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[Bojan_K]

Evo, tudi tu se je začelo ... ob kulturi tamkajšnjih voznikov si sicer prav predstavljam, kako zelo "potrpežljivi" so bili ob zapori cest Je kdo mogoče bil, lahko napiše kakšne vtise?

Thousands compete in first Bucharest Marathon

Bucharest - Kenyan athlete Francis Muendo Maundu and Romanian athlete Valentina Delion are the winners of the ‘Toyota Romanian International Marathon’, a competition that will be included in the International Athletics Federation’s schedule of events starting in 2009. The competition took place in Bucharest on Sunday.

In the men’s event, Maundu registered a time of 2 hours, 15 minutes and 48 seconds on the classical 41.195 kilometres distance. His fellow national Nixon Kipkoech finished second, while Italy’s Moustapha Erebah finished third. Maundu said after the race that he had trained for three months for this event, this being the third marathon that he has won. Delion, the winner of the women’s event, finished the race with a time of 2 hours, 49 minutes and 52 seconds. Two other Romanian athletes completed the podium - Alina Istudora and Ana Mecico. Delion is both a Romanian and a Moldovan citizen, representing Moldova in the Olympic Games in Beijing.

A Kenyan athlete also won the women’s semi-marathon event (21.005 kilometres). Lydia Njeri Mathathi crossed the finish line after 1 hour, 12 minutes and 41 seconds, being followed by Romania’s Elena Daniela Carlan with a time of 1 hour, 18 minutes and 32 seconds and Moldova’s Galina Rusu, with a time of 1 hour, 25 minutes and 27 seconds. Kenya’s Samuel Mwangi won the men’s semi-marathon event with a time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 6 seconds, followed by his fellow nationals Gordon Mogi, with a time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 24 seconds, and David Oisa, with a time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 27 seconds.

‘Bucharest was the only European capital that did not host a marathon and I thought that this city deserves to host such a competition. With this marathon we try to promote the country’s capital,’ Valeria Racila von Groningen, a former Olympic champion and the initiator of the marathon, stated.

Referring to event, Octavian Bellu, the president of the National Sports Agency (ANS), has stated that the main benefit of this marathon is represented by people understanding the necessity of taking part in sports. ‘This kind of races is very important for promoting outdoors sports. We are not thinking about results now, the important thing is for people to take part in sports, to at least walk for 10-15 minutes if they won’t run. The people’s health is thus improved’ Octavian Bellu stated.

The winner of the men’s marathon will receive EUR 5,000, while the winner of the women’s event will receive EUR 3,000. The top 8 athletes in the marathon event and the top 5 athletes in the semi-marathon event receive prizes ranging from EUR 200 to EUR 1,200 in the men’s events and from EUR 100 to EUR 800 in the women’s events.

Toyota Romanian International Marathon is organized by the Bucharest Running Club, an association chaired by Valeria Racila van Groningen, in partnership with the Bucharest City Hall, the Saatchi & Saatchi advertisement agency and the Romanian Athletics Federation.