Just three weeks after finishing an excellent fifth in the marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Alisa Vainio ran her way into the record books at the Finnish Championships in Vantaa on Saturday (4).
In a stark contrast to the hot and humid conditions in Tokyo, Vainio won the Finnish marathon title in cool but blustery conditions in a national record of 2:23:06 to shave 92 seconds off the previous mark set by Camilla Richardsson in the Valencia Marathon in 2023
“I felt pretty good, pretty strong the whole time. The stride felt good and I was able to tighten my stride uphill and then relax downhill. Sometimes I got some help from the guys,” said Vainio who finished second overall, only 33 seconds behind Kari Heikura who won the men’s race in 2:22:33
“I wanted to run hard. In Tokyo, I couldn't run hard in the heat and that was annoying. After Tokyo, the recovery went incredibly well and I wanted to be brave today,” added Vainio.
Vainio, who only took one week off before resuming training after Tokyo, moves to third on the 2025 European list behind Olympic champion and European record-holder Sifan Hassan (2:19:00) and Germany’s Fabienne Königstein (2:22:17) who finished sixth in the Berlin Marathon last month.
Having contested two marathons in the space of three weeks, Vainio hasn’t ruled out contesting the Valencia Marathon which takes place on 7 December.
"I possibly have a place in Valencia. It's not completely confirmed yet. There should be good conditions to run hard, but everything has to go well until then," said Vainio.
European U23 3000m steeplechase champion Ilona Mononen won the adjoining 10km in 34:14.