Running The World - Tallinn, Estonia

June 4 and 14 are important days for this tiny country. June 4 is National Flag Day and June 14th is the Day of Mourning and Commemoration, a memorial day held in honor of Soviet deportation victims of the 1940s. These days when you're running through Tallinn you're far more likely to note the proud blue-white-black banner waving from the heights of ancient medieval towers than you are to sense the Soviet legacy, but both play a very important part in this country's history and current mentality. 

In recognition of these two important days, BTG is releasing the route for a great run through central Tallinn that will allow you to celebrate each day and get your workout in at the same time. Take this run through the Town Gardens and nearby parks, and you'll see what we're talking about:

1. Start your run at the intersection of Nunne and Suur-Kloostri streets, at the northern end of Toompark.

2. Take a loop around Snellii Tiik, the pond in the center (.7 mi / 1.2 km).

3. Second loop: pick up the pace with some sprint intervals on the nearby paths that wind through the trees (1.5 mi / 2.3 km).

4. After the second loop, head straight through the park to its southern end 

(2.2 mi / 3.5 km).

5. Cross Falgi Tee and head for the hills of Lindamägi for some hill repeats (2.5 mi / 4.1 km; add .25 mi / .4 km per hill repeat).

*Breathe deep during your recovery intervals.  Many of the trees in Lindamägi are over 250 years old.  

6. Leave Lindamägi and head south towards Hirve Park, at the base of the hill (2.7 mi / 4.2 km).

7. Cool down with a loop around Hirve Park (2.9 mi / 4.7 km).

*Hirve Park was an important center of Tallinn’s 1988-1991 Singing Revolution.  These continuous mass protests inspired around 300,000 people to come to the center of town and call to the world for their freedom.  

8. Cross back over Falgi Tee, and end in the shadows of Toompea Castle (3.1 mi / 5 km).   *Toompea Hill has been Tallinn’s seat of government and site of some large fortified structure since the tenth century.  The Finns originally build a wooden fortress; in the thirteenth century the Danes erected a stone one. Their Toompea still stands strong today and houses the Estonian Parliament.

*If you run during sunset or sunrise, plan to stretch near Piik Hermann, Toompea’s tall tower off Falgi Tee. The structure’s history stretches back to 1360, and today it is the symbol of Estonian power. The flag atop it is raised and low ered at the beginning and end of the day, and if you listen closely you can catch some strains of Estonia’s national anthem being played during the process.