From humble village roots to being granted market town rights by Emperior Alexander II of Russia
in 1878, Lahti continues to flourish, being named by the European Commission as the European Green Capital of 2021.
Part of the UNESCO Global Geoparks, Lathi is a ‘...single unified geographical area where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development’. It is home to the Lahti Sports Centre with its incredible Salpausselka ski jumps that hosted the Winter Olympics and many international competitions, rocky hills, hundreds of lakes and Lahti Harbour an area with restaurants, cafes, Sibelious Hall and since September 2022 Lahden satama parkrun.
Exploring Lathi the day before quite literally had taken my breath away especially the sunset from Kokka restaurant.
We approached the start with other tourists coming from different directions. The sun was out and the whole area was looking stunning. There was a strong wind causing havoc for the volunteers putting up signage however they well experienced in overcoming the challenges and so everything came together. We gathered around the Run Director for a warm welcome and their pre-run address.
The route is firstly an anti-clockwise lap of Piku-Vesijarvi, a lake/pond with an arboretum of 40 tree species, before coming back along the beach boulevard and down towards the beach of Ankuinranta before coming back for one more anti-clockwise lap of Pikku-Vesijarvi and then finishing on the beach boulevard.
I’d put on my Nike Vapourflys; carbon-plated shoes.
We listened to the Run Director, we took pictures, we headed up to the start. I laced up my super shoes and felt a tingling sensation in my gut.
A group of about 5 people set the pace and I stayed with them feeling the adrenaline high that always comes when a ‘race’ commences. One guy started to pull away from the group and I decided to go with him. I checked my pace using my Garmin watch, saw I was running within myself found my rhythm tucked in behind him and drank in every moment.
Pikku-Vesijarvi is beautiful and the harbour is picturesque. As we came back from the beach harbour I gorged on the views over the lake to the ski jumps nestled into the tree skyline in the distance, its beauty brought tears to my eyes.
Parkrun is a run, not a race, that is until the final 100m then all bets are off. Entering Pikku-Vesijarvi for the second time I could hear the guy in front breathing heavily from trying to shrug me off. With 100m to go I made my move, he was perhaps tired from battling the wind and had no response. I kicked and kicked again. I rounded the corner flying through the finish funnel. It felt incredible, my first time at Lahden satama parkrun, my first family holiday and to finish first on such a course #outofthisworld
I quickly reminded myself that I was down to barcode scan and turned my attention to cheering in the other participants and doing my role. I could see people’s sense of achievement not just from travelling from afar but battling the wind and completing the course. And boy was it worth it, the course is great, the views are inspiring.
With all 79 participants and 22 volunteers accounted for we headed to Kahvila Karianta cafe for freshly baked cinnamon buns and milky lattes. Life has never tasted so sweet.
Tokoinrante parkrun on Thursday had been amazing yet this had been even better.
On sugary high’s we said our goodbyes to the other participants and local volunteer team. We then walked through the trails in the forest behind the cafe into the Lanu Sculpture Park. Here we saw a collection of weather-beaten sculptures blending into the surroundings along the trail paths. It was soothing, it was inspiring and it was unforgettable.
For the past 6 years, the Republic of Finland has been ranked the happiest place in the world by the World Happiness Report 2023 and here in Lathi, Lahden satama parkrun it had consipired to provide me with one of my happiest days ever.
Happy running
I clicked through to this one having read a post where it is mentioned. I thought I had read all your posts and I’ve seen photographs from this trip. It’s one of your best posts! The happiness is oozing out of the words. Thank you for these inspiring snippets from your running life. 🙏🏾
Thank you for this. Lovely photos too. So hard to pick my 1st venue in Finland. This might be the winner.
This made me so happy to read 😊 Oge x
I loved reading this, it brought the place and atmosphere to life and was so full of interesting detail. You always seem to find such interesting things to do and I enjoy the facts and history. Great writing!