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Jukka Kallio: The Flying Finn
There are thousand of runners who call the greater Chicago area home but there are less than a hand full that have run a sub 2:20 marathon (a 5:25 average mile).
How many can you name? Well, here’s one of them.
Jukka Kallio was born in Helsinki, Finland and grewth up in a small village of Myrskyla. Only 2000 people live there but it is famous in Finland because it is home of Kallio’s boyhood hero, Lasse Viren, the 4 time Olympic gold medallist and one of the greatest runners of all time.
Jukka along with his brother and parents, Eeva and Reijo moved to the USA when he was 6 years old. He attended Maine South High School where his competitive running career began. Kallio continued running at Oakton College where under the encouragement of Coach Patrick Savage.
Coach Savage’s famous strategy of “Start your kick now!” must have paid off because Jukka ran a 2:27 at the 1981 Boston Marathon which is still the Oakton school record today.
On a cold rainy April day in 1984, Jukka ran the best race of his career by taking over 8 minutes off his previous best when he popped a 2:19: 29 on the hilly Boston course and finished in 23rd place in the world’s most famous marathon.
Kallio has been running for over 30 years and has run a total of 18 marathons including 5 Bostons (1981 to 1985). All of 18 marathons have been under 3 hours including his most recent marathon, Chicago 2000. Jukka’s mother Eeva at age 60 ran a 4:23 at Chicago. Seems like marathoning runs in the Kallio family.
Jukka’s biggest fans are his wife Jane of 19 years and their 12 year old son, Christian who comes out to many of his races.
When asked what his favorite food is, Kallio replied, “ Herring on pizza”. Jukka has competed in hundreds of races, has run thousands of miles and has taken countless saunas.
Jukka’s suggestion to runners: “Make sure you take a weekly sauna and run plenty of hills.”
Look for Jukka on his Sunday morning’s runs at the bike paths at Caldwell and Devon but don’t look too long or you’ll miss this Finn as he flies by.
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Editor’s Note: Jukka and Mark Buciak has been training partners for the last 30 years ever since Coach Savage introduced them to each other. They have enjoyed many miles together and a sauna or two along the way.
