A New Record Broken with 7,500 Participants. The 6th Almaty Half Marathon Took Place

The 6^th Almaty Half Marathon took place this Sunday, 23 April. The half marathon kicked off at the First President’s Park at 07:30.

The running event is a member of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) and its tracks are certified in compliance with the World Athletics standards.  The half marathon was open to everyone aged 18 and over. Other distances of the competition accept participants from 15 years of age.

The 10-kilometre runners, Nordic walkers and wheelchair runners were the first to kick off. Already 29 minutes and 23 seconds later, Rakhimzhan Kelmanov, a runner from Kazakhstan, crossed the finish line, becoming a winner with the track record time. Viktoriya Sergeyeva has become a winner among 10-km female runners with her time of 33 minutes and 49 seconds.

The half marathoners, who are amateur athletes, relay participants, started at 8:10. Russian Mikhail Kulkov, who passed the distance for 1 hour, 5 minutes and 32 seconds, has become an absolute winner in the 21-km race. Daviti Kharazishvili from Georgia was second (1:05:41), Evgeny Fadeyev from Uzbekistan – third (1:05:42).

Ainuska Kalilkyzy from Kyrgyzstan was the first among women and managed to reach the finish line in 1:15:51, Evgenia Prokofieva (Ukraine) was second with her time of 1:16:41, who was followed by Svetlana Kudelich, a guest from Belarus (1:17:20).

As for the relay competition, the Almaty Triathlon Federation team took the first place, the SN Running Team was second, and the Qulpynai Bakery athletes won the third place.

“Today, the Almaty Half Marathon, which is organized for the sixth time, reached its record number of participants who joined the competition. In total, more than 7,500 athletes from 29 countries, including the CIS countries, Georgia, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Germany, Norway, USA, Japan and others took part in the half marathon,” said Saltanat Kazybayeva, Director of “Courage to be the First” Corporate Fund and organiser of the competition. “Our goal is to make sport more affordable and attractive to more people. Nowadays, sport is not a fashionable hobby or some peculiarity, it is a necessity.”

Finishing participants were welcomed by a great entertainment programme organized on the stage at the Central Stadium hosting the performance of cheerleaders and a live band, as well as the awarding ceremony for the competition winners. The leaders in the 21-km overall standings shared the prize fund as follows: the 1^st place winners received 500,000 KZT, the 2^nd place winners – 450,000 KZT, and the 3^rd place winners – 400,000 KZT.  The winners in the age categories (10km and 21.1km) and the Ekiden Relay were awarded prizes from partners.

 Registration for the Almaty Marathon, which will take place on 1 October 2023, has already became available on Monday, 24 April. Competition distances: 42.2km, 21.1km, 10km, 10-km Nordic Walking and Ekiden Relay.

Title sponsor of the Almaty Half Marathon: Kaspi.kz

Organizers of the Almaty Half Marathon: “Courage to be the First” Corporate Fund, fitness club World Class Almaty, Sh.Yessenov Science and Education Foundation and multisports Youtube-channel #DifferentYou.