoters, and the marathon was not advertised at all in the city, so no locals seemed to know there was even a race. The expo was quite small and poor. The course is a two loop, so a bit boring. There was no 'Finish' sign or anything in the stadium, just a white line on the ground. I had never seen that before, so I was a bit uncertain if I had crossed the finish line at all, which is a bit of an anti climax. The absolut worst part of the marathon is the 3 pm start! This makes no sense for a race held in the middle of the summer. If you are very lucky with the weather, it might not break your race, but the race organizers advertise that the average temperature at that time of year is around 20 degrees. The late start also means that, unless you are a local who can go home to eat a late dinner after the race, you will have a real problem finding dinner after the race. By the time you finish the race, get back to your hotel and clean up and get back into the city for dinner, most restaurants will be closed. In 2017 one in three runners came from outside of Finland, so this was a major issue. The weather also happened to be terrible. 26 degrees and extremely humid. This not only slowed down everyone a lot, but also meant that several people started to feel dizzy in the heat. Of course, you can't control the weather, but if the race had had a 9 am start like most races, this would not have been a very big issue. With a 3 pm start, it was a major issue!
M. V. from Suffolk, England (8/31/2014) "Not as flat as you may expect!" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is a tough race with constantly undulating terrain. The course is not the most inspiring and you don't make it into central Helsinki until just over halfway. A couple of K's round the centre and you are heading back to the outskirts again. There are a number of positives though. Helsinki is generally a welcoming city (if expensive), frequent well stocked water stations, where there were pockets of support everyone was very encouraging and enthusiastic. Really great to finish in the Olympic Stadium and nice touch to have your name and time displayed on the electronic scoreboard as you cross the line. The medal was also nice and chunky and better than a lot of other big city marathon medals. Free entry and warm shower to clean up at the adjacent Olympic swimming pool also good. In 2014 HCM had a deal with a local pasta restaurant chain which was excellent value for pre race meal. Biggest negative was 3pm start - why wait till the hottest point of the day in summer to start the race? Much better if start time changed to 9am. Thankfully it clouded over about 4.30pm and temperature cooled off. Overall, still an enjoyable experience.
I. D. from Dorset (8/20/2013) "Well organised, exciting finish in Olympic Stadium" (about: 2013) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 It seems the Helsinki City Marathon has improved from past years. Good atmosphere at the expo and before, during and after the race. Plenty of refueling available during the race and a variety of food/drink at the end. I guess, just like any marathon, you have to accept the weather on the day. 2013 happened to be good temp with little wind. The finish in the Olympic Stadium was special and the Finnish people offered lots of encouragement around the course.
R. C. from Scotland UK (8/29/2010) "Decent course could be better." (about: 2010) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The race was well organized and well supported. There were lots of spectators applauding along the route. There is such potential for a beautiful run here - on the coast, crossing over islands in the bay - but, oddly, little of it is visible from the route, as it is obscured by buildings much of the way. The heat and humidity were a shock and slowed me down a lot. It was necessary to take in a lot of fluid over the course and there were water/energy drink stops approximately every 2K, which was excellent. Unfortunately, the drinks were handed out in plastic cups. Not sure about you, but I cannot run and drink from a cup... so many stops were inevitable. I would suggest small bottles of water/Gatorade that can be drunk from whilst continuing your run. Apparently, the race used to finish in the Olympic Stadium. This would be a magical finish to the event if it were restored. Overall, well organized, but a couple of little points that would make such a difference.
James Skinner from Gloucestershire, England (10/6/2009) "Scenic Scandinavian Course" (about: 2009) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Helsinki has a picturesque marathon course, which essentially covers the main harbor area whilst crossing to some of the inner harbor islands. The race is medium-sized, although with a small feel. It's extremely well run - this event has been going for nearly 30 years. Race conditions were good with temperatures around 19/66 and dry, bright skies. The only concern was a stiff breeze blowing in off of the Baltic Sea. This has been mentioned in previous years by other competitors. The race starts and finishes outside of the Olympic Stadium, which is quite cool. My only criticism would be the 3 p.m. Saturday start time, which just feels too late. It means you're hanging around all day waiting to run. Whilst this year was fine, if you had a hot day, then this could be a real problem as opposed to starting early morning, as most marathons do. It would also have been nice to see more marathon merchandise for sale at the expo. The only souvenir available was a free t-shirt that everyone received. Overall, I would recommend this marathon. It offers you the chance to do a marathon in August (unusual), and Helsinki is an interesting city, where Scandinavia meets Russia.
