Catching up with Lasse Viren in Myrskyla, Finland
By Pablo Vigil
Myrskyla, or place of storms; is a beautiful, small Finnish village, with scattered patches of rolling woods, roads, trails, barley,
rye, wheat fields, some rock outcrops. Verdant, pastoral
beauty is everywhere, along with many species
of mushrooms and edible berries. A beautiful white, wooden church is
centrally located, with a
small cemetery and a big, beautiful
lake behind it. Small farms and some small family businesses are there: Viren
Trucking, Safu Fish
Company, as well
as, a famous red granite
quarry. Typical fauna includes
moose, rabbits, deer, small birds…and on rare occasions, a bear/karhu,
or perhaps a wolf/susi.
In essence, a setting analogous to what the American
poet, Robert Frost, or the Finnish writer, Aleksis
Kivi captured in their writings. Aleksis
Kivi’s famous book,
Seven Brothers, could well have taken
place in Myrskyla.
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| Old, beautiful church in central Myrskyla. |
On August 25, 2011, I
had
the grand honor of visiting
Myrskyla for the first time.
This small village is approximately
1 hour northeast of Helsinki, capital of
Finland, and is home to
about 2,000 inhabitants. This summer also happened to be
Myrskyla’s 375th anniversary.
Vicariously, I had been
to Myrskyla several
times since first reading
and
hearing about
it after the 1972 summer Olympics in Munich,
Germany. Since then, I no longer thought of Myrskyla, as a place of
storms, but rather,
Myrskyla, the perfect storm: Lasse
Viren!
This serendipitous, “chance in a life time”
meeting, was
due to an old Finnish running
friend, Henrik Sandstrom, former mayor of his municipality, Siuntio, and former international runner.
For the
past
years Henrik has worked as
managing director of a recreation area organization in the Helsinki region.
The purpose of the visit was a business meeting
with 2 special people.
The first was the
mayor of Myrskyla, Jouko Asuja, a tall, slim,
kind man with a warm smile, bushy eyebrows,
and glasses.
He also has the physique of a long
distance runner, but “attributes it all
to genetics.”
The 2nd was Myrskyla’s
“favorite son”: Lasse Viren,
4 time
Olympic gold medalist. His Tour de Force: 5K
and 10K
gold in Munich in 1972, and again in
Montreal in 1976…Surreal!!!
Left
to right: Lasse
Viren, Pablo Vigil, Mayor Asuja
The
main topic on the
agenda was to discuss the possibility of collaboration between Myrskyla and the recreation area organization.
The meeting was to take
place in the mayor’s office
around noon, but Lasse
was running late, no pun intended.
I admit, I was nervous
meeting Lasse after
having first met him
back in 1977 in Boulder, Colorado. At
that time, I trained
with Olympian Frank Shorter, winner
of the gold and
silver in the marathon at
those same summer Olympics in
Munich and Montreal.
Boulder, at the time, was a bubbling
synergy of
running talent, and continues
to the present. Other Olympians,
international runners, and national runners
lived and trained there; for example: Garry Bjorklund, Mike Slack, Ric Rojas,
John Gregorio, Mike
Peterson, Guy Arbogast,
Mary Decker, John Cossick,
Michael Sandrock, Mark
Johnson, Dick Quax, Bruce Gomez, Mike Ruffato, Mark Weeks,
Skip and Ruthie Hamilton, Steve and Sheryl
Flanagan, Steve Floto…ad infinitum. Oregon’s Steve
Prefontaine also made several guest
appearances, along with Bill Bowerman, Kenny Moore
and Bill Dellinger.
Regarding Lasse’s visit
to Boulder, Colorado in 1977: Finnish long distance runners in Colorado
have a deeply rooted tradition, going
back to the 1960s.
The first migration of Finnish
running stars arrived in Alamosa, Colorado
in 1967 to run for Adams State College, under
the coaching guidance
of Dr. Joe I. Vigil/Chef des Chefs/Coach of Coaches.
