European marathon champion Alisa Vainio has announced plans to run both the Berlin Marathon on 27 September and Valencia Marathon on 6 December.
It will bring the Finnish runner’s tally to five marathons in 2026 and eight in 15 months.
Her big breakthrough came at last year’s Valencia Marathon, where she clocked 2:20:48 to set new Finnish and Nordic records.
She improved to 2:20:39 when winning the Sevilla Marathon in February, was sixth at the Paris Marathon in April in 2:21:35 and then went on to dominate at the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships, winning by nearly five minutes in a championship record of 2:22:26.
The Berlin Marathon has played host to more world records than any other major marathon, thanks to its flat and fast course in the German capital. The women’s field is led by Ethiopian world record-holder Tigst Assefa (2:11:53).
It is another opportunity for the in-form Vainio to attack her national record and close in on a first sub-2:20 clocking.