A. P. from Rome, Italy (10/2/2009) "If you're traveling in the north country fair..." (about: 2009) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 ...make a stop in Helsinki and run the marathon. I did it in 2009 and it was great. Lovely weather (the organizers say it's like that every year, despite my "Finland-equals-long-sleeve-running-t-shirt-even-in-August" belief), a very scenic racecourse, all around the harbor, jumping from one island to another through nice (and sometimes painfully steep) wooden bridges. Very enjoyable atmosphere, and friendly and efficient organization. I agree: plenty of porta-potties - and I know what I am talking about, having tried them all (reindeer meatballs on the previous night weren't exactly the most suitable fuel). Abundance of water and sports drink. Beautiful support on the racecourse (apart from kilometers 5-15). It was even elegant, I'd say (with well-dressed people cheering and smiling; forget the "way to go"'s and "one-two-one-two"'s), and many hidden lawns to lie on when you were out of stamina but didn't want to be bothered by runners-by. Well... I would have loved to be bothered by some Finnish girls, as I was stretching my aching muscles on the grass, but the organization wasn't (yet?) that perfect. Do it!
F. O. from Co Mayo. Ireland (9/8/2009) "Beautiful, brilliantly organized, spacious maratho" (about: 2009) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Really scenic route that's not flat, but with not too frequent, manageable, gentle hills. Beautiful to run alongside marinas, parks, modern and classic city architecture. Hydration stations every 2K or so with personal drinks, Gatorade and water available at every single one. Plenty of toilet facilities also. Easy access to the start, with secure baggage drop right beside the start/finish area. NO congestion meant that you could get into your stride within the first 20 meters of the race, but always with runners alongside you. The sunny day, with temperatures of 20 degrees, meant lots of spectators, but they clap and support without shouting and screaming at you. Runners dont tend to chat to each other as they go along. Not sure if this is due to iPods, but I suspect it is not in their nature to be chatty. Excellent marshaling of the roads and pacers were also available. Great lump of a medal and reasonably good goody bag. Would do it again.
R. H. from Houston, TX (8/24/2009) "Good (but not great) marathon" (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I rated the course at a "three" because I was hopeful that the route would run through more of Helsinki. It seemed that we spent a lot of time on the outskirts of town. While it was very beautiful scenery, I would have liked to see more of the sites of Helsinki. My final observation of the course is that it finished outside of the Olympic stadium. Why couldn't we finish inside? Organization was great. Registration was easy, final race instructions were clear, and packet pick-up was easy. Having the sports hall to store bags in was also a great plus. Spectators were great and vocal, but they were sparse. There were plenty of times along the course where we were outside of the city and no spectators were around. Overall it was a good race. I don't know that I would recommend making a special trip to Helsinki just to run it. If you're in the neighborhood, though, it's worth your while. They have some work to do before I would consider it to be a destination marathon like.
B. H. from Minneapolis, United States (8/19/2009) "Beautiful and well organized" (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Helsinki puts on a fantastic marathon - a gorgeous and relatively flat course, a well organized event, great T-shirt and medal, and plentiful (if frenzied) water stops (plus pickle and banana stops). As an international runner, they couldn't have made it easier, from the special check-in desk and support for international runners to the 3 p.m. start time (a relaxing option that I hope more races will consider). Thanks to Helsinki for a fantastic race and great vacation!
H. T. from Houston, TX (8/18/2009) "Nice, smallish marathon!" (about: 2009) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Helsinki City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I just ran the 2009 Helsinki City Marathon. Definitely not my best time, due to the hilly nature of the course. Weather was great - in the mid 60s. The starting time of 3 p.m. is a bit strange. Spectators were pretty minimal throughout. But the organization of the race was great! And a very scenic course.

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Marathon Details - Helsinki City Marathon