Footnote N°02

In Helsinki, Joonas Laurila plays a pivotal role in the local running community, guiding runs, providing coaching, and actively shaping the running culture. We recently had the opportunity to speak with him to gain insights into the Finnish running scene and his philosophy towards the sport.

Interview by Christian Brecheis

NEAR EARTH — "How did you get into running“ is the standard question, but you’ve got not the standard personal history to answer that.

JOONAS LAURILA — I was diagnosed cancer and it was located on my left foot. The doctors gave me two options, either to amputate my leg below the knee and try to save what’s possible and take a risky surgery. At the age of 18 it was probably the worst possible news what an active kid wants to hear. Since the cancer hadn’t spread too far, I decided to take the surgery, keep my leg and see where it takes me. And it wasn’t the easiest road, on the contrary, it took me over 5 years to get my foot back to shape where I could start considering jumping back to hobbies I used to do, like floorball and soccer. But pretty soon it became clear that this wasn’t an option anymore.

In soccer I was fortunate to have a coach who was helping us with running technique. I did really well in our running practices and all but I never thought about running as a hobby until my life changed completely in 2000.

For some reason, which I can’t remember anymore, I bought a pair of Adidas Supernova’s from a running store and after a couple of weeks I thought that maybe I should try to use them for what they’re made for. I loved running in the forest and feel the fresh air so I thought maybe I could give it a chance.

So I laced up and practically never took the running shoes off anymore.

"I laced up and practically never took the running shoes off anymore."

NE — Having your foot rebuilt at such a young age sounds scary. Did the rehab make you aware of what you’re capable and how much you can push it by going running?

JL — Yeah, in a way it showed me how our bodies can fall apart so we gotta make the most out of it while we can and that we have some limits which we should respect and some which we definitely shouldn’t.

All the doctors told me that running wasn’t an option anymore and that I would only break my foot by doing it but I didn’t believe them. I at least had to try and then see what happens. So it was basically testing through trial and error which resulted in countless of hours of reading and many breaks when the foot didn’t liked what I was doing.

And slowly it started to pay off. I saw that my body, minus the injured foot, and lungs were built for running, how much I enjoyed and started to understand what running was all about and what I’m capable of.

"All the doctors told me that running wasn’t an option anymore and that I would only break my foot by doing it but I didn’t believe them. I at least had to try and then see what happens."

NE — I guess you always had to listen more closely to your body and health than others. Did that ever go wrong?

JL — Oh yes, big time! I ran my PB back in 2014 (2:48) and got qualified for the 2015 Boston Marathon which had been my dream since I started running.
I had a good training season and I was in really good shape. Out of nowhere I’ve developed a tendinitis in my left achilles, the foot which also had the cancer. I had been waiting for this race for so long so I decided to do anything to be able to stand on the start line at Hopkinton.
I did two months on the bike and jumped on a plane and ran Boston. I ran a 2:50 there, but broke my foot. I realized “okay, you don't have to run so massively, to really improve yourself, but you have to be smart at what you're doing. Balance your life and figure it out.”

NE — I know you’re into running culture and bringing people together. Was that Boston trip an inspiration to start Unbowed in Helsinki?

JL — These days, enriching running culture and bringing people together became my mission. It’s what I love to do and to me it’s more important than my personal development. That trip to Boston Marathon had a huge impact on me because there I really saw at what scale running could be when things were built the right way. Shortly after Boston I started to work with Adidas and my main job was to build communities, way before Adidas Runners.

What really lead me to start Unbowed RNNNG was that I realized people aren’t really after getting free stuff at brand driven events or trying year after year to improve their PB’s. They’re searching for like minded people whom they could hang with also after the runs and outside running. They’re also looking for new goals which were a bit outside the box, something that would be an experience.

Experiences like we did couple years ago when we ran 170km relay from the Paavo Nurmi statue in Helsinki to the Paavo Nurmi statue in Turku. We celebrated with a really good dinner and drank beer until the morning.

NE — I remember seeing a training log from Paavo Nurmi and one entrance said „running in deep snow“. I loved that, harsh Finish winter, running in deep snow becomes your task for the day. Now it seems like Scandinavia has a science focused approach, looking at what the Ingebrigtsens or Blummenfelt are doing in Norway, Maurten from Sweden… Is this a current trend, something you’re subscribed to as well?

JL — Science is helping us a lot to understand different approaches to running and for example shoe development has helped me and my injured foot a lot. Back in the days when I was still chasing PB’s and trying to improve every single metrics it mattered to me as well but not anymore. Double threshold’s and nutrition innovations are interesting, but pure metric tracking isn’t for me anymore. I see myself running in deep snow after footsteps of Paavo Nurmi.

To me running is a way of life and just like life, it doesn’t have a straight easy path with no uphills. Running is an entity which constantly change its form and the only thing that is certain is that running will always be there with me. It’s a part of my life just like family or other important things and I have to keep everything in balance which means that they all have their part in equation but their importance differ depending on what’s good for me and the ones whom I share my life with.

"People aren’t really after getting free stuff at brand driven events or trying year after year to improve their PB’s. They’re searching for like minded people…"

NE — Good to hear you’re taking a more soulful approach. PB’s aside of course, do you have a race on the horizon you’re currently training for?

JL — I was hoping to lace up to Berlin again this year but my foot decided that I should rather take it easy for some time. I had the right socks, obviously Near Earth haha, but wrong new shoes which I was testing and one run was enough to create an inflammation in my foot.

So no race coming up but lots of events with Unbowed RNNNG to keep me busy. Training wise I’m only aiming to find some stability now while it’s slowly getting easier to handle our 4 kids and an 11 month old Rhodesian Ridgeback. They don’t require that much constant attention anymore, which means that I start to have more time for both running and recovery. So I guess this explains why it’s so important to me to keep everything in balance.

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