One thousand 11 athletes, who will participate in the international organization on April 314, will travel more than 26 thousand kilometers and, in a sense, take a half-world tour on the streets of Izmir.
Marathonİzmir, the first international marathon of İzmir's history, organized with the theme "Ormanİzmir" last year, will be run for the second time on Sunday, April 11th. Until now, 17 athletes have been registered in MaratonIzmir, where 314 global goals determined by the United Nations for a “Sustainable World” will be used as a milestone. While 10 athletes in 914 km and 42 athletes in 400 km will compete for medals, the total distance to be run will exceed 26 thousand kilometers and in a sense, a half-world tour will be made on the streets of Izmir.
67 elite athletes will start
Athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, Bahamas, Romania and Rwanda will run at Maratonİzmir, which is a candidate for the “Bronze” category in its second year in terms of organization success, participant quality and number. The fact that 30 athletes, 67 Turkish athletes in total, have elite status is considered as an important indicator that the race will be quite contentious. The flat slope of the 42 km track between Kültürpark - Mavişehir - İzmir Marina - Kültürpark will also result in very good grades.
Champion Sang Benard is in Izmir again
Kenyan Sang Benard, the 2020-kilometer men's winner of Marathon, which was held for the first time in 42, is also participating in the race on April 11th. Benard, whose best time is 2.11.49, ran 2.14.53 in last year's race. Kenyan athletes, who stand out with their success in long-distance running all over the world, will run against much tougher opponents this time in MaratonIzmir, thus, a race that takes every second is expected to emerge.
Made a name in the international platform
Hakan Orhunbilge, Head of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Youth and Sports Department, emphasized that the increase in the number of elite athletes shows the quality of the race and said, “Marathons are one of the most important elements of the promotion of the city. Although Maratonİzmir is only in its second year, it has reached a point in the international arena both in terms of organization quality and participant quality. Our goal; "To raise MaratonIzmir to the Bronze and then Silver category by doing better every year."
Izmir will be a sports city
Izmir Metropolitan Belediyespor President Ersan Odaman pointed out that despite the severe conditions of the pandemic period, all health and safety measures were taken, “We have shown our organization quality with the MarathonIzmir, U19 and U18 European Beach Volleyball Championships that we have organized in Izmir since the first COVID-22 case was detected. We are walking towards our goal of making İzmir a center of international championships and a sports city. Maratonİzmir constitutes the most important step of this exit ”.
Be the first to comment