Today, on October 8, Ukraine’s capital city hosted the eighth international Kyiv marathon Wizz Air Kyiv City Marathon 2017. The Independence Square gathered 10,000 runners from 52 countries. This year, about 1,200 marathon runners came to the starting line of the main course (42.195 km). This is a record number of participants.
Accident on the track
On October 8, there was an accident on the track.
“Today, unfortunately, there was an accident on the course of 10 km. A resident of Ternopil, born in 1963, Viktor Maliuta, felt dizzy on the 6 km. Within a minute, he was given medical assistance by the Motohelp service, then the ambulances team arrived. Unfortunately, it was not possible to save the participant’s life. We contacted his relatives. Our condolences to the family and loved ones. The family will receive financial assistance from the organizers of the event. Details on the cause of death could be given after medical examination. On the course of 10 km, the participants are responsible for their own health. This rule applies to runners on all courses of Kyiv marathon. As organizers, we require certificate of health or insurance only from participants of the courses of 42.195 km and 21.0975 km. We do not have such requirements for participants on other courses. On our part, we guarantee medical support for runners on the track. Today, on October 8, we had assistance of ambulance teams, Motohelp, Red Cross, and the Maltese Relief Service. We urge the participants to be more careful with their health and to participate in the race after training, when they can be certain that their body is able to endure the corresponding load“ commented the general manager of Run Ukraine Dmytro Chernitskyi.
Absolute winners
The winner on the main course was a professional athlete from Artemivsk Artem Piddubnyi, who finished 42.195 km in 2:24.20. Artem improved his own result at Wizz Air Kyiv City Marathon by 2 seconds and has become the absolute leader of the race. The first 20 km Piddubnyi ran one minute behind last year’s marathon winner Oleh Lishchyshyn. Half of the distance both athletes shared the leading position. After 20 km Piddubnyi became the sole leader, and Anatolii Bondarenko caught up with Lishchyshyn and eventually finished second with the result of 2:30,35. The winner of last year’s marathon finished sixth, being 16.04 minutes behind the winner.
There was no fierce competition among women on the main course. From the first minutes, Iryna Masnyk from Ternopil became a leader and eventually became the winner of the marathon among women, finishing the distance in 2:48.13. Elena Makarevich finished second with the time 3:08.42. Throughout the course, Iryna confidently kept the leading position.
“I am not afraid of competition because it adds to the excitement. But today I was almost always running alone, and it turned out that I felt even more comfortable. I was planning to run the marathon with the best result. My coach was sure that I could run the marathon in 2:40. But to do this, you need to choose a high-speed track. Today’s route was complicated. I was told that it would be difficult, but I did not think it would be this difficult. I was performing better going uphill, but it was getting hard on descents. But I could more or less balance my resources”, – shares her impressions Iryna Masnyk.
Records
This year Ukrainian Guinness Records were set on Wizz Air Kyiv City Marathon 2017. For the first time in Ukraine the half-marathon course (21.0975 km) was conquered by a seven-year-old athlete Nikol Kniazieva. The girl finished the course in 2:37:51.9 and the representative of the Guinness Book of Ukraine awarded her with the certificate that proved her record.
“Today I ran the half marathon, I overcame myself, endured and finishes well. I am satisfied with myself. My parents and friends supported me. Mum and dad said that I did a good job. I’m already used to setting records. In a year I want to run a marathon “- said Nikol after the finish.
Another amazing record was the finish of Yuliia Chernitska – the mother, who finished the half marathon with her twin daughters in the stroller. She became the first mother in Ukraine to do this. The woman crossed the finish line with the result of 2:22:26.8.
“For me it was a challenge to myself. I wanted to overcome my laziness, fears and become an example for my children. This is a kind of challenge for all mothers. I urge them to find time for training and also become an example for their children. It is wrong to tell children to do sports, but to not do it yourself. I believe that we must start with ourselves,” said Yuliia.
Courses of Wizz Air Kyiv City Marathon 2017
Both beginners and experienced runners were able to join the international running community and test themselves. Wizz Air Kyiv City Marathon 2017 included traditional races on individual courses: 42.195 km; 21.0975 km; 10 km; 5 km; 2 km
This year, the race program was complemented by new courses and championships, namely:
- Security Cup 5 km – a championship among officers of the security forces;
- Guide Run 5 km – a race for blind people, who go through the course, accompanied by guides;
- Family run 2 km – family run for children and adults;
- University Cup 2 km – a championship for students;
- Chamber Cup – a championship for corporate teams.
Traditionally, not only adult runners, but also children were able to join the running event. There were special children’s races of 100 m, 500 m and 1000 m. Each young finisher received a commemorative medal and gifts. The event was attended by more than 1,000 children.
Age is not an obstacle to participating in running events. Today it was proved by Oleh Shetankov – the oldest participant on the marathon course. He is 76 years old, but it did not prevent him from smiling through 42.195 km. Meanwhile, the oldest participant of the Wizz Air Kyiv City Marathon 2017 participated on the 3 km course. It was 80-year-old Uliana Panova, participating in the charity women race #AvonPinkRun.
