Thessaloniki and Macedonia wore their festive clothes and gave unforgettable moments to the 17,000 runners from every corner of the planet, who lived the incomparable experience of participating

Unique brilliance at the 18th ALEXANDER THE GREAT International Marathon – bwin! 17,000 runners from 71 countries and great performances in the biggest celebration of Northern Greece!

Thessaloniki and Macedonia wore their festive clothes and gave unforgettable moments to the 17,000 runners from every corner of the planet, who lived the incomparable experience of participating in 18th International Marathon ALEXANDER THE GREAT – bwinher breakfast Sunday, April 21! The ideal weather conditions, the records of the endurance road champions, together with the messages of social sensitivity sent by the organization, made the biggest annual event of Northern Greece special again this year, which was equally enjoyed by the numerous participants, their families and the audience! The inclusion of everyone, including social groups, and the parallel events ideally completed the celebration, which will remain unforgettable!

Runners of all ages and abilities, from 10-year-old elementary school students to an 86-year-old Eudoxia Drakolia from KAPI Thessaloniki which was again present on the 5,000m Road. as did the 85-year-old Konstantinos Seitaridesas well as runners with disabilities, experienced the joy of participation and personal victory in the heart of Thessaloniki!

The global dimension of the event was captured this year in a more impressive way than ever before, through the presence of runners from 71 countries and five continentseven from faraway places like the Nepalthe Zimbabwethe Dominican Republic and the Chilesetting a new record for foreign entries and breaking last year’s corresponding performance of entries from 70 countries!

After the completely successful completion of this year’s “Marathon of History”, the General Director of the organization Drosos Christopoulos underlined:

“I want to thank from the bottom of my heart all those who honored our organization with their competitive participation, as well as all our volunteers and volunteer groups who gave their best to achieve this result.

In addition, I want to thank our huge team, our technicians, the Enrollment Center guys, the management of MEAS TRITON and our Organizing Committee. This group justified in the best way all the state and institutional bodies that for 18 years have invested in this event by offering both their trust and patronage, as well as their presence and financial support. I believe today’s wonderful picture did them justice.

This event, as well as our Night Half Marathon, are national, touristic, sporting and commercial capital for the city and for our country and we must all preserve them, give our best so that they continue their upward trajectory by promoting Thessaloniki and Greece in the whole planet”.

The long-distance champion and winner of last year’s “Spartathlon” triumphed on the Marathon road Fotis Zisimopoulos of “Kasimis Training”, who passed the finish arch on the Avenue of Alexander the Great, at the height of the Statue of the Macedonian soldier, in a time of 2 hours 23:40.

Last year’s winner of the “Marathon of History” finished second George Kalapodis with a time of 2 hours 25:49, while the trio of winners was completed by Kyriakos Beys of the Panhellenic GS with 2 hours 31:22.

“The race went perfectly, I pushed as hard as I could in the race and I’m very happy with the result. I like to take risks and I was justified”declared after his victory o Fotis Zisimopoulos.

In the women’s marathon, Matina Nula of NSSTH Iraklis emerged as the winner for the second consecutive year with a new impressive personal record (2 hours 45:02) improving her personal performance, which was 2 hours 46:53 from the last Athens Authentic Marathon.

The trio of medals was completed by Denise Dimaki of GAS Ilisos (2 hours 57:45), in her first participation on the route Pella-Thessaloniki, and Voulgara Desislava Vasileva (3 hours 05:51).

“I really appreciated it! It is a very nice event and I managed to achieve the individual record I wanted. I could do an even better time, based on the picture I saw in training, but the important thing is that there is continuous individual improvement. It was very encouraging and touching to have the support of the people all along the way. It’s a very easy route, ideal for a record and moreover the weather conditions today were very good. I hope to be here again next year!”he emphasized after the new victory of the Matina Nula.

The start of the race, at the Statue of Alexander the Great in the central square of Pella, was given by the Mayor of Pella, Efstathios Fountoukidis.

To Road of Health & Dynamic Walking 10,000m.the winner was o George Iatroudellis with a time of 32:14, improving his performance and ranking after the corresponding 3rd place in last year’s race. He was followed on the winners’ podium by George Manousidis of A.S.N. Orestiadas (32:27) and o Alexandros Tzoumakas of “The North Face” (32:36).

In the women’s category, Maria Papanastasiou (36:35), ahead of Cyprus Angelica Sophocleous of “APOEL Runners” (39:31) and Margaret Dina of “Stoikos Running Team” (39:47).

The start of the match, at the Municipal Stadium of Ampelokipi, was given by the Mayor of Ampelokipi – Menemeni Lazaros Kyrizoglou.

To Health & Dynamic Walking Path 5,000m. prevailed o Stefanos Tziertzidis of AO Drama (15:30), moving up two places compared to last year, while Cypriots followed Neophytos Lemonaris of “Lemon Team” (15:47) and o Thanasis Kotsonas of GAS Livadia (16:46).

