Athletics: Paavo Nurmi, The Flying Finn By James Raia

By JAMES RAIA

Paavo Nurmi, Part 1

Through a short alley and near the end of a row of nondescript, single-story apartments, the most famous and infamous athlete in Finnish history was raised in a two-room dwelling more appropriately used as a storage shed.

Tero Toyryla knows the place well.

We've just left the modest, two-bedroom, dormitory-style home Toyryla, an ultramarathoner and race director, shares with his wife and two children.

But within five minutes he opens the wooden door to the museum built in the former home of Paavo Nurmi, legendary Olympic runner who won nine gold and three silver medals.

Until shortly before the anniversary of his 100th birthday in June 1997, Nurmi's birthplace in the country's oldest city had been all but forgotten.

But when the centennial approached, a committee bearing the runner's name restored the home where two families totaling 14 people once lived.

Toyryla wasn't yet a teenager when Nurmi, who set 22 world indoor and outdoor records, died on Feb. 10, 1973. But he knows the legend of Nurmi as well as any Finnish running enthusiast.

Between pointing to other geographical highlights and exchanging pleasantries, Toyryla explains that running is quite common in Finland.

"It's not a big sport, he says as we walk across the street from his home toward the museum on a warm, sunny day. "It's overshadowed by ice hockey, cross country skiing and baseball. But the people who run are very dedicated to the sport."

Mixed into the equation of his varied world that includes raising and family and running pursuits, Toyryla commutes by train twice a week to Helsinki where he works at a running magazine office at the site of the 1952 Summer Olympics.

Toyryla, in fact, has been known to sleep at the office since his often works late into the night on the compilation of running statistics. His 200-mile round-trip commute might be more convenient if Toyryla drove a car.

But he doesn't, explaining it's a waste of time and resources. He pauses and then also reveals that his mother was killed in a car accident.

Toyryla's late-night, number-crunching wonts include the recently completed compilation of all marathon performances run by Finnish runners in 1997. The country has only 5.1 million inhabitants. According to Toyryla, about 7,500 ran marathons, all listed in the running publication he edits called "Juoksija."

But Toyryla's writing preference lies in the ultra world, contrary to the passions of his country's two most famous runners, Nurmi and Lasse Viren.

The Finnish public knows little of ultra-distance events, but it is a country that appreciates health and fitness, whether it's running or the more popular recreations that rule the country.

Nonetheless, it's hard not to notice in Helsinki that running has had great influence.

Recreational runners train throughout the city. Statues erected in honor of the country's two most famous runners highlight a trip to the Olympic Stadium. There's a Marathon Cafe nearby where local road races are regularly held and where the annual Helsinki City Marathon begins.

And there's also a wide recreation trail that progresses around a small lake, through tree-lined groves, over train tracks and into the heart of the city.

"Running, like hockey and cross-country are close to people's hearts," Toyryla explains. "I think the Finnish people need to have top runners, but it just doesn't look like that right now. But I'm not so concerned about this."

Nurmi and Viren never met. Legend details that the two national heroes had arranged to meet, but Nurmi died on the agreed upon date, according to Viren.

At the centenary celebration of Nurmi's birth, Viren spoke of his predecessor as Finland's finest.

"Nurmi was undoubtedly the greatest runner, " said Viren, the 5,000 and 10,000-meter winner at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics in a commemorative book of the occasion. "I don't think it's possible to achieve as much nowadays as it was for Nurmi."

To read part 2, visit: Paavo Nurmi, The Flying Finn, (Part 2).

© Copyright 2003, James Raia

Posted with the permission of James Raia.

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