NUR-SULTAN – The Kazakh capital will host the 5th Astana Marathon charity race Sept. 8. People of all abilities can participate individually and in pairs, families and companies to compete in the 10-kilometre and 42.2-kilometre distances.
Photo credit: astana42k.com.
The popularity of Nur-Sultan as a marathon destination with flat race route grows annually. In 2019, marathon organisers expect approximately 8,000 participants from more than 30 countries.
“The event… brings people into athletics and develops the city’s tourism,” said Secretary General of Athletics Federation of Kazakhstan and Competition Commission Member of Asian Athletics Association Askhat Seisembekov on his Twitter page.
Astana Marathon 2018. Photo credit: worldsmarathons.com.
The Astana Marathon works to promote Kazakhstan and Nur-Sultan globally.
The marathon supports charity organisations and raises funds for good causes, including its own One Steppe Beyond charity project. The project organises short-distance races throughout the year in rural areas of Kazakhstan.
The Astana Marathon also pledges to help Kazakh citizens complete all six Marathon Majors and to get their names into the Hall of Fame.
The marathon also identifies Kazakh runners who meet requirements of Kazakhstan’s Master of Sport or Candidate for Master of Sports.
Among the supporters of the race are World Class fitness club, The Wall Street Journal. World Class fitness club offers free trainings for participants from the first Astana Marathon.
Astana Marathon founder and Race Director Gaukhar Bramley-Fenton was inspired to organise the Astana marathon after the October 2008 Royal Parks Half Marathon in London. She went there to support the Air Astana mixed-ability runners group.
Bramley-Fenton teamed up with like-minded people Saule Kudaibergenova, Janar Jailauova of Air Astana and Gani Toxanbaev who is the former Credit Suisse Kazakhstan Vice President, who wanted to bring the idea to reality.
The team organised Sept. 26, 2009 the first charity run in Nur-Sultan and collected 972,994.00 tenge (US$2,508.5) for SOS Children’s Villages and Astana Children’s Home.
For the next 10 years, Bramley-Fenton continued to organise charity races in Nur-Sultan, adding Almaty in 2012 and London in 2013. The races and marathons raised 37,125,458.00 tenge (US$95,715.0) in total for Kazakh charities.
The Kazakh capital had its first 42.2-kilometre marathon Sept. 13, 2015.
The Astana Marathon joined the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) in 2018. The IAAF has certified the marathon’s route.
