The Bucharest International Marathon takes place at the weekend.
The Bucharest International Marathon is Romania's most important athletic event of the year. This year's edition, which is its tenth, will take place this weekend.
The event's organiser is Valeria Racila van Gronigen, a rowing champion at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984. Here she is now with more on how the Bucharest International Marathon was born:
"In 2007, I founded an association called the Bucharest Running Club. We first tried to stage this marathon in 2007, but we realised how difficult it would be, with so many approvals being required, so many sponsors and a big budget. So we couldn't do it in 2007. We did it the following year, in 2008, when no one thought we could pull it through. However, we managed to attract over 2,000 participants. Since 2008, the competition has grown from one year to the next and here we are today at its tenth edition, expecting 16,000 people at the start line."
Valeria Racila van Gronigen also told us about the novelties of this year's edition of the Bucharest International Marathon:
"This year we have a 42,195 m race that starts on Bulevardul Libertatii and ends at the Triumphal Arch, therefore reaching the north of the city, something we've always wanted. We'll have two days of races. On Saturday, the race for the public begins at 8 in the morning, while children and teenagers start at ten o'clock. We also have a 900m race for moms and toddlers called 'Jogging in Diapers' where moms will run with baby slings and pushchairs. We encourage people of all ages, from 4 to 80, to take part and are happy to say we've achieved this goal. I am proud that running has grown so much in Romania. There are competitions in almost every big city across the country and we are glad that Bucharest is on the map of world marathons."
The main marathon race starts at 9:30 am on Sunday.
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