“Baku Marathon-2017” took place, April 30, following the Heydar Aliyev Foundation’s initiative. Vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva and Arzu Aliyeva joined the marathon.

Before the start, a group of mass media representatives that covered the last year’s marathon were presented awards.

Organized under the slogan “Conquer the Wind”, the marathon started at 10:00 a.m. at the State Flag Square and ended at the Baku Olympic Stadium. The marathon distance was 21 kilometres. Held for the second time, the marathon was distinguished for its mass character, involving more participants.

People over the age of 16 joined the marathon, having get previously registered. In general, over 13 thousand people were registered to participate in the marathon.

State officials, public and political figures, well-known people of art, sportsmen, representatives of the general public and students also participated in the marathon. Representatives of over 60 organizations and companies operating in Azerbaijan joined the competition.

Over 1000 foreign nationals participated in the marathon, along with Azerbaijanis. Ambassadors of Switzerland, India, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine and Malaysia in Azerbaijan, representatives of the embassies of Korea, Iraq, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan in our country, the Azerbaijani representative office of the European Union, as well as representatives of the United Aid For Azerbaijan (UAFA) of the Great Britain and of BP Azerbaijan too joined the marathon. Citizens of the USA, the Great Britain, Germany, Poland, Turkey, Russia, Iran, Georgia, Ukraine etc. also participated in the marathon.

People from various districts of Azerbaijan came to Baku to join the marathon. Participants from Sumgait, Guba, Goranboy, Kurdamir and other cities and districts, including volunteers of the Regional Development Public Union, participated in the competition.

The oldest participant of the marathon was Tarverdi Aliyev, aged 78, who has so far participated in about 40 marathons held in different countries worldwide. Tarverdi Aliyev had joined the “Baku Marathon- 2016”, and in the same year too, he was the oldest participant.

The competition covered the itinerary starting from the Seaside National Park, continuing along the Yusif Safarov street, then passing by the Heydar Aliyev Centre, going along the Heydar Aliyev Avenue and ending at the Baku Olympic Stadium. The aid stations arranged every two kilometres provided the marathon runners with water, sanitary unit, and first aid.

Those who could not continue the marathon, people coming to support the runners etc. were delivered to the finishing line by special busses. In general, four bus stops were active along the itinerary.

The fan zone of the competition was arranged at the finishing point – the Baku Olympic Stadium. Here, special programmes were arranged for participants and children.

Fans gathered at the Baku Olympic Stadium supported those who “conquered the wind”. The finishing line and the awarding ceremony too were at the Baku Olympic Stadium. Among the men, Turkish citizen Veysi Aslan reached the finishing line 1^st, Üzeir Soylemez from Turkey came 2^nd, and Vladislav Demyanov from Russia took the 3^rd place. And among the women, Turkish citizen Yayla Kılıc reached the finishing line 1^st, Valentina Poltovska from Ukraine took the 2^nd place, while Parisa Arab from Iran won the 3^rd place.

Then, a ceremony of awarding the winners of the “Baku Marathon-2017” took place at the Baku Olympic Stadium.

Winners of the “Baku Marathon-2017” were established on two categories – men and women. In each of the categories, winners of the 1^st place were awarded a money prize amounting to 3 thousand Manats, while the winners of the 2^nd and 3^rd places received 2000 and 1000 Manats, respectively, along with other presents, as well as medals and certificates. Moreover, various encouraging prizes were presented to those participants that took the places from the 4 to 10, by sponsors of the “Baku Marathon-2017”.

The first “Baku Marathon” competition took place on May 1, 2016. Aiming to support development of sport, popularize healthy lifestyle and bring people together by benevolent purposes, the event was arranged with support from the Seaside Boulevard Department and the Baku Olympic Stadium. The project was implemented by “Sport Marketing Group” (SMG).

Partners and sponsors of the “Baku Marathon-2017” included the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Transport, Communication and High Technologies, SOCAR, IDEA Public Association, the Regional Development Public Union, “GreenCar”, “AzerTurk Bank”, “GoSport”, “Turkish Airlines”, “Coca Cola”, “Huawei”, “Alfa Romeo”, and “Ernst & Young”.

Money raised from the marathon will be directed to the project of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation associated with children deprived of parental care.

Such marathons were so far arranged in London, Paris, Boston, New York, Chicago, Berlin, Barcelona, Istanbul and other cities. A full marathon distance is 42 kilometres, half-marathon being 21 km. Marathon competitions, along with being a sports event, have also a charitable purpose.