About 7,000 runners took part in the 57th Road of Life Marathon

On January 25, the 57th winter marathon "Road of Life" took place in the Leningrad Region, dedicated to the 82nd anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade. This race is a tribute to the courage and heroism of the residents and defenders of the besieged city during the difficult years of the 1941-1945 war.

The Road of Life brought together about 7,000 participants, of whom almost 2,500 covered 42.2 km. The start of the marathon and the opening ceremony took place at the Torn Ring Memorial. The event was attended by Vladimir Tsoi, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Leningrad Region, Chairman of the Committee for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Evgeny Gagonin, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Physical Culture and Sports of St. Petersburg, Svetlana Zhurova, Olympic champion in speed skating, Honored Master of Sports of Russia, Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, as well as the director of the NGO "Race Heroes" by Denis Annikov.

"Many thanks to the participants! We have a lot of runners both at the marathon and at the other declared distances. We are especially pleased with the large number of regular participants. And, of course, a huge thank you to the organizers — despite the cold and difficulties, this marathon took place!" — said Vladimir Tsoi, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Leningrad Region, Chairman of the Committee for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage.

The main route of the race was laid along the legendary Road of Life: from the western shore of Lake Ladoga from the memorial "Torn Ring", two reinforced concrete arches symbolizing the ring of the blockade, to the memorial "Flower of Life", dedicated to the young heroes of Leningrad.

"Despite the 20-degree frosts, 7,000 participants immediately took part in the start of the Road of Life: war veterans and children, residents of besieged Leningrad and their descendants, sports stars and professional athletes from all over Russia — from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka