NUR-SULTAN – Approximately 3,000 runners, led by Kazakh track and field athlete Olga Rypakova, participated in a one-mile run in the capital June 2 as part of the second International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Run 24-1 to celebrate Global Running Day, reports the Nur-Sultan Akimat (city administration) press service.
Photo credit: IAAF.org.
The IAAF Run 24-1 and Global Running Day hope to inspire people to participate in the world’s most accessible sport and experience the excitement of running.
IAAF Run 24-1 incorporates races in 24 cities across 24 countries on six continents to create the largest continuous one-mile run across multiple cities in 24 hours. It began on the Pacific Island of Fiji and ended in Monaco, where the IAAF is headquartered.
“After the kick-off in Fiji, the global run moves to Melbourne and then to major capital cities in Asia such as Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore and Delhi. The Central Asian event will take place in Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan before the event moves to Africa with stops in Mauritius and Nairobi. It will then continue to Gaza and will cross over to Europe with a stop in Istanbul followed by Copenhagen, Milan and Birmingham. The global running campaign then moves back to Africa to Gaborone, Yaoundé and Rabat before crossing the Atlantic and reaching Sao Paulo, Santiago, Havana, Bogotá, Mexico, to the United States and concluding the tour in Monaco,” reports IAAF.org.
Last year, more than 12,000 runners participated in IAAF Run 24-1.
“With our Run 24-1 event, we offer people across the world a great opportunity to become a part of a global community of walking and running,” said IAAF President Sebastian Coe to IAAF.org. “We know that health and happiness are often closely related to physical exercise, and I’m very happy that we, at the IAAF with 24 member federations, will make it possible for thousands of people to run their first mile. And I am sure that, for most of them, it will be the first of many.”
In Kazakhstan, the one-mile run began in the capital’s Park of Culture and Recreation at 9 a.m.
