Fantastic run from Alisa Vainio in 4th, but not a surprise: 5th in Tokyo WC, then three weeks later, set a national record running alone in a total low-profile race (the Finnish championships in October), and now a new Finnish record of 2:20 in December.
She ran remarkably even splits throughout (16:39-16:42/5k, 1:10:24-1:10:24 each 1/2)
Emma should be able to run faster. Not a perfect day for her.
45-year-old Malindi Elmore finished ahead of Bates.
Will we get any race recaps as to why it wasn’t a perfect day I wonder? She looked perfectly happy, strong and seemed to have a lot left in the tank at the end. Seems a bit of a waste of a good opportunity for her. Would love to know the reason for her holding back.
Vainio is actually the fastest Finnish marathoner this year, man or woman. Finnish men's distance running (road in particular) is in a really sorry state. The fastest half marathon this year was run by a 47-year-old.
Really great breakthrough performance from Joyceline. She’s been a little inconsistent in the marathon but this is a massive PR and I’m really happy for her.
Also super happy for Peres. She’s never had the flashiest of PRs but Olympic champ, World Champ, and NYC, Boston, and London champ, now with a 2:14 PR - is pretty darn impressive.
My guess with Bates is that she figured out that iron/blood diagnosis mid build and is still in the process of figuring that out and didn’t fully send this. Which is fine, not worth putting yourself into a massive hole you can’t recover from only to run a sub-par time.
Was hoping D’Amato would be able to get a decent time on the table after some consistent training and altitude, but she just might be well past her time. Of course running 2:28 as a master is still a great feat, but I’m sure not what she was hoping for.
Im confused by the headline Jepkosgei is 4th best all time? Is #1 redacted yet?
Vainio is actually the fastest Finnish marathoner this year, man or woman. Finnish men's distance running (road in particular) is in a really sorry state. The fastest half marathon this year was run by a 47-year-old.
Congratulations to Finland recently in the FIBA basketball qualifiers when they beat France - an absolutely amazing result.
Vainio is actually the fastest Finnish marathoner this year, man or woman. Finnish men's distance running (road in particular) is in a really sorry state. The fastest half marathon this year was run by a 47-year-old.
Vainio is actually the fastest Finnish marathoner this year, man or woman. Finnish men's distance running (road in particular) is in a really sorry state. The fastest half marathon this year was run by a 47-year-old.
Finland (Suomi) Men, top 10, 2025
1. J.Taskinen 2:20:54 (Copenhagen 2025)
2. K.Heikura 2:22:33 (Vantaa)
3. A.Nummela 2:24:26 (Vantaa)
4. J.Järvi 2:27:25 (Sevilla)
5. O.Holmstöm 2:27:32 (Helsinki)
6. M.Jonkusa 2:28:16 (Vantaa)
7. M.Rannankari 2:28:34 (Berlin)
8. L.Valtonen 2:29:15 (Barcelona)
9. S.Pahkala 2:30:09 (Vantaa)
10. B.Kuisma 2:31:59 (Vantaa)
Yep, 47 year old legend, Jussi Utriainen, ran 1:06:51 on 17 May 2025 in Helsinki. Fastest man in Finland in 2025.
Utriainen, is a former Finnish national class runner from early 2000-2010 era.
Jussi Pekka Utriainen is a Finnish long-distance runner. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the Men's marathon, finishing in 69th place. References
Osako has pretty much staked his entire career in doing the opposite of what is considered “Japanese.”
He didn’t go the Ekiden route after college, instead opting to train in America with Julian.
He’s always been an outspoken critic of the JAAF and mostly races outside of Japan.
The tattoos and earrings are pretty much unheard of and very controversial in Japan.
And yet, he is massively, massively popular in Japan.
I think in a world where conformity is king, he is a beacon of individualism and that is resonating in a large way with Japanese younger folks and kids. They adore him.
It also makes him the second fastest British marathoner ever. The only other Briton who has ever run a marathon faster than Alex Yee is now Mo Farah.
All those Britons from yesteryear, Jones (2:07:13), Spedding (2:08:33) Nerurkar (2:08:36), Evans (2:08:52), Hutton (2:09:16) H.Jones (2:09:24), Brown (2:09:31)... All these times ran between 1982 (H.Jones) and Brown (2005). Many of those guys if they had been teleported to today's era would be 206 marathon runners possibly or faster. Jon Brown was a phenomenal track and cross country runner and had he persisted in the marathon to go for a time he could have been the guy to do it at a very high level all the way down to 204 teleported to today's era with super shoes and all the rest.
But the pacer has also been with her throughout her training period for this marathon. Kenyan female marathoners train with their pacers throughout the entire build-up period .The same guy who paced her throughout her sessions is the one who paces her on race day.
But the pacer has also been with her throughout her training period for this marathon. Kenyan female marathoners train with their pacers throughout the entire build-up period .The same guy who paced her throughout her sessions is the one who paces her on race day.
Did you see the mix up when Peres lost her pacer but tried to put a gap on joyciline?
Emile has a contract with TCS London Marathon to take down Mo Farah's record there only. If he carried on at Valencia he would've obviously ran faster. Once he's done sub 2:05 at London (hopefully this year) we might see a lot more from him.
