Everything is ready for the 8th Subotica Half Marathon!
This year the Subotica Half Marathon has officially broken the record for the number of registered participants. On 31 August Subotica will host over 1,500 runners, and once again the organisers have done their best to make a stay in the northernmost city unforgettable, remembered for its good energy, smiles and a hospitality rarely seen elsewhere.
The programme of the 8th Subotica Half Marathon was officially presented to the public at a press conference held in the Media Centre of the City Hall, where journalists were addressed by this year’s promoter of the half marathon, Subotica native Tatjana Popović, a nutritionist and certified life coach, by one of the organisers, Žika Savin, and by Csaba Nagy on behalf of the organisers of the Future Run children’s race and the Active Kids sports school.
Tatjana Popović expressed great pleasure at having the opportunity to promote this sporting event this year. “It is a real honour to combine in this way healthy nutrition, the field I work in, and physical activity, because it is absolutely impossible to talk about health without talking about how healthy eating and physical activity affect the way we feel. I am looking forward to this race taking place soon.”
According to Žika Savin, what is new this year is that the 10 km and 21 km races start at 8:00 and the 5 km race at 8:25. “We moved the start because last year we had some minor problems during the race. This year the Registration Centre opens on 30 August, that is on Friday, in the former premises of the Army Hall on Korzo, where we have set up a small expo at which visitors can get to know friendly races such as the Pula Half Marathon, the Belgrade Marathon, the Zemun Half Marathon and the Fruška Gora race; since last year our idea has been to connect with other cities, because last year we visited some other races to promote ours, and it seems to have borne fruit, given that this year we will have competitors from as many as 20 countries.” According to him, the races remain on their existing courses, so that all participants can Run through History and the Art Nouveau for which Subotica is known. “This year too we have put a beautiful design of the former Savings Bank building on the medal, representing the history of our city, which breathes culture, and we convey it through our race. What sets this year’s race apart from the previous ones is that the start/finish gate stays in the same place as before, by the National Theatre, but once the runners are out on the course, everything will be moved between the City Hall and the Blue Fountain, where all the runners can be welcomed in the shade, with music provided by the band Teška priča.”
As before, the race packs include T-shirts, medals and sponsor gifts, and the half marathon’s promoter Tatjana Popović has prepared gifts for the fastest: 50 packs of magnesium, a special kind of supplement for physically active people who want to relax their bodies after the race. “In the fan zone there will be our sponsors Maximalium, Goodwill and VodaVoda, there will be strudels, even cold beer for all the runners, ice, massages; on the course we have prepared a nice programme, with performances by musicians from the Music School. We have also arranged for all competitors the opportunity to visit Subotica’s landmarks such as the City Hall, the Museum and the Synagogue, and to visit the Zoo and the Aqua Park…” The pasta party will be held on 30 August from 5 pm, when the Registration Centre will also open and remain available until 10 pm, so competitors are asked to collect their race packs in good time to avoid queues on race day itself. “This year, thanks to our sponsor Capriolo, we have also secured bicycles as prizes for the overall winners, while Skechers has provided the runners’ T-shirts and VodaVoda will take care of the volunteers’ T-shirts. A new friend of the Subotica Half Marathon is the company Decathlon. Besides the numerous sponsors, I would also like to thank the public utility companies Čistoća i zelenilo and Parking, and the City of Subotica, for standing by the Subotica Half Marathon again this year,” Žika Savin points out.
As for this year’s children’s race, it starts at 9:30, and what is new is that the number of entries is limited to 800. “The Active Kids Future Run race will again be held in the car park in front of the City Hall, with small changes, and what is new is that this year a crawling race for babies will be organised too. We invite parents to come earlier for the children’s registration. Every year we have a lot of visitors at this event and the biggest challenge is usually the safety of all participants, so once again we appeal to parents to be patient, because in this race the most important things are everyone’s safety and that every child finishes the race and gets a result,” said Csaba Nagy, adding that this year, because of the limited number of participants, there will be no on-the-spot registration, and that the remaining places are filling up quickly. “We invite all parents who want to register their little ones to do so in the coming days; the registration form can be found on the race’s Facebook page.”
On this occasion the organisers of the Subotica Half Marathon invited all volunteers who would like to help organise this sporting event to get in touch by email at [email protected].