Helsinki City Marathon

The course

The marathon starts at 09:30 on Mäntymäentie by the Paavo Nurmi statue outside the Olympic Stadium, with a second group at 09:40 for runners predicting more than four hours; results are on net time so there is no need to push to the line. The first kilometres go down Mannerheimintie, the main street of the country, past the Oodi library and round the Töölönlahti bay, then out through Ruoholahti to the Länsilinkki junction and across the bridge to Lauttasaari, an island suburb whose sports park comes at 8 km. From Lauttasaari the route crosses to Lehtisaari (10.6 km) and comes back along the shoreline through Meilahti past the Tammisairaala hospital (14.5 km) and Tilkanvierto (18 km) to the Opera House at 21.5 km, where the half-marathon field peels off to finish.

Marathon runners go round again on a lap that differs only in small details, so you know exactly what is coming: the Länsilinkki and Lauttasaari bridge sections are the most exposed to wind off the sea, and the second passage through Lauttasaari and Lehtisaari between 25 and 31 km is where the field thins and the pace groups break up. The course is flat and at sea level all the way; the organiser calls it flat and publishes no climb figure, and the only noticeable gradients are the bridges and the ramp through the Marathon Gate into the stadium.

The finish is half a lap on the Olympic Stadium track, with the stands open to spectators. There are eleven water and sports-drink stations (Maxim Orange) at roughly 3.5, 8, 10.6, 14.5, 18, 21.5, 24.7, 28.3, 30.7, 34.7 and 38.4 km, two Red Bull stations at Länsilinkki on each lap (2.9 and 24.1 km), bananas and pickled cucumbers at some stations, one gel station at Lehtisaari on the second lap (30.6 km) and a large finish buffet. Own drinks handed in at the race office by 08:40 are served first at the stations. Medical staff are at every station, and runners who drop out are driven to the finish by taxi.

How to enter

Entries for 2027 are open on the organiser's site and stay open into race week; the race has not sold out and there is no lottery or qualifying time. You choose a predicted finish time when you enter, which puts you in the 09:30 group (under four hours) or the 09:40 group (over four hours). The minimum age is 18 in the year of the race. Runners aged 40 and over can opt in to the Abbott World Marathon Majors age-group ranking, as the race is one of its qualifying events.

The fee rises in steps: €75 until 31 October 2026 and €82 after that, with later steps published as the date nears (the final 2026 price was higher again in race week). The fee includes timing, bag drop, the stations and finish buffet, a medal for finishing inside six hours, an online diploma, the UltimateLIVE results service, first aid, taxi transport for runners who drop out, free entry to the Helsinki Swimming Stadium showers and free group training sessions in the Helsinki area. The event T-shirt is only included for entries before 15 June 2026; after that it costs €17.90 at entry or €23 at the expo. You can pay by card, online bank, MobilePay or Finnish employee sports benefits.

The entry is binding and there is no refund or transfer to the next year unless you buy the Mysafety cancellation insurance at the time of entry (€11 on a marathon fee between €71 and €105 in 2026), which refunds the fee for sudden illness and similar reasons but not for overuse injuries. You can hand your place to another runner for the same year through a €10 re-registration using a code from your profile, change down to the half marathon yourself until the Wednesday of race week without a refund of the difference, or change up by paying the difference. No federation licence is needed.

How to train for it

Train for an even two-lap race

Because the second lap repeats the first, run your long sessions as two equal halves on the same loop and practise holding the first-lap pace, not beating it. The 2026 median was 4 h 06 min; pick the pacer flag (3:00 to 5:30 in 15-minute steps) that matches your long-run pace and start with it.

Do your long runs on tarmac, including bridges

The course is entirely paved and flat, so your legs need road miles rather than hills. Include a few short bridge-style rises in long runs so that Länsilinkki, the Lauttasaari bridge and the ramp into the stadium do not break your rhythm late on.

Practise running into a cold sea wind

The shoreline sections through Ruoholahti, Lauttasaari and Lehtisaari come twice and are open to the wind off the Gulf of Finland in a month when the air is usually 8 to 14 °C. Do some long runs on exposed coastal or lakeside paths in wind and drizzle, and decide in training what you will wear so that you are not overdressed at the 09:30 start or cold at 30 km.

