This Sunday forget driving anywhere in the center. The Absolute Moscow Marathon — Moscow’s biggest running event — is expecting about 30,000 runners of all ages, with or without disabilities, to take to the streets in a perfectly measured 42.2-kilometer route.
The route will follow the embankment of the Moscow River by Moscow City, to the Garden Ring, across Krymsky Bridge, along the Boulevard Ring and on Ulitsa Tverskaya, through Teatralny Pasazh and along the walls of the Kremlin before finally reaching the finish line at the Luzhniki Olympic Stadium.
Runners will start gathering and getting warmed up, stretched and psyched at 7 a.m., and the race begins at 9 a.m. A few hours later the organizers will be busy handing out awards. Men and women who come in first through sixth place all get awards. Wheelchair and handcycle racers get awards for first through third place. There are special awards for winners in each age group and for corporate teams. And any child who runs gets a prize because: 42.2 kilometers!
If you haven’t registered but still want to run, you can do so today and Saturday — see the site, which has very clear and precise information in English (and Russian, of course).
If you aren’t a runner but want to follow the race from the comfort of your armchair, tune in to Eurosport 1 Russia, or watch it on moscowmarathon.org and and VK.com/moscowmarathon from 9:05.
If you want to cheer your friends, colleagues or just all the runners, the best places are, of course, the start and finish on the stands at Luzhniki. The 15-km point is at the Park Kultury metro station, 25-km at Chistye Prudy metro, and 33-km at Lubyanka metro. For some beautiful backdrops to your race photos, stand on Tverskaya Ulitsa, by the Bolshoi Theater, or near the Kremlin and Zaryadye Park.
Later head over to the Hard Rock Café on the Arbat for the after-party. Medal-winners get in free.
For more information, see the race site.
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