Medals
The highlight of Wizz Air Kyiv City Marathon 2017 are the medals. This year, for the first time the medals of the finishers of the main course have a portrait of Princess Olha; and the finishers of the half-marathon course received a medal featuring the legendary founders of Kyiv: Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv. They were chosen by the majority of votes in the open online voting carried out on the event website kyivmarathon.org.
Charity races
8th Kyiv marathon included a charity race “ Winner” taking place on the course of 2 km dedicated to the heroes of the multimedia project of the “1+1” TV channel.This is the fourth stage of the “Winners” race series. The first three were held within Run Ukraine Running League 2017 in Kyiv, Dnipro, Odessa. Today, the runners helped raise funds for the choreographer and ATO veteran Viktor Kardash, who had lost his limbs, but remained optimistic and willing to do sports. Viktor received the support of 861 runners.
For the first time in the history of Kyiv marathon a charity women’s race #AvonPinkRun took place on the course of 3 km.The purpose of this race is to raise funds for the purchase of a mobile mammography machine which would help diagnose breast cancer. 725 women joined their efforts for this charitable purpose.
In addition to charity races, Run Ukraine continues to develop the Fundraising Marathon project, which brings together more than 50 fundraisers from 12 funds. Today they ran for the sake of helping others. As of October 8, more than 1 million UAH has already been collected in support of initiatives of the funds. The fundraiser will continue on the platform of the Ukrainian Philanthropic Marketplace through October 16.
Celebrity Participants
Today Marichka Padalko, the TV presenter, conquered her first marathon. Anatolii Anatolich ran the half-marathon race. The singer Svitlana Safronova from the band ARMIA did 10 km. The course of 5 km was conquered by the businessman Garik Korogodsky, who came to participate as a fundraiser for the charity fund “Tabletochki” helping children in treating cancer. The famous Ukrainians who participated in the charity race “Winners” are TV presenter Solomiia Vitvitska, TV presenter Yehor Hordeiev, Miss Ukraine 2017 Polina Tkach, TV presenter Vlasta Shovkovska, and others.
Elite athletes
Today, besides amateurs, the event was attended by professional athletes, including the participant of three Olympic Games Oleksandr Sitkovskyi, who finished fourth on the course of 5 km with the result 14:35,8. On the same course, Ihor Olefirenko, the participant of the World Champion in London, reached the finish line ninth with the time result of 14:44.1. The first person to finish this course was Mykola Nyzhnyk with time 14:23,4
Safety of the event
On October 8, the running event was facilitated by:
- 22 brigades of ambulance;
- 8 crews of “Motohelp” service;
- 18 employees of the Red Cross;
- 20 representatives of the “Maltese Relief Service”;
- 995 volunteers;
- 280 National Police Officers;
- 1 crew of the fire department.
Wizz Air Kyiv City Marathon 2017 is a prestigious racing event, which has been awarded the highest mark (5 stars) in the road race rating by the European Athletics Association. The history of Kyiv marathon began back in 2010. That was when the first marathon took place, with 600 participants overall, 120 of them ran the marathon course. Over 8 years not only the number of participants, but also the number of people in the audience has increased. Today, runners from different countries had the support of thousands of fans along the track.
Champions and prize winners
– 42.195 km course, men
- Artem Piddubnyi (Ukraine) – 2:24.20 hours.
- Anatolii Bondarenko (Ukraine) – 2:30.35 hours.
- Volodymyr Vaskov (Ukraine) – 2:31.39 hours.
– 42.195 km course, women
- Iryna Masnyk (Ukraine) – 2:48.13 hours
- Elena Makarevich (Russia) – 3:08.56 hours.
- Marina Shapovalova (Ukraine) – 3:12.20 hours.
– 21.0975 km course, men
- Vitalii Ivakh – 01:11:40.0 hours
- Serhii Marchuk – 1:12:35.5 hours
- Hryhorii Svytych – 1:14:21.8 hours
– 21.0975 km course, women
- Yuliia Tarasevych – 1:26:21.0 hours
- Tetiana Bielovol – 1:27:20.1 hours
- Viktoriia Lvova-Khrystak – 1:29:26.7 hours.
– 10 km course, men
- Oleksandr Karpenko – 32:40.0 min
- Dmytro Kozachok – 33:08.0 min
- Mykola Davydenko – 33:44.6 min
– 10 km course, women
- Liudmyla Danylyna – 36:16.9 min
- Nataliia Semenovych – 36:19.0 min
- Khrystyna Bohomiahkova – 36:23.0 min
– 5 km course, men
- Mykola Nyzhnyk – 14:25.5 min
- Roman Romanenko – 14:27.3 min
- Mykola Yukhymchuk – 14:31.2 min
– 5 km course, women
- Mariia Shatalova – 19:09.0 min
- Mariia Mazurenko – 19:34.8 min
- Yuliia Tarasova – 19:39.4 min