These early runners included Juha Vaatainen
and
2 other Finns. Years later, the Finnish
migration would
continue; for example: Martti
Vainio, Jurgen Salo,
Sinikka Keskitalo, Hakan Spik,
Jari Nurmista, Tuija Toivonen,
Arto Bryggare, Ari Paunonen,
Harri Hanninen, Henrik Sandstrom, Tommy Ekblom, Sari Essayah,
Valentin Konenen.
Recently, Lasse
Viren’s son also
trained in Alamosa.
Historically, Finnish
runners have been big proponents
of high altitude/high mileage training. Alamosa’s 7,543 feet/2,299 meters, infinite
sunny days, dirt roads, great
facilities, and great support
by the community and
Adams State College, have
attracted Finnish runners for years.
Equally, countless of other runners from all over the
world and the USA have
trickled to Alamosa.
Runners
such as Gelindo
Bordin and Stefano
Baldini, both Olympic
marathon winners, as
well as Buddy Edelen, Juma
Ikangaa, Laura Fogli,
Jeff Turningheart, Greg Meyer, Chuck Smead, Jim Ryan, John Esquibel,
Tony Niemczak, Rick Roybal, Pat Porter, Deena
Drossin‐Kastor, myself included, have trained here.
Alamosa, Colorado
has really been an international/national revolving
door of phenomenal running and
athletic talent…and continues to the present.
Meanwhile, the minutes ticked away in Mayor
Asuja’s office as
we waited for Lasse. Suddenly, the
silence was shattered by a loud
noise coming from
what sounded like a large vehicle
just outside the window. Lasse
had finally arrived, having driven a large
cargo truck, the kind used to haul
really heavy rocks, lumber, maybe
even elephants. Minutes later there was a soft knock
at the door and in
walked Lasse. I introduced myself and told him about
first meeting him in Boulder,
Colorado in 1977.
Lasse and his prized cargo truck.
The meeting started and
before long, the only thing I could
focus on was how beautiful
and soft Finnish sounded as
opposed to other languages I was familiar with. During
most of the 20 minute meeting, I sat politely, as
quiet as a mouse, not knowing,
nor
understanding a single Finnish
word.
Obviously, no Finnish
bad words were
spoken, since I would
have definitely recognized them. After the meeting,
I humbly confessed to Lasse
and Mayor Asuja that I neither
spoke nor understood Finnish, with
the exception of 5 popular
bad
words. After saying this, it
suddenly occurred to
me that they might ask
me to elaborate on the 5 Finnish
bad words and to
ask
how I had come to learn
them.
Luckily, they didn’t ask, but out of the corner of my eye I noticed
that my friend,
Henrik, had turned beet red
and looked embarrassed.
He was one of the culprits for my bad Finnish
vocabulary!! After confessing my ignorance of the Finnish
language, Lasse quickly pacified me by looking
at me with a twinkle in his eyes and a half smile
saying, “Finnish
is very easy, even the very small children
speak it!” I admit I did feel
better after this, especially
since this comforting comment
came from Lasse Viren himself.
After the meeting, we walked from the mayor’s office to a
local restaurant to eat lunch. As
we walked along, I kept thinking
of what an amazing and surreal experience this was,
how
blessed I was to
be
walking in Myrskyla
with great company and
Lasse Viren, and just
across the road was a statue
of him.
*“Sisu” allegory,
Myrskyla, Finland
The day had started off
cloudy and overcast
and now the sun was shining brightly
on Myrskyla.
While walking
to the restaurant, during our lunch,
and while walking
back from our lunch, I noticed that not
a single person took a second look
at Lasse, or even really acknowledged
him. I seemed to be more
of a curiosity than Lasse. This incident
seemed very surprising to me,
maybe even odd.
*Sisu is
a Finnish term
analogous to “guts”, bravado, perseverance, tenacity, “will to win”,
etc…in essence, the “Finnish spirit”.
