City of Kruševac was the host of the annual International Generali Half Marathon for the 9th year in a row. This event gathered 650 participants from 15 countries racing in three categories: The Satisfaction Run, Children Smile Run, and the Main Run.
Organizer was again Athletic Club “Maratonac”, under the patronage of City of Kruševac. The start of the Main Run was officialy done by the Deputy Mayor Snežana Radojković, famous Serbian athlete and this year’s event promoter Olivera Jevitć and member of the National Assembly, Nevena Đurić.
“Kruševac is a city of sports and it is always supportive of any kinds of sports competitions, especially when children and young people are involved. We are always aiming and helping them to go to sports facilities, to become physically fit, to become more resilient, disciplined, tenacious, and build more self-esteem through sports and physical activities, in addition to falling in love with any kind of sport of physical activity. It is an enormous pleasure seeing them here in such a great number, the children and the older citizens who like sports, especially athletic and track and field disciplines, famously dubbed „the queen of sports“, as the goal of all sports activities is to make it a habit that will lead to a healthier life“, said Deputy Radojković.
Half marathon run was held in the city streets and the track was circular – four 5275-meter long laps, while the two exhibition races were 5 and 10 kilometers, respectively.
The winner of the 9th International Generali Half Marathon was Roman Lisenko from Russia, who completed the 21 kilometer run in 1:15:44s, while Ljilja Krasić from Niš was the fastest in the women category – 1:29:10s.
The winner of the 10 kilometer run was Kristijan Šošić from Vranje, and Slađana Stamenković from Belgrade club “Red Star“ was the winner in women category, who was also the last year’s Half Marathon winner.
The 5 kilometer run saw Nikola Milosavljević from Belgrade as the winner, who debuted on the half marathon scene 7 years ago in Kruševac.
The podium winners in full length run, and 5 and 10 kilometer runs won official Marathon Cups, while the first three places in the half marathon won additonal distinction diplomas, with the aforementioned Cups.
This year’s half marathon gathered over 2000 participants, including the exhibition runs, which are seeing a growing number of runners annually. This year’s event was also a record year for participants from Kruševac.
