[Marathon #233, Overseas Marathon #57: Successfully finished Finland's Espoo Rantamaraton in 5:07:44]
Saturday, September 19, 2026. The weather was 13–16°C, overcast with occasional sunshine, and windy. I took an Uber here this morning, heading first to Otahalli sports hall at Aalto University to check my bag and warm up (as it was windy and cold outside). My wife's 10K started first at 10:30, and my race started at 10:50 with a 6.5-hour cutoff time. There were no corrals; everyone simply lined up next to the pacer sign for their target finish time. I chose the 4:00 finish sign. It was windy here, so I wore long sleeves and put my phone in my rear waist pack. This race claims to be a waterfront marathon, so I'll see if there's any nice scenery to photograph.
The course overall didn't have much elevation change. The beginning circled around the perimeter of Aalto University, with the full marathon consisting of two laps of the half marathon course. When I reached the 5K mark, I suddenly felt unwell, like my power had been cut. I quickly slowed down, figuring that the cold weather was burning calories faster and that I'd need to take my energy gels much earlier moving forward. Since I couldn't pick up the pace anyway, I decided to take it easy and just enjoy the scenery instead.
The first section wound through forests and residential neighborhoods, where patches of red maple leaves bathed in sunlight were a treat to behold. Around 10K, the course entered the coastal area, the true highlight of the route. Finland consistently ranks among the world's top three happiest countries, and here tall trees lined the coastal promenade: on the left stood beautiful detached villas, while on the right, small docks led out to the sea. Some had yachts moored alongside, and some even had a table and four chairs set out—presumably for enjoying the sea view while chatting with family and friends. Combined with water sports, beach volleyball, and children's play areas, they truly know how to enjoy life.
On the second lap, I took in the beautiful houses, yachts, and sailing boats all over again. When the sunlight filtered through the woods with its golden glow, perfectly set against the numerous distant islets and coastal reeds, it was an absolute delight to behold, so I snapped more photos and videos as keepsakes. At 37K, I called my wife to let her know I only had 5K left to finish. Looking around at the sparse crowd on the course, I knew everyone in this race was running dead serious. Crossing the finish line, I breathed a sigh of relief—finally finished, and now I can rest for a few weeks. My finish time was 5:07:44, putting me around the 12th percentile. The foreigners here don't run many marathons a year, but when they do, they give it everything they've got; coming across the line, some collapsed right onto the ground to rest, and some even threw up, so their times are truly impressive. Congratulations also go to my wife for finishing the 10K in 1:36:20, a 9-minute improvement from last week's Tallinn Marathon.
Three consecutive weeks of overseas marathons, followed by two more day tours, and then I'm heading home. I really miss Taiwan's delicious food and great value for money (especially compared to Europe, and the Nordic countries in particular).
#First time in Finland #Espoo and Helsinki are different cities; taking the metro for 6 stops costs €3.5 per person, while an Uber costs €14.95 #Espoo is Finland's second-largest city (by population), with around 320,000–330,000 people, second only to the capital Helsinki's 680,000–700,000
