Helsinki Half Marathon

Excellent organisation, happy people, amazing weather! The hill at the end was a bit hard but ee could all manage it :)

I ran Helsinki Half Marathon on 8 June 2019. The event was well organized and the route was really nice going along Helsinki city center areas and coast line. There were many water stations and cheering points along the course. I can recommend this event and I am planning to run it on future as well.

I ran the half marathon on 8 June 2019. BIB collection took place inside a shopping centre, but there were no signs whatsoever. You had to ask for it. The very small expo was not in the shopping centre, but at the start, a few km away. The expo was very, very basic. If you wanted to go to the toilet before the race, you had to be very patient, because there were long queues in front of the very few chemical toilets. Long queues also in front of the toilets in the Finlandia Hall. Bag Drop was just behind the hall, so you had to go either through the hall or around it and up some stairs. Start was at 8:30 am inside a newly built office area opposite the Finlandia Hall. We had to line up on a narrow path and slowly walk towards the start. The route was partly scenic, because it went through some parks, by some lakes, along the sea and over some bridges. Most of the route was through industrial estates, unpaved surfaces, a shopping mall and some newly built residential or office areas. Since streets were not closed to traffic, you ran on pavements and cycle lanes. This means that it was very narrow for the several thousands of runners and overtaking was a pain. A pain was also the burning sun. There was hardly any shadow and on race day it was very hot and humid. Many people collapsed and you saw somebody lying down on the side every few hundred metres either with the paramedics or waiting for an ambulance. Because the roads were not closed, traffic ran as usual next to the runners, and sometimes we had to stop to let cars through. Despite Red Bull being one of the sponsors, I didn't see any Red Bull at the water stations. We got a can of Red Bull at the finish. The water stations were poorly stocked. There was water with something in it (I believe salt). There was no fruit, no cereal or power bars, no isotonic drinks. And the last station had run out of cups and made us drink from the 5 litre bottles. At the finish it was the same situation. Besides the can of Red Bull, you got an ice cream and that peculiar water. No bananas, no oranges, no cereal or power bars. Never again!

A very well organized event, with dj’s and bands along the route, the location around the city and the harbor was beautiful.

The track was very nice, smooth to fallow, well signaled.

Gut besucht, gut organisiert, nette Veranstaltung

Beautiful small scale event. Well organized. Running alongside the sea for most of the time. Great experience!

Beautiful country and city with great views and very friendly people. When you’ve finished the race you can then hire scooters and go back round and see more of the city