On a rainy May 20th Dnipro hosted 3rd Interpipe Dnipro Half Marathon, a large international sports event organized by Run Ukraine, which has already become a traditional and one of the largest in Ukraine. The second event in the season of Run Ukraine Running League 2018 brought together nearly 3,000 participants at all distances to the applause of 8,000 spectators.
The winners at the main course with a significant improvement of the last year records are Igor Heletii 1:06:24 (minus 37 seconds from last year’s record by Yuriy Grytsak) and Daria Mykhailova – 1:14:12 (she improved Anna Pechko’s record achievement of 2017 by 7 minutes and 25 seconds).
This year, 3rd Interpipe Dnipro Half Marathon 2018 received the highest rating – 5 stars from the European Athletics Association. This is the highest level of certification and evaluation, developed by leading European experts. The route of the main half-marathon course was traditionally held along the Dnieper embankment, starting and finishing at the central square of Heroes of the Maidan.
Men from the very start formed a leading group of 6-8 participants, which eventually began to stretch. Three leaders in the composition of Igor Heletii, Igor Porozov and Dmitry Lashyn held till 15 kilometers, afterwards – two Igors began to build up the gap, and two kilometers before the finish, Heletii was able to accelerate and thus left no chances to his competitors: so, the winner has 1:06:24, Porozov 1:06:32 and the bronze medalist Lashyn has 1:07:19. Heletii who triumphed 2 weeks earlier at the Ukrainian Championship in Kovel, again left no chances to his competitors, although after the finish he modestly noted that everyone competed on an equal footing:
“Everyone had equal chances here. I already managed to recover after the Championship of Ukraine, and this pace was comfortable for me. If I ran a little faster at some places, then the result could be better, but overall I think it’s normal. I liked today’s weather – fresh, easy to breathe, very comfortable, you cannot wish for a better one. The track is also good, almost level, maybe just a few steep turns, but in general – a high-speed one. ”
The competition among women was less fierce. Up to 12 km the top three were Olena Serdiuk, Darya Mykhailova and Natalia Strebkova, after – the last two made a successful attempt to break away and continued running together. Already on the 15th kilometer Daria, feeling strength, broke away from her competitor and the last 6 kilometers ran to victory alone. As a result, the winner has 1:14:12, Natalia is second in her debut half-marathon with the time 1:15:33, and closed the top three Olena with 1:15:57.
“I was ready for any weather, everyone runs in the same conditions, I was determined to fight for the first place. The result, of course, is very satisfactory, because I did not count on 1:14 at all. A week ago I was running a half-marathon in Guadalupe, and there was a very heavy track with many climbs and descents, after that I could not run at all, even walking was difficult for me. I thought that I could run here at best 1:18. I think if I started more boldly from the beginning, then there would be a personal record. Concerning the route – I have never seen such flat ones in half marathons, there was also no wind at all, although it was possible, because it is a river bank, just like in Kyiv, but we were lucky, the weather is also excellent! “- said the winner.
For the third year in a row, the title sponsor of the Dnipro half-marathon is INTERPIPE.
“In addition to the financial support for 3rd Interpipe Dnipro Half Marathon 2018, this year we made significant efforts to increase the number of participants. In particular, we conducted open training in the cities of the region, implemented a project to attract companies from Dnipro to participate in the running movement. We are glad that our efforts give results – the number of runners in our region is growing, ” comments Dmytro Kysylevskiy, director of corporate relations at INTERPIPE.
Compared with last year’s Dnipro half-marathon, the number of participants at the main distance increased by a quarter, 936 participants took the start of 21 kilometers. On this day Dnipro was visited by runners from 11 countries: Ukraine, Belarus, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Poland, Turkey, the United States, the United Arab Emirates and India. All finishers of the main race received commemorative medals, which differ in design from last year’s ones. This year the medals are decorated with a Cossack boat, which symbolizes the glorious history of this city. In addition to the finishers of the main race, each participant in the relay race received medals, which this year are executed in the form of steps and symbolize the fact that the team needs to overcome the path to achieve its goal.
Traditionally, the start of the main distance of the half marathon was opened by Mayor Borys Filatov: “Every year the number of participants increases. As a sports capital, we have declared great ambitions. Today we have many foreign visitors. Our annual half-marathon is becoming more international. This is a tradition that we will continue to support.”
In addition, not only the number of participants increased, but also the size of the prize fund. This year it was 85 600 hryvnia, which is 36 000 hryvnia more than last year. The first five finishers among men and women at a distance of 21.0975 km, as well as prizewinners in age categories were awarded.
