MONS Athletics

Homage · Inspires us

Alexander Stubb

He has run a country and raced Ironman, and the second helps with the first. Training isn't time taken from a big life. It is part of what makes one possible.

Alexander Stubb running at Ironman Frankfurt in 2009, in a Finland race suit with the number 100, as a supporter waving a Finnish flag hands him a drink.
Running the marathon at Ironman Frankfurt, July 2009, while he was Finland's foreign minister. Photo: Bastian Klein (Heptagon), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

A very full life

He has a PhD from the London School of Economics. He has been a professor in Bruges and Florence, Finland's foreign minister, its prime minister and its finance minister. From 2017 to 2024 he chaired CMI, the peace mediation organisation founded by Martti Ahtisaari, who asked him to take it on. Since 2024 he has been President of Finland. Along the way he has written more than fifteen books.

Most people would say a life like that leaves no time to train. He sees it the other way round. The training is part of how he does the rest.

And all along, he raced

A few of his races, and what he was doing at the time.

  • 2009Ironman FrankfurtFinland's foreign minister
  • 2013Ironman Sweden, Kalmar · 9:55:47Finland's minister for Europe and foreign trade
  • 2015Frankfurt Marathon · 3:08:13Finance minister
  • 2016Ironman World Championship, Hawaii · 11:13:32Member of parliament
  • 2022European long-distance champion, age 50 to 54 · Almere · 9:56:02Running a school at the European University Institute in Florence
  • 2023Ironman 70.3 World Championship, Lahti · 4:40:18Professor in Florence, newly a candidate for president
  • 2025Sprint triathlon, Joroinen · 2nd in his classPresident of Finland, entered under the name A.S.

He does it because he loves it. After Hawaii he said:

Forty-five minutes more than I expected, but it has never felt better.

Alexander Stubb, after Ironman Hawaii 2016, translated from Finnish

An hour gives you two

Stubb puts it simply: “One hour of exercise gives you two more hours of energy.” That is the whole point. A body in good shape keeps going through long days. It keeps the mind sharp and gives you the energy to focus.

Asked how he keeps going, he names four things: a well-planned calendar, exercise, food and good sleep. He is usually in bed by nine and up by five or six.

So his fitness isn't a hobby on the side of his career. It is one of the reasons for it. We want the same for everyone who trains with us: one good hour, and more to give the rest of the day.

Where to start

  • alexstubb.com · his site and writing
  • Finnair Blue Wings interview · where he explains the hour that gives two, 2023
  • Alex · his memoir, written with Karo Hämäläinen (Otava, 2017, in Finnish)
  • Miehen treenikirja · his training book, written with Ilkka Järvimäki (2009, in Finnish)
  • The Triangle of Power · his latest book, 2026, on world politics rather than sport

Stubb has no connection to MONS. We just learned from him.

Everyone on the homage page