The trip

After a long summer break, it was soon time again to run some marathons. I had heard a few years prior about the ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki - supposedly a bunch of Finnish people get the ferry across to stock up on comparatively heavily discounted alcohol then get the ferry back. Since then, I had always seen the two cities as one in a way and planned to do them both at the same time.

That time came in August 2026. I so rarely travel during school breaks but somehow managed to get cheap flights on the August bank holiday weekend, during the summer holidays. Don’t know how, it just happened. I hadn’t run a full marathon for a few months but in the few weeks leading up to the trip I had started running more regularly and trying to lose a bit of weight. I did actually run what was a park run PB the weekend before - 17:06. Chalkwell parkrun (not actually in a park) is a great spot for a fast run on a Saturday morning.

The trip eventually came and this was one where a day of work was required. When booking, I didn’t realise that it was the bank holiday weekend, so figured out a schedule that took Friday off and returned on Sunday night. I thought it was going to be a work from home Monday but was pleasantly surprised to have the day off when I did realise a few days before the trip, but was also disappointed that I hadn’t organised the trip to not need to take the Friday off.

Anyway, Friday came and it was back to the old faithful - a horribly early drive to Stansted in the dark. 2am wake up, 3am drive, 6am flight. The main Stansted lounge was closed for a while due to the expansion work going on, but luckily priority pass swapped the benefit to £18 off per person in the Camden pub, rather than leaving people using the airport (and not gates 1-19 where there’s a second lounge) with nothing. As with a lot of airport pubs, the food was pretty poor and I’m glad the bill only came to 93p after the discount. That was one of the rare times I did press one of the tip options on the card machine at the bar, the extra 5 pence didn’t break the bank.

The flight was very turbulent but Tallinn airport was great. Although we weren’t in a rush, the Irish passports came in hand as usual in the EU. The airport just a really nice place to be. Very modern and warm feeling and incredibly calm for an airport with soft music and bird chirps being played through the speakers. It was also very easy to get out of the airport. We just followed the public transport signs, bought two €2 1-hour public transport tickets and jumped on the tram that pulled in right in front of us.

We got to the hotel at about half 11 and unsurprisingly, we weren’t allowed to check in yet and to come back no earlier than 1. I was still in my jeans at this point and forgot to ask if I could is the toilet to get my shorts on before we were out on the street again. We then needed to find something along the lines of a cafe that would give Ciara a place to sit whilst I run that ideally had a toilet for me to get changed in, near somewhere that I could run easily in a bit of a lap pattern for a little while to get some miles in before check in.

The run

I thought the park (green area on Google maps was all I had to go off) in the old town would be our best bet. We got to the park and felt a little hopeless at first. Then Ciara spotted the caffeine cafe through the trees and all of a sudden it was looking up. We walked over and it was small with no bathrooms, then it was looking down again. Until we noticed the train station across the road. Walked over there and the toilets in the football were out of order, left and headed back towards the park struggling for ideas. Just as we were walking down the stairs of the underpass, I saw “tualett” in the distance. It was one of those free standing single cuticle things on the paved area outside of the station. We were back in the money. €0.50 to use? Take my money.

I got changed and then we headed back happier to the cafe. We shared a quick brownie and Fanta but all the tables outside were taken so we did a lap of the pond in the park and found a bench for Ciara to sit in with the bags. And then just after midday, I was off! Very slowly, deliberately, because I was still incredibly stiff from the plane and wanted to save as much as I could in my legs for Finland.

I did a lap of the pond which was about two thirds of a mile round the main path. Got back to Ciara and shared this information then went again. Same lap, then told Ciara I was going to mix it up a bit so won’t be back at the exact same time every time. For the next hour, it was then normal lap, longer lap with a bit of pavement outside the park, extra long lap with the hill at the back, clockwise lap, anti-clockwise lap etc. Ciara was very bored by half 1 but I convinced here that I should do one more lap then at 11:45 we walked back to the hotel. It was only a five minute walk and we still weren’t allowed to check in until 2 (it was 1:50), so we walked a 10 minute lap of the block then eventually got our room key with ten and a half miles on the watch.

