Ruskamarathon draws its biggest field since 2018

The Ruskamarathon in Levi drew 2,280 runners on Saturday, its largest field since 2018, Yle reported.

The 43rd edition of the event attracted 260 more participants than last year, when 2,020 runners took part. That figure was 25 per cent higher than the previous year.

Running events have been growing in popularity in Finland. Tapani Virtanen, event manager at Runner’s High, which organises running events particularly in the Helsinki region, said participation had increased by 10 to 20 per cent from last year, according to his information.

Virtanen said running appealed to many people because it was easy to take up and required little time or money. It can also serve as supplementary training for many other sports.

The trend is especially visible among people aged 20 to 30, he said. The average age of participants at running events has fallen sharply in recent years.

The half marathon remains the most popular distance, but the full marathon has also gained popularity. Virtanen said the success of European marathon champion Alisa Vainio may have contributed to the increase.

“It naturally has a positive effect when there are role models and Finnish athletes succeed,” he said.

Among Saturday’s participants was Mikko Jänkälä from Rovaniemi, who ran dressed as Santa Claus. He has taken part in the Ruskamarathon for 20 years.

Jänkälä first entered the full marathon at the age of 60. As the years have passed, he has moved to shorter distances and ran 6.5 kilometres this time.

He has completed the full marathon 13 times, including four runs with artificial hips.

“Movement is medicine,” he said.