Rehearse the drinks on offer

The stations serve Maxim Sports Drink Orange, water, bananas and pickled cucumbers, Red Bull cut with water twice, and one gel station at 30.6 km. Use the same sports drink and gel in training, or plan to hand in your own bottles at the race office by 08:40, as the organiser serves personal drinks first.

Mind the Friday night and the 08:40 deadline

The bib for the marathon must be collected before 08:40 on Saturday or by 17:30 on Friday, and the Friday 5 km draws the crowds to the expo between 15:30 and 18:30. Collect your bib on Friday outside those hours, lay out your kit, and plan to be in the start pen by 09:20.

What you need

• Road racing shoes you have done long runs in; the whole course is tarmac
• A light wind-resistant layer or arm warmers for the exposed shoreline laps in May, and a cap or buff for rain
• Your bib visible on the front of your shirt with the timing tag intact; results are on net time and a hand over the tag at the mats can spoil your result
• A closable bag or backpack for the bag drop, using the tear-off tag from your bib (no valuables; a separate valuables storage is in the northern stadium square)
• Your own gels for the stretches between stations if you need more than the single gel station at 30.6 km
• Marked personal drink bottles with your name and bib number if you want them served at the stations, handed in by 08:40
• The QR code from the organiser's email or text message, which is what the race office scans for your bib
• Swimwear or a towel for the free showers at the Helsinki Swimming Stadium after the race

Getting there and staying

Helsinki-Vantaa airport is about 30 minutes from the city centre by train (I and P lines to the central station) or bus. The Olympic Stadium is about 2 km north of the centre: trams to the Opera House (Ooppera) stop and buses to Töölö sports hall are the closest stops, and the city bikes run in May. There is no parking at the venue for runners; use the HSL journey planner.

The race office and expo are on the -2 floor of the Olympic Stadium (Paavo Nurmen tie 1), entrance on the western side 50 m from the tower, open Friday 08:00–20:00 and Saturday from 07:30. Marathon bibs must be collected by 17:30 on Friday or by 08:40 on Saturday; Friday 18:00–20:00 is for 5 km runners only. Bag drop for the marathon is on the northern stadium square from 08:30 to 16:30 and is guarded; changing rooms and showers are at the Swimming Stadium (Hammarskjöldintie 5) from 08:00 to 19:00, free with your bib.

The official hotel partner is Scandic, with discounted rooms for the race weekend bookable until about two weeks before; the 2026 offer was €115–140 a night. Helsinki has plenty of hotels but the weekend coincides with the half marathon and 5 km, so book early. After the finish there is a medal engraving stand on the northern square (€10, 12:15–18:30) and the official after-run party at a nightclub with free entry for medal holders aged 20 and over; the stadium finish area closes at 18:15.

History

The first Helsinki City Marathon was run on 26 July 1981 and won by Sinikka Toropainen and Günther Mielke; it was held in August every year until 2017, moved to May in 2018 to share the day with the half marathon (run since 1994) as Helsinki City Running Day, and was pushed to early October in 2020 and 2021 by the pandemic. The organiser is the Finnish athletics federation, and the surplus from the event goes to children's and athletes' athletics in Finland. Course records date from the 1990s: Albina Galimova's 2:36:14 for women was set in 1991.

The 2025 edition became the largest timed running event ever held in Finland, with more than 19,000 entries across all distances. From 2026 the weekend was renamed Helsinki City Run, the half became the OP Uusimaa Helsinki City Half, and the 5 km and children's races moved to Friday evening to make room for the marathon and half on the Saturday.

Where to find out more

• Saucony Helsinki City Marathon: race page (opens in a new tab): The organiser's page for the marathon: fees, start, pacers, refreshment stations, age limit and prizes.
• Valio Helsinki City Run: general info (opens in a new tab): Race office, bag drop, timing, schedule, cancellation and transfer rules, transport, hotel partner.
• Valio Helsinki City Run: FAQ (opens in a new tab): The organiser's answers on refunds, transfers between runners and changing distance.
• Refreshment stations 2026 (PDF) (opens in a new tab): Kilometre points and what each station serves on the two laps.
• Results 2026 (UltimateLIVE) (opens in a new tab): Official results for all distances of the 2026 weekend, searchable by name, club and nation.
• Results archive (opens in a new tab): Links to each year's results since 2003.