Almaty Marathon raises $55 thousand for charity

The Third Almaty Marathon held on April 20 has gathered $55 thousand for two sick Kazakhstani children who need medical aid, Tengrinews reports.

A Tengrinews reporter took part in the marathon to feel the spirit of the spring competition. All the participants had to register to get a start number with a chip that registered the time it took the runner to get to the finish line.

Runners could chose their own distances on the official website. The bravest took 42.195 km distance. Children took the challenge of 3 km. The most popular distance among Almaty runners was 10 km route. Runners started the marathon at 8 a.m. from the First President park. The finish line awaited the runners near the Central Stadium.

The Akim (Mayor) of Almaty Akhmetzhan Yessimov opened the Almaty Marathon and emphasized the importance of such events for health and wellbeing of Almaty citizens.

Almat Imashev was the first one to cross the finish line in the 42.195 km distance. He finished in 2 hours, 26 minutes and 21 seconds. Isa Nazarbayev and Amir Baitukanov finished second and third respectively. Among women, Gulzhanat Erzhankyzy was first and run 42.195 km in 2 hours, 49 minutes and 52 seconds. Ekaterina Shatnaya finished the second. The third place was given to Elisabeth Teisch. The list of runners is available at the official website of the marathon.

20 teams participated in the relay marathon. Tengrinews.kz and Vesti.kz team got the 13th place.

Parents with infants did not want to just watch the marathon and decided to participate too. Dinara Aitkazy with her husband and one-year-old son took a family marathon with a stroller.

“It is the first time we are participating in the marathon, so it is family achievement of sorts. I’m a ballerina myself and we decided with my husband to teach sports to our child. I think family sports have to develop in Kazakhstan. This is a special stroller for running. I just fasten the child. He does not cry or rebel (…), he got used to it because we have been running for two month,” Dinara told Tengrinews.

The athletic mother plans to gather a group of mothers with children and go jogging together.

At the finish line all the runners of the third annual marathon received medals and T-shirts for their participation. Volunteers and doctors were on duty throughout the marathon route. Runners were given bottled water and bananas for energy.

In 2013, the Almaty Marathon became a member of the Association for International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) to stand along famous marathons of Amsterdam, New York and others. The Almaty Marathon opened on May 27th 2012 under the title “Courage to be First”. The first marathon gathered 2500 participants. A year later, 6000 runners were participating in the marathon.

“The goal of the Almaty Marathon in 2014 is to raise money to help equip the Children’s Oncological Department of the Pediatrics and Children Surgery Research Center. The Almaty Marathon is helping children with oncological diseases,” the organizers said.

Reporting by Roza Yessenkulova, writing by Gyuzel Kamalova