Our mission is to inspire and support the health of the Kazakhstan people by creating the opportunities for the active lifestyle. We are the largest runner community in the country, which encourages the people to become active and contribute to the society’s development.
Корпоративный фонд
“COURAGE TO BE THE FIRST” CORPORATE FUND SEEKS TO PROMOTE THE HEALTHY LIFESTYLE THROUGH SPORTS BY GIVING A PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE TO RUNNING.
The Fund started its activities in 2012 from holding the Almaty Marathon – the first large running event in Central Asia, which laid the foundation for the running movement and, over time, turned into the international event attracting thousands of participants across the globe.The founder of the marathon is businessman and philanthropist Galimzhan Yessenov.
Today, “Courage to be the First” Corporate Fund is the Almaty Marathon, Almaty Half Marathon, Astana Half Marathon, Turkistan Marathon, Taraz City Run – totalling to about ten running events a year.
| Safety | Runners’ safety is our priority. We strive for each participant of our events to be able to enjoy the run with no risks to their health. |
| Inclusivity | The Almaty Marathon is an exclusive environment open to everyone, not depending on gender, age, physical abilities, running experience, and other special features. All participants are equal among each other and welcome in our community. |
| Massive involvement | We are more than just a sporting event organisation. We create the atmosphere of joy, respect and support that unites thousands of people. We inspire people to be active and give each participant a unique transforming experience. |
| Social responsibility |
For us, sport is a tool to bring positive changes to the society. We arrange free of charge training sessions, develop a voluntary movement and engage in charity. Being with us, people find opinion allies, practice awareness and engagement into the city and country life. We make sport popular and we level up running culture for Kazakhstani. We develop running infrastructure in the country by involving not only sportsmen but also various companies, organisations and mass media. |
| Active lifestyle | The Almaty Marathon is about spreading the values of active and healthy lifestyle. We call people upon to sport, new discoveries and achievements, raise awareness of physical and mental health. We are truly sure that each person can do more than they realise. Our events are an ideal opportunity to challenge yourself and succeed |
| Innovations |
We are proud of using the innovative solutions when comes to arranging our events. We constantly strive to search for new and efficient ways to improve our runners’ experience and make the Marathon safer, more available and enjoyable. |
| Environmental friendliness |
We believe that each of us shares responsibility for the environment and we take active measures to save and preserve our planet. We always look for new means to make our events environmental friendlier and more sustainable, and we share this experience with the others. |
| Globalisation |
We enhance international relations, actively engaging participants and partners from all over the world in our events. Geography of our run races is continuously spreading: we expand into new regions and develop new partnership relations. We widely participate in tourism development, meeting thousands of runners and spectators from across the world every year, providing them an opportunity to discover the culture and sights of Almaty and the whole Kazakhstan. |
Mission
Purpose
Organisation of the outstanding and largescale sports events promoting the activity, involving the people and meeting the highest international standards.
Result
A growing number of the Kazakhstan people chooses the active and healthy lifestyle by uniting the efforts for better future.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Our events help to pursue an active lifestyle, develop and achieve the goals, find the like-minded persons and develop the awareness.
Why Trust Us?
We are continuously improving the processes by offering the quality and safe sports events in Kazakhstan.
2012
The first Almaty Marathon called “Charity Marathon “Courage to be the First” took place. 2,500 people including the children at the age of 10–14 years old toed the starting line.
2013
The Almaty Marathon became a part of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS), which unites over 400 marathons and distance races in 120 countries.
2018
The routes and tracks of the Almaty Marathon were changed and certified in accordance with the standards of the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF).
2019
The Almaty Marathon was attended by a record number of participants totalling to 17,000 people.
The separate waste collection system was implemented. On the average, each marathon allows for collecting 412 kg of plastic, 211 kg of cardboard, 93 kg of polyethylene and 45 kg of aluminium.
2021
First mass start of the Almaty Marathon after the pandemic.
2022
The organisation of the marathons expanded beyond Almaty and, for the first time ever, the half marathon in Astana and the marathon in Turkistan took place successfully.
2023
A record of Kazakhstan for the mass start of the Nordic Walking, where participated 600 people, was set.
The record 65.5 mln. tenge were raised for the implementation of eight charity projects for over 1,377 children.
2024
The Fund’s calendar has been extended by a new city – Taraz, and it has been here where the final running of the Taraz City Run season has taken place. One of the key objectives of the Fund is to develop the running in the regions.
In December 2023, the free-of-charge trainings for preparation for the marathon started. As a result, 20 of 60 runners have run the marathon successfully.