Björn Borg Helsinki Half-Marathon Recap

A Runner's Ramblings: Volume 20; 10th Edition 
131 miles run in 2026 races
Race: Björn Borg Helsinki Half-Marathon
Place: Helsinki, Finland
Miles from home: 4397 miles
Weather: 60 degrees; 90% humidity 

On a training run in Minneapolis recently, the weather had abated for a bit and the humidity dipped below 50%. It was still 79 degrees, hardly cool, but I did one of my fastest training runs of recent memory. I told myself, and titled the Strava run "Have to remind myself that I’m not that slow". The point was, no matter how often it happens, when the humidity drops to a semi-acceptable level, I am suddenly reminded that yes I am currently our of shape and recovering once again from issues but if I can still run decent speeds. Similarly, when it is super humid, I am going to struggle. Why I think that suddenly, at age 50, this is going to change, I don't know. Sure, the lower temperature wit ha higher humidity is "better" than a higher temperature with the same humidity, but high humidity means rough day for Dane.

The humidity during this race in Helsinki was 90%.

 After I finished me 50 state quest of running a half-marathon and a marathon in all states before I turned 50 a week before my birthday in May, I was beat. After knee replacement surgery in February of 2025, I began running again in late June. From then until January of this year it was an upward swing of improvement. Then I had a right calf muscle problem. I DNFd a 30k in preparation for my final marathon. Then I absolutely destroyed my left quad muscle for no discernible reason. Somehow I finished the marathon in a decent time but March, April, and May basically left me hobbling through half-marathons in either disgusting humidity or insane elevation.

Then on my birthday I ran my longest training run since the left quad went kaput/ A whopping 5 miles. But I was able to be consistent. 30-ish mile weeks. Building up. Even dealing with the summer weather I was getting better. I decided to do a week of 6 milers on the treadmill to avoid the heat and humidity.  On the third day, my right hamstring twanged. That was July 14th. I took another 8 days off. Finally started going again on the 22nd of July. Which means I had one month to basically have my third comeback in three years.

But I was slow. Lethargic. Still overweight. Running was not fun.  I eked out a 7.65 miler outside and then a 10 miler on the treadmill two and one week before this race respectively. I got to race morning in the best possible shape I could.

Race Morning: 

The forecast had called for clouds, some rain, and 90% humidity throughout the day. Waking up to a gorgeous blue sky was confusing. If it was going to be humid, I was hoping it would at least be cloudy to keep the sun off my back. Alas, this was not the case.

I had booked my lodging not even 500 meters away from the start. Even with the odd start time of 8:10 a.m. I didn't bother to rouse myself until 7 a.m.  I leisurely dressed and moseyed down to the start positioning myself between the 1:40 and 1:45 pace groups. I really hoped that I would be able to stay here all race.

I looked around at all the people in my area and remembered how tall Scandinavians are (even though, I hope you know but you do now, Finland is not part of Scandinavia.) I had also been confused why this was the Björn Borg Helsinki Half-Marathon when he is Swedish.  Then I found out Björn Borg is an apparel company named after him. Given I am running a half-marathon in Stockholm next weekend, his birthplace, you can see how I might be a bit confused about where I was!

A Finnish countdown to zero (I think) and away we went!


First 5K:

Being as far back as I was, something I have rarely done as a runner, meant I had to contend with a lot more people, especially in a race of this size. I am not sure why but I wasn't expecting nearly 3500 finishers for this race.  Our first mile had a slight rise in it and I was paying too much attention to the runners around me to worry about my time. Some were running on the sidewalk, some where running on the road and I didn't want to twist an ankle.

When my first mile was 7:20, I did a double take. I hadn't seen a 7:20 mile this year, I don't think. I thought I might have gone out too fast and was going to pay handsomely for this hubris. I tried to pull it back a little bit but went even faster for the second mile.  By now I was already drenched in sweat and was aching to find shade anywhere. There wasn't much.

Few of the runners seemed to know anything about running the tangents and as there were so many people around me I couldn't really run them either. So I slipped to the far left and did my best to not tangle feet.  My third mile was a bit slower, even more than I felt and I was hoping I had got things under control.  We went through a lovely little area of town that felt sorta collegiate with brick-walled building and cobblestones.  I was happy these were not uneven rocks but rather smooth and solid.  But with the mist from the nearby bay kept things a bit slick.