The Finnish lunch turned
out to be a typical one:
great salad with
beets, lettuce,
choice of dressings, real mashed potatoes, a thick gravy/broth with big chunks
of real chicken
and
cooked vegetables, choice of rye,white,
wheat bread, real butter. Really a wholesome, nutritious meal, typical of Finnish cuisine!
Lasse also had extra butter
and two glasses of milk.
I drank
some kind of burgundy‐colored,
semi‐bitter, berry juice, but tasty.
During our lunch we talked about
different topics,
but nothing really having
to do with running and training.
Better
yet, we talked about our children, wild
animals in the area, grandchildren, Lasse’s problems
with his kitchen floor, the roof at
his family’s trucking
business, his phone. He spoke
of his childhood in Myrskyla, driving
a semi‐truck…etc. I confess,
I did ask Lasse one running
question: Did he currently
run for fitness? He confessed
that he had run
maybe 5 times in the last 2 years. This was hard to
believe. He looked
amazingly fit: the same
lean, small torso, extra long, lean legs and
arms, same small,
slender shoulders, long
fingers, big feet. His once long flowing,
sandy‐ brown hair was now very short
and salt and pepper colored.
His once Quaker‐style, sandy‐brown beard was gone, replaced
by
a full, salt and pepper,
short beard, glasses covering his sky‐blue eyes. He wore a pair of worn white Asics training shoes,
semi dress black pants,
a short sleeved, navy
blue, worn “Bolder Boulder 10k” shirt with a
collar. In other words,
despite his alleged lack of training
and appearance, I’m convinced that he could
still do some serious butt kicking…and I wasn’t about to
challenge him!!!!
Lasse, still looking great years later!
After lunch we had coffee, which
is typical of many European
countries. The
Finnish coffee is notoriously strong, compared to most wimpy, American coffee.
Per
capita, Finland consumes
more coffee than any other
nation in the world. Furthermore,
Finnish coffee has been known to wake up
the dead and kill the
living…man, woman,
or karhu!!!!
We then
got in Mayor Asuja’s car and started off to see a beautiful
trail and area
on top of a small hill just
outside of town. On the way out,
Lasse pointed out the house
where he grew up.
I asked if we could
stop for a quick photo.
I quickly jumped out
of the car and snapped a picture, only to have
an older
man come after me
shouting “What
are
you doing here?”. It
turned out to be Lasse’s older brother, who also happened to be a retired policeman! Oh, great!!
The possibility of being thrown in jail in Myrskyla for
trespassing quickly flashed through my brain. Luckily, Lasse called out the car window to his brother. I then quickly shook Lasses’ brother’s hand
and took his picture. Also, next door to Lasse’s childhood home was an
old, red, quaint log home, which Lasse told me was where
his grandfather used to live and at one time had a
berry‐juice business. Naturally, I had to have a picture
of Lasse’s grandfather’s home. What
a rare, prized
moment! After this exciting ordeal,
we zipped off to
a nearby beautiful wooded area on
top of a small hill with a
winding, beautiful trail:
Lassen
polku/Lasse’s trail.
This great
trail curves around the rim of a
small hill and wooded
area full of tall,
slim pine trees, lots
of wild mushrooms, and delicious
blueberries, which Lasse and
I couldn’t
stop eating. I
think I got the best of
him by eating the most blueberries.
This trail also winds
around for about 3.5 kilometers
over soft, sandy ground covered
with mossy, forest
vegetation, with some
slightly rocky areas.
All in all, Lassen polku is the kind of
trail that most runners and hikers
drool over, or dream about.
Along
the edge of the rim is also
another trail, that branches
down about 80 meters over 800 meters in length.
Lasse trained here countless times, so he
knew this area like a wild karhu.
On another
side of the trail rim beautiful
cliffs appeared. Meanwhile, the sun shone like wild
honey as we walked along stopping
sporadically to eat wild
blueberries. Along the way, Lasse
also pointed out vestiges of an
old, 300 meter track, now overgrown
with forest vegetation and once used
by Finnish soldiers during WWII to
maintain fitness.
