running in finland

running in finland –
from the elite to the
masses, from the clubs to
the market
HANNA VEHMAS & JUKKA LAHTI
U N I V E R S I T Y O F J Y VÄ S K Y L Ä
P L AY T H E G A M E , Å R H U S
OCT 30, 2013
Contents
“Europe on the move, running
ahead”
• Background of Running in
Finland
• Participation in Running
• Running Events in Finland
• On the road from the Civic
activities into the Market of
Running
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Background of Running in
Finland…
•
the roots of participation in running trace back to the
Olympic success of Finnish long-distance runners in
the early decades of 20th century.
•
Finnish athletes, among them Hannes Kolehmainen,
Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola had an unquestionable
impact in contributing to the national identity of the
Finns through sports
•
influence of the Golden Years of running for the
running culture in the country
…Background of Running in
Finland
•
postwar years witnessed a decline in international
running success
•
in the 1970’s the success of Finnish long-distance
runners, above them Lasse Viren regenerated
Finns’ interest in the running
•
emphasis of running started to shift from elite
sport to participation of the masses. This was
illustrated in the growth of mass sport running
events
in d
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the most popular sports
among adult
(19-66 years old) Finns
1994
1997-98
2001-02
2005-06
2009-2010
Walking
2.000.000
2.160.000
1.990.000
1.840.000
1 790 000
Biking
660.000
1.000.000
922.000
828.000
845 000
Cross Country
Skiing
660.000
724.000
732.000
747.000
663 000
Swimming
510.000
573.000
520.000
578.000
575 000
Gym
377.000
341.000
359.000
524.000
713 000
Jogging
445.000
477.000
356.000
496.000
639 000
Nordic walking
---
---
300.000
444.000
454 000
Floor ball
94.000
148.000
175.000
223.000
210 000
Aerobics
179.000
211.000
182.000
190.000
532 000
Football
105.000
103.000
117.000
160.000
140 000
Roller skating
---
33.000
150.000
156.000
131 000
Down hill Skiing
193.000
172.000
150.000
143.000
141 000
Badminton
174.000
171.000
127.000
142.000
151 000
Skating
67.000
59.000
60.000
56.000
88.000
8.000
17.500
29.000
30.000
Sport
Snow boarding
Finnish Adults’ participation
in running
Runners
700,000
600,000
500,000
Runners
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
2001-02
2005-06
2009-10
the most popular sport among
3-18 years old Finns
Sport
1995
1997-98
2001-02
2005-06
2009-10
Football
157 000
182 000
261 000
230 000
217 000
Cycling
88 000
179 000
261 000
202 000
180 000
Cross Country
Skiing
100 000
163 000
195 000
190 000
147 000
Swimming
112 000
160 000
202 000
182 000
160 000
Jogging
58 000
84 000
113 500
133 000
149 000
Floorball
96 500
127 000
160 000
131 000
144 000
Skating
63 500
92 000
125 000
121 000
115 000
Walking
72 000
113 500
132 000
113 000
114 000
Ice hockey
112 500
129 000
116 000
105 000
101 000
Athletics
64 000
68 000
75 000
72 000
54 000
Gymnastics
51 000
51 000
70 500
67 500
83 000
Dancing
40 000
45 000
70 000
70 000
78 000
Horse riding
47 000
54 400
53 000
53 000
63 000
Gym
23 000
38 000
35 000
50 000
63 000
Downhill Skiing
48 000
50 000
50 000
52 000
57 000
Snow boarding
-
21 000
32 000
23 000
10 500
Finnish Children’s and youth’s
participation in running
160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
THE Most Popular Sports
among finnish senior citizens
(66-79 yrs.)
2008
2009-2010
Walking
393.000
369. 000
Biking
160.000
133. 000
Nordic walking
112.000
157.000
Cross Country Skiing
99.000
119. 000
Gymnastic
95.000
121. 000
Swimming
89.000
92. 000
Gym
43.500
69. 000
Water gymnastic
36.000
Dancing
19.500
11. 500
Jogging
15.500
13. 000
Fishing
11.500
14. 000
Golf
10.000
13. 000
Hunting
9.500
18. 000
Hiking
7.500
Background of running
events in Finland
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The first running competition was organised in Laukaa in
central Finland in 1878, on a frozen lake with 20 competitors,
among them seven women
Soon after, running events were organised also in urban
settings. In Helsinki there was the so called Achilles Games
organised (first time in 1882), which comprised of several
distances, for example a mile and a quarter mile competitions
The first mass running event in Finland was organized in a
small town called Parainen in southwest Finland in 1966
In the 1970’s there were ca 200 mass running events
organized every year
In less than 50 years the number of running events has grown
tremendously
A boom in events was witnessed in the 2000’s
Nowadays there are approximately 600-700 running events
each year
Amount of Running Events in
Finland 1979-2012
Running events
700
600
500
400
Running events
300
200
100
0
1979
2004
2008
2010
2012
Finnish runners participating in
international mass running events
in 2012
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O ct u
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The organization of running
events in Finland
•
variety on the size, location and history
•
most events in have originally started out as local volunteer
based sport club activities
•
over the years however, many events have grown and begun to
attract corporate sponsors
•
the input of the public sector, (municipalities) has also
become more apparent  destination image and tourism
opportunities
•
running schools
•
Finnish Athletics Federation (domain organization for athletics)
•
active individuals’ efforts and enthusiasm
Examples of Major Mass running
events in Finland
Naisten Kymppi
Naisten Kymppi [Women’s Ten] is the biggest mass running event in
Finland.
It is organized only for women. Naisten Kymppi has been organized
since 1984
and it gathers nearly 20 000 participants every year. Developed by
five active women, who later on formed a corporation around the
event. Major profit goes to support children and youth sports.
Helsinki City Run
Helsinki City Run (HCR) is the biggest ½ marathon and one of the
most internationally oriented running event in Finland with over
15 000
participants every year. The event has been organized since 1994 by
the Finnish Athletics Federation.
Helsinki City Marathon
Helsinki City Marathon (HCM) is the biggest full marathon
event in Finland with some 4 000–6 000 participants each year.
Examples of Major Mass
running events in Finland
Forssan Suvi-ilta
Forssan Suvi-ilta is the second largest mass running event in Finland with a
full marathon. It is a popular midsummer running event in southwest Finland and
it
Has been organized since 1993. The average amount of participants has been ca
3 500
during the recent years. This includes full and ½-marathon together with shorter
running distances and roller skating and cycling. The event is organized by the
local sport club.
Paavo Nurmi Marathon
Turku is the hometown of Paavo Nurmi, the 9 fold Olympic Gold Medalist. Paavo
Nurmi Marathon offers three different courses to explore Turku by foot - full
marathon, half marathon and 10km run - in the footsteps of legendary Paavo
Nurmi. The event is organized by the local sport club.
Finlandia Marathon
Finlandia Marathon is the fourth biggest running event in Finland with
Conclusions
Running and running events are part of Finns’
leisure for various reasons:
individual leisure choice with
possibilities to increase forms of
physical, economic, social, cultural
capital
– impact of socio-economic background
– goals of society providing running
possibilities
– cultural meaning structures enhancing
active and goal and
–
Thank you!
hanna.m.vehmas@jyu.fi
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