Belgrade Marathon Interview

You are organizing the 29th Belgrade Marathon on the 16th of April 2016. Can you tell us where your event is located and how runners are able to travel there easily?

Belgrade is the capital city of the Republic of Serbia and is centrally located in southeast Europe. It is easily reachable by train, by car or by plane. Belgrade is also a convenient distance away from its neighbouring capitals - from Zagreb, Budapest and Sofia approx. 400 km, Sarajevo 300 km, Skopje 420 km, Ljubljana 560 km, and is easily reachable by car, bus or train. From many other cities and most of the countries in Europe Belgrade is within 1- 2,5 hours by plane. There are many companies, low-cost and others, flying to the Belgrade international Airport “Nikola Tesla”.

Are there different distances in your event?

We have traditionally 3 events  within the Belgrade Marathon: 5 km Fun run, half marathon and the marathon. Of course, like many other events in the world, we use this concept to help develop running and increase its popularity. For the Fun run there is no registration needed.

Tell us something about the history of your event. Why was it created in the first place and how has it changed over the years?

Belgrade Marathon started in 1988, around the second peak of the marathon boom. The event soon became very popular in the city and in the country and started to develop further. Unfortunately various unusual and unexpected problems and obstacles occurred in the meantime and prevented the event from developing properly. Belgrade Marathon is now the biggest and the most important traditional sporting event in Belgrade and Serbia.

Describe your route a bit. How’s the scenery? Is the route beginner friendly? Can runners expect PB's?

The city of Belgrade is geographically situated at the intersection of two big rivers - Sava and Danube with two completely separate parts of the city. Old Belgrade is mostly hilly and New Belgrade is completely flat, so we have designed the course to start and finish in the center of Old Belgrade, but most of the race is run in New Belgrade, on flat surface. There are three uphills, one is at the beginning at approximately 2,5 km and the other two are close to the end of the race, where the runners are approaching the old town of Belgrade. The scenery is quite interesting, varying from very old houses in the Old Belgrade to newly built skyscrapers, passing by the Parliament house of the Republic of Serbia and the Old King’s palace, the headquarters of Serbian government, passing by a couple of big parks, overtaking the bridge over the river Sava with fantastic views of the Belgrade fortress and the intersection of the rivers Sava and Danube. Of course, if the runners are well prepared and the weather is good they may also expect PBs.

How many runners do you expect to have in your event?

This year we expect approximately 5 000 runners for the marathon and half marathon races, but we also expect close to 20 000 people running the 5 k Fun Run, so altogether there will be more than 25 000 people running in the 28th SuisseGas Belgrade Marathon. Last year we had close to one thousand foreign runners and guests from 52 countries from all five continents.

What kind of weather conditions can runners prepare to face in your event?

Spring in Belgrade is changeable. So far we have had many different weather conditions in the history of the Belgrade Marathon. Expected temperature is between 12 and 16 degrees Celsius, but the last couple of years the weather has been warmer with temperature reaching up to 22 degrees Celsius. Some years the weather has been windy. For example, one year it rained but there was no wind, with the temperature at 12 degrees Celsius and most of the runners (including elite) made theirs PBs. So it is hard to predict the weather conditions, but according to the meteorological statistics, April is good for running in Belgrade.

What else should runners do in the city after/before the race? Any suggestions to newcomers?

That is a good question because there are so many answers. Belgrade is one of the oldest cities in Europe and in the world with traces of history older than 6 000 years found on its territory. There are many historical places to visit in Belgrade and its vicinity, the most important one being the Belgrade fortress, located exactly at the intersection of the two rivers Sava and Danube. There are many monuments to see, monasteries and churches, historic buildings, museums - including the unique “Nikola Tesla museum” to visit and many interesting sites to see. Belgrade and Serbia are well known for excellent cuisine, reasonable prices for food, drinks and hotels, very nice places with music and extensive night life - particularly on many of the boats on Sava and Danube rivers. In many international travel guides Belgrade is called “the ultimate party city” and is placed among “world’s top ten party towns”. Of course there are many possibilities to visit the rest of Serbia as well on a half a day or couple of days visit.

How would you describe your event to people who haven't yet participated in it? What makes your event unique?

If the runners decide to come to Belgrade and run our marathon they will face friendly atmosphere, enthusiastic runners and they will feel welcomed. The really unique thing that we are very proud of is the Fred Lebow Trophy that is presented every year to the winners (both men and women) of the Belgrade Marathon. That is the sign of great friendship we had with Fred and of thankfulness for helping to develop the race.