Lasse at Lassen polku/Lasse’s Trail…still looking
like a “lean and mean running machine”.
Finland,
fitness/running, are synonymous
and nothing new. Per capita,
Finland has produced some
of the greatest distance
runners ever:
Wille Ritola, Paavo Nurmi, Juha Vaatainen,
Martii Vainio, Hannes Kolehmainen,
Pekka Vasala, Tapio
Kantanen, Kaarlo Maaninka,
are just a few.
As we continued
to walk along, Lasse, Mayor Asuja and
Henrik stopped periodically to view a detailed forest
map of the area. Lasse also
told us another
interesting story
regarding a small plaque and monument in one end of the forest. The gist
of the
plaque read: This memorial
is in gratitude of all the Finnish women and their generous
contributions during WWII.
During WWII, Finnish women had not only
worked as nurses,
cooks but also as sentries.
Left to right: Mayor Asuja, Lasse, Henrik Sandstrom at Lassen
polku.
While at Lassen polku, I asked Lasse if he had encountered any
wild life during his training
runs in the woods and trails in the
area. I was imagining
and expecting great stories
of wild bears, or wolves,
or the possiblility of Lasse fighting off
a bear/wolf, then sprinting
off to safety.
What crazy thoughts, but I felt compelled
to asked
Lasse these stupid questions. Lasse
simply answered
that he has only
seen bears in zoos. What???
And what about a wolf/susi??? He
replied, “I have never
seen one and I hope I
never see one!!!!” So much for my stupid
questions and imagination. I got what I deserved,
albeit, disappointing!!
After this, we drove back to
Mayor Asuja’s office where
he presented both Henrik
and me with a beautiful
book about Myrskyla. This special book contains copies of old black
and white
photos taken in the 19th and
20th century,
along with recent ones in color. Both Mayor Asuja and Lasse
signed our books, plus Lasse
autographed several postcards of himself wearing his 4 Olympic
gold medals. I then followed Lasse
to his monster
cargo truck and asked
for one last photo.
The last photo taken, I thanked him for his
generous time and hospitality and… most
of all, his inspiration.
One thing for sure: next time I
visit Myrskyla, I will
definitely insist on
Lasse showing me how to
drive his cargo truck,
after all, he assured me that
driving a big truck was easier than driving a smaller
vehicle. Again, Lasse
seems to have a way
of making many things
look and sound easy…maybe even winning 4 Olympic gold medals??? Furthermore, I think Mayor Asuja and I need to have a meeting ASAP concerning
my idea for a name change
for Myrskyla: I was
thinking of changing
Myrskyla to MyrskyLasse….It
is only a simple change of 3 extra letters!!!
PS: Special kiitos/thanks to Henrik Sandstrom, Mayor Jouka Asuja, and Lasse Viren for my 1st visit to Myrskyla…home of the perfect storm: Lasse Viren!
Kiitos! Kiitos! Hyva! Hyva!...Sisu!!!!!!!
Author contemplating future
“MyrskyLasse” sign change…only 3 extra letters!!!
Many, Many thanks to Author Pablo Vigil for his great article and pictures!!
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| Author Pablo with Lasse and US Gold Medal Winner Frank Shorter |
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| Lasse Viren of Finland crosses the finish line to win the gold medal in the 5000m with a time of 13:24.76 during the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, |
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| Lasse and Steve Prefontaine |
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| Frank Shorter 1972 Olympic Gold Medalist in the Marathon |
Browning Ross was truly the father of road racing in America. He was a member of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field teams in 1948 and 1952, and Pan American Games 1500 meter (metric mile) champion in 1951. He won many hundreds of long distance races through the streets of North American cities. “Barefoot” Charley Robbins, also a U.S. national champion, called Browning the “most versatile runner of all time.”