To the 10K:

I had a white-haired gentleman slip right in front of me as I approached the fourth mile. White as in Scandinavian blonde not white as in old.  And when I say slipped right in frot of me, I mean almost to the point of tripping me. It was odd as there was no reason for him to do so as there was virtually no one around us. I had found a little pocket between large groups and while I do not attribute his actions to malice, they pissed me off anyway.  I went around him to the right and began running up the hill to the bridge we were about to cross.

I ran down the small embankment right as we hit the fourth mile. A little slower than I was hoping given the effort but more importantly this might be the first time since my knee surgery that I have run down a hill and felt great. Running downhill used to be my forte and I was wondering if I would ever be able to regain some of that and this felt like bliss.  Of course the uphill on the other side slowed me as usual but that was ok!

We crossed another bridge and I saw the sign for the zoo.  I then remembered I wanted to go to this island zoo (and later in the day I did.) I was utterly drenched in sweat at this juncture and noticed my safety pin had already torn through my bub number. As a heavy sweater I am used to this, especiallly if the bib is more paper than laminated.  I took a few seconds to re-pin it as I was running which oddly took a lot of energy out of me. I ran my slowest mile of the day here.

Onto 10 miles:

At one street crossing, after a small hill, I crossed in front of an active trolley that race officials stopped for me.  Seconds later they let it pass which seemed odd to me as I know there were runners right behind me.  But then I noticed that it appears they simply redirected the runners down the street before the trolley and then let them pass on the backside of it as it went by.  I thought that was incredibly impressive and would likely requite some serious training.  If that was the plan and worked all day long (as it seemed to be the case later in the race as well) kudos to the organizers and volunteers.

Down under a large array of trains we went and the tunnel felt great. As I struggled up the hill on the other side I had a few people cut me off to make the right hand turn. I really don't know if people are just oblivious to others around them or what but if I need any motivation to run faster it is to be amongst fewer people who can do this. 

I noticed that this was one of the few places any spectators had gathered. I then thought that, for the most part, urban marathons are no fun if there are not copious amounts of spectators. Running on bike paths or street amongst the concrete jungle doesn't really do it for me if there aren't throngs cheering. 

We went through shaded park area and man did I need that. As I cut a turn close I noticed we had a bit of a hill to conquer so I put my head down. I only barely noticed that I had passed the 1:40 pace group. "They can't be running right on time," I thought before falling back into my thoughts. I also noticed this was my slowest mile of the race so far.  Hold it together, Dane.

Down a quick hill where I again felt great we burst into the sunshine. Through some buildings and some people and I just had a 5k to go.  

Taking it Home:

I don't even know how to describe this but after the first mile of the final 5k which included this awesome bridge, I came up to an area where we had just run the other side of under an underpass. I came up and immediately almost ran into people coming off a trolley. I assumed I had somehow got off course but there were course marshals ushering me along. I ran about a tenth of a mile and was directed to my right where I rejoined other runners. I didn't think to look behind me to see if I had gotten off course or other runners had gone the same way but I felt totally off. (I looked after and that was supposedly the course. IT just felt so odd.)

Now I just had two miles to go. We ran around a harbor with ships to our right. I was faltering a little bit and a few runners were passing me but I looked like I was not only going to run a sub-1:40 but set a new knee half-marathon PR.  This was inconceivable just that morning. 

I then recalled there was this cruel little out and back of about half a mile and then I couldn't do math anymore. Was I still going to PR? Had I messed up again? I just had to run with the people around me. 

Down a tree-lined boulevard we went, with the previous days outdoor expo to our left.  I could see the finish (or is it Finnish) line arch to my right in the distance. I didn't exactly push it hard but I didn't let up either.  

I crossed the line in 1:38:36 - my 112th slowest half marathon ever but the fastest I have run in three years and the fastest with my new knee by 17 seconds.

Post-race, I was merely tired and that was only after another three-mile walk around the hilly zoo. No real muscle soreness to speak of. I am just out of running shape.  My goal is to get my half back under 1:30. If I can do that, I will consider this recovery a success.  If not, we will see what the future holds.

The immediate future is a Björn Borg-less half-marathon in Stockholm in less than a week. It will be a harder course than this one but possibly less humid but a bit warmer. The kicker? It begins at 3 p.m. I THRIVE (or at least used to) in races that are run in the afternoon or evening. Here's hoping for another surprise!