For the women, the victory was won for the third consecutive year by Vasiliki Kallimoyannis of NSSTH Iraklis (17:40), in front of the Stefania Baku of SD Trikala (18:53) and the Panagiota Toka of APS Apollo West. Attica (19:48).

The starts of the 5,000m road. were given in front of the Thessaloniki City Hall, successively by the Mayor of Thessaloniki Stelios Angeloudisthe Deputy Minister of Interior (Macedonia-Thrace Sector) Stathis Konstantinidis and the Regional Governor of Central Macedonia Apostolo Tzizikostasfrom the Deputy Minister of Tourism Elena Raptithe Olympian and Ambassador of the event Ioannis Melissanidis and the Olympian and President of O.E. Voula Patoulidouby the Member of Parliament A’ of Thessaloniki Stavros Kalafati and the State Parliamentarian Maria-Nefeli Hatziioannidouby the Deputy Mayor of Sports, Youth and Volunteering of the Municipality of Thessaloniki Koula Giannakidou, the Deputy Regional Governor M.E. Thessaloniki Costa Utica and the Mayor of Kordelios-Evosmos Lefteri Alexandridiswhile the last start for the disabled was given by the administrative staff of the organizer MEAS TRITON association.

Alongside the official competition program, with a very large participation of children, the Road 1,000m. Primary School Students. At the starting point, in Aristotelous Square, there were children aged 9-12, who immediately after the finish had the opportunity to participate in a separate three-hour creative activity program.

Combined, in fact, with festival of traditional dances of elementary school students and children’s chess championshipthe 18th ALEXANDER THE GREAT International Marathon – bwin was a great celebration for the whole family!

The Ambassador of the “Marathon of History”, Olympian, gave a special shine with their presence Ioannis Melissanidis and the Ambassador of the event, Marathonodromos Sonia Cecchiniwhich is a shining example with the power of the soul it displays.

In addition, this year’s was held as part of the “Marathon of History”. Panhellenic Disabled Road Championship by the National Sports Federation of Persons with Disabilities (EAOM-AmA) with the support of the Organizing Committee of the event. The big winner in the T12 category for athletes with blindness was, for the second year in a row, o George Parissis with accompanying him Yannis Nikolaidis and the Konstantinos Parodos.

A special case was the blind runner Becky Salowska from the Republic of North Macedonia, who ran with an escort on the 10,000m Road, sending a message of strength and life.

The Paralympic champion also achieved the same through their effort Alexandros Taxildariswho raced in a manual wheelchair, as well as the runners who competed accompanied by a wheelchair, such as the team “Run With Me” of Vassilis Gerogiannis with seven carts and the “Never Give Up” of Thomas Tatsou with two wheelchairs, offering an equal number of disabled people the joy of participation. The Paralympic champion also graced the event with his presence Makis Kalaras.

They also gave a “present” potential KAPI of the Municipality of Thessalonikiwith about 200 runners, men and women, aged 60 to 86 years.

Several of the total ran with their own running teams 87 social service providers, who support and are supported by the organization’s Social Responsibility Program. In addition, sponsors of the event will carry out similar actions of social responsibility, supporting the Agencies of their choice.

At the same time, as part of the environmental responsibility program, all the materials that will be used by the organization were recycled as special care was taken to minimize the environmental footprint with the aim of making the Marathon a purely “green” event.

The impressive presence of 1,250 volunteers and the voluntary bodies, without whose decisive contribution the successful running of the games would not be possible.

The countdown to the event had culminated on Saturday (20/04) with the extremely interesting Marathon Information Day at the Conference Center “N. German’ themed “Sports in vulnerable social groups: From walking to the Marathon”as well as with the Alexandria Peace Runwhich covered the distance from Ancient Pella to the beach of Thessaloniki passing through 13 stations, symbolizing man’s effort for physical and spiritual integration and his eternal anxiety for the good of peace and dialogue between peoples.

The appointment is now renewed for Saturday, October 19, 2024 and the 12th Thessaloniki International Night Half Marathon – ZeniThwhich is expected to give similar moments to everyone!

The ALEXANDER THE GREAT International Marathon is a regular member of the AIMS World Marathon Federation and is held in accordance with the regulations of the World Classical Sports Federation, World Athletics on competitive routes that carry its official certification. It is organized by MEAS TRITON with the institutional cooperation of the Municipality of Thessaloniki and the Region of Central Macedonia, whose auspices they bear. It is also held under the auspices of the Hellenic National Committee for UNESCO, the Ministry of the Interior (Macedonia – Thrace), the Ministry of Education, Religion and Sports and the General Secretariat of Sports, the Ministry of Tourism and the Hellenic Tourism Organization, the Ministry of National Defense and the Hellenic Olympic Committee. At the same time, it is held with the kind support of the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization, the SEGAS federation and is supported by the Municipalities of Ampelokipi-Menemeni, Pella, Chalkidonos, Delta and Kordelio-Evosmos, as well as by a number of Institutional and Voluntary Support Agencies, as they can be seen on the official website www.atgm.gr, www.alexanderthegreatmarathon.org.

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