Welcome to the FightBack Run event on September 5, 2026!
The length of the loop around the banks of the Aura River is approximately 2.7 km and you can do it as many times as you want in two hours.
FightBack Run tickets 2026.
Tickets can be purchased in advance until 1 pm on September 5, 2026:
€12/person until February 28, 2026
€15/person until June 15, 2026
€20/person until September 5, 2026 1 pm
Tickets purchased on site are €25/person. The accessible route is free of charge.
Preliminary schedule (will be specified as the event approaches):
11:00 Event area opens
12:00 Welcome speech by Pekka Hyysalo and program, including All Stars dance studio performance
12:50 Warm-up
13:00 Start of the accessible and 2.7 km run
13:00-15:00 Walking and running along the Aurajoki riverside trail
15:05 Final stretching
Schedule is indicative, minor changes to the program are possible.
Info
FightBack Run has had over 7000 participants in total between 2014 and 2023. The event area is located in the middle of historic Turku, at the Old Market Square. The Aura River bank, between Myllysilta and Tuomiokirkkosilta, offers a great setting for the event’s 2.7 km route.
On Saturday, September 5, you can complete the route according to your own goals. The running and walking time is two (2) hours.
FightBack Run tickets 2026
Buy tickets here
Group registrations
You can choose whether the tickets will be delivered only to the contact person or directly to the runners.
As a partner or with the event?
FightBack Run wants to move everyone. Do you want to enable a community, work group or even a school group to participate in the FightBack Run? Contact us and we will tell you more!
Contact information: sari@fightback.fi
As a vendor at the event?
We still have space for a coffee vendor at the event, for example, contact us at fightbackrun@gmail.com
FightBack Run
The first Fightback Run was held in Turku on the banks of the Aura River in early September 2014. The FightBack Run is run or walked on the first Saturday of September. There are no times or competitions, except with yourself. The main focus of this feel-good event is the joy of movement in an encouraging and joyful atmosphere. People of all ages and fitness levels have participated, from babies to grandparents, from walkers of the accessible route to runners.
The first distance was 2.7 km, which was doubled annually to a half-marathon distance on the banks of the Turku river. Distances are no longer decided in advance, but everyone can walk or run the distance they want within about two hours of exercise time. The participation fee has been kept low so that everyone can participate. The smallest members of the family and participants of the accessible route with their helpers can participate in the event free of charge. The accessible route is approx. 300 m long. The proceeds from the FightBack Run support FightBack’s activities.
Background of the event
The roots of FightBack Run go back to the time when the founder of the event, Pekka Hyysalo, was lying in a hospital bed with no mobility after a skiing accident. The thought came to mind: why didn’t I run a marathon when I could have done it? After noticing that one of his toes was moving, he thought that one day I would still run that marathon.
In the fall of 2014, Pekka challenged all “couch potatoes” and fellow runners to join him on a journey towards the marathon. The idea was to get participants to move on a low threshold to the banks of the Aura River and to also encourage those with reduced mobility to join in. The accessible route can be covered with a wheelchair or rollator. The most important thing in this feel-good event is the joy of movement and enjoying the fresh air.
Many of those who participated in the past have gradually increased their distance, even to a half marathon. Pekka Hyysalo, the creator of FightBack Run, ran a half marathon in 2018. Nordic walkers, strollers and work groups are a familiar sight at FightBack Run. The atmosphere of the event is encouraging, warm and happy.
The proceeds from FightBack Run have supported the rehabilitation of those with head injuries, for example by enabling free rehabilitation at the FightBack facility in Turku and free empowerment days for those with head injuries and their loved ones. However, the FightBack facility had to be abandoned in autumn 2021 due to the corona pandemic and the low use of the facility. Since then, Pekka and FightBack have collaborated with HCP Golf, among others, by organizing a FightBack Golf tour with lessons for people with disabilities. However, based on the feedback, the most important thing is probably the encouragement that Pekka and the FightBack team give to those with head injuries and their loved ones, as well as many others in difficult life situations.