After a quick pitstop, I was out again for the more exciting (and longer) second half. I left the old town towards the sea and accidentally ended up heading towards the ferry a day early. I had my phone out to check Google maps and got on Reidi tee heading east. This pavement / promenade was good to run on and took me all the way up to Pirita marina. It was an enjoyable stretch with great views over the water.

At the Marina there was a brutiful that’s was built in that stepped design that you just never see anymore. There was also a container that contained a ‘fun fact’ about Tallinn. The city actually hosted the olympics, sort of. As Estonia was part of the USSR in 1980 and Moscow is in land, it was decided to host the sailing events in Tallinn for the 1980 games, specifically here at this marina. The 70s saw a lot of development in Tallinn to prepare, with the opening of the yachting centre (and airport and hotels and other infrastructure). I from what I can see online, the brutal building is part of the Pirita Marina hotel and spa and was probably the hotel section of the yachting centre built in 70 something for the olympics.

I turned around at the Marina at 15 miles. I had an even better view on the way back as the city and ferries were in focus. At the end of this section, there was a tiny 100m zig zag 3 lane running track along the water. I jumped on, not seeing the finish line, and was off again very soon after at the other end. I drifted back to where I got on the road and was past 18 miles.

I spotted “SuperAlko” close to the ferry port. This looked to be a massive liquor store right next to the ferry, designed entirely for Finnish drinkers who don’t like the incredibly high tax they pay. There was another cash and carry just down the road which I suspect served a similar clientele.

I then just decided to see where the roads and paths take me. With 8 miles to go, I was just going to explore a bit until the last few miles and find my way back to the hotel. As is often the case with the sea, there were boats everywhere. The little marina just out of town to the east, the main ferry port and then a half marina half museum on the west end of the city. There were a bunch of old ships and what looked like torpedos that you could walk around for free I think. I didn’t bother but I didn’t see any ticket information anywhere.

After going through this section, I ended up in a bit more of a residential zone. There’s a good architectural range across the city, but it was a bit odd here. There’s been a lot of development in recent years - modern flats, offices and shops - but there are also a lot of abandoned stone and. Wooden buildings scattered around.

I turned around again and headed back towards the centre of town. Approaching 22 miles, I didn’t really have the miles for any more proper exploration, so just started doing a lap of the perimeter of the old. This took me past what I initially thought was a back volley ball game, because of the crowds, but later concluded must have been a training session, because of the lack of effort put in by one of the sides.

I then ended up back in the park where I started at 23 miles. Familiarity won and I decided to just do two and a half more laps and call it a day. It was at this point that I noticed the running track in the park (which was closed) wasn’t actually a full track. The only markings I could see were 300 starts, with the lane 1 start about half way down the home straight. A zig zag 100m track and a sharp bends 4 lane c. 250m track - one of the strangest athletics set ups I’ve seen in a city.

I finished the two and a bit laps, feeling the drain, and headed back. I crossed 26.22 just before the hotel and thankfully didn’t have to do any rounding up. I went through the main door at St Olav’s Hotel, got a sprite and a (well earnt) beer out of the vending machine and headed back to the room.

After the run

I got the sprite down me immediately then had a shower. I then enjoyed the beer slightly more slowly whilst watching the best thing I could find on the 30 channels - cycling. It said it was the US open in the top right corner but I’m pretty sure it was Spain from the landscape and I’m pretty sure US open is tennis (and golf) so that heading might have been misleading.

Next it was dinner and we took a short walk round the old town, ending up in Hell Hunt. The food was great and reasonably priced, and I also enjoyed a good wheat beer. We then had a quick drink in Mad Murphy’s, but it wasn’t so mad. It was about 9 o’clock by this point and despite Tallinn being a frequent stag do destination, none of them seemed to go to the main Irish pub in the centre of the old town. Or maybe they just start later in Tallinn. Friday was ladies day so they doubled up Ciara’s wine for free. After that knock out, it was time for bed.

Evidence