“Dnipro half marathon 3rd Interpipe Dnipro Half Marathon is the second stage of the Run Ukraine Running League 2018. Today, the Dnipro became the center of running Ukraine, after all, almost 3000 runners not only from Ukraine came to the start, this is a record number of participants for the whole time of the event. 2 track records for men and women were established, and there was incredible support of spectators on the track, which means that the running movement in our country is developing – and running is a catalyst for sports tourism, ” says Run Ukraine General Manager Dmytro Chernitsky.
In addition to the half marathon distance, participants competed in other individual (5 km and 2 km) and relay races 1×10 km + 1×11.0975 km HeForShe Dnipro Half Marathon Relay and 3x5km + 1×6.0975 km called Under Armor Relay. Everyone could take part in the event, regardless of age. During the Dnipro half marathon, the Family Run took place, where family teams could participate in any composition. Also traditionally children’s races at 1000 m, 500 m and 100 m were held. And the oldest participant of this year was 71-year-old Ukrainian Vitaliy Serdiuk among men (2:12:27 and won in his age group in 21 km) and 68- year-old Lyudmyla Maidyk among women (39:03 at 5 km). Participation of such athletes only proves that there are no age-related obstacles to running.
Within the framework of the 3rd Interpipe Dnipro Half Marathon, the 2 km race was charitable, its goal was to raise funds for the rehabilitation equipment of the Dnipro Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital. 50% of the starting fee went to charity. At the start of the distance of 2 km 20 people in wheelchairs came out. Also, almost 50 children with special needs joined the 100-meter and 2-kilometer distances with the assistance of the “Good Planet” charitable foundation.
For the first time during the event, a charity Fundraising Marathon was held, which raised funds to support projects from 3 funds on the platform of the Ukrainian Charity Exchange: Open Hands, Helping, Kiddo.
Among the famous participants of the event are Maryna Filatova, president of the Athletics Federation of Dnipropetrovsk region and co-organizer of INTERPIPE Dnipro Half Marathon. Today, she went to the start together with her team, with whom she overcame 1×10 km + 1×11.0975 km HeForShe Dnipro Half Marathon Relay. Also with their teams in this relay race were Oleksiy Kharlamov – a paraolympion, a representative of sitting volleyball, silver medalist of the Intercontinental Cup, Olga Polyakova – founder of the social movement Gender Stream and the author of self-defense courses for women #Fight_like_a_girl.
During the event, the premiere of the song “Running Together” of the pop-rock band Natolich took place. The composition became the official single of 3rd INTERPIPE Dnipro Half Marathon. You can listen to it on the official YouTube channel of the group https://m.youtube.com/user/natolichofficial
The uniqueness of the event was also in the fact that it was outside the city limits, because, in preparation for the half marathon, everyone could attend the Open Run Day training in four cities of the Dnipropetrovsk region: Dnipro, Nikopol, Kamyansk and Novomoskovsk (open training, qualifying starts and test races Long Training).
On May 20, the safety of the running event was provided by 310 volunteers, 11 ambulances, 5 Motohelp crews and 30 Red Cross representatives.
Winners of 3rd INTERPIPE Dnipro Half Marathon:
21, 0975 km
Men:
- Igor Heletii – 1:06:24
- Igor Porozov – 1:06:32
- Dmitry Lashin – 1:07:19
Women:
- Daria Mykhailova – 1:14:12
- Natalya Strebkova – 1:15:33
- Olena Serdiuk – 1:15:57
5 km
Men:
- Andriy Ignatenko – 16:17.3
- Svyatoslav Tsvetkov – 16:20,1
- Oleksiy Lesnyak – 16:22,0
Women:
- Elvira Lashmanova – 19:46,2
- Oleksandra Dzeban – 20:20,6
- Victoria Rozhkova – 20:46,4
2 km
Men:
- Vitaliy Drozd – 6:49.2
Women:
- Oleksandra Tkachenko – 8:58,6
# Let’sruntogether!
The official website of the event: https://interpipe.dniprohalfmarathon.org
Title sponsor – INTERPIPE
Organizer – Run Ukraine.
Co-organizer – Start Dnipro
General sponsor – Total
Official partner – Mitsubishi Motors
Official sports partner – Under Armor
General media partners – Focus, Kiss FM, XSPORT, Sport Life
For the media:
release ukr.: https://goo.gl/mWYLea
release rus.: https://goo.gl/JctJFA
Download photos of the event:
Contacts:
Oksana Modievska
mob: + 380 50 243 71 50
email: [email protected]
Victoria Veremiienko
mob: +380 67 995 27 67
email: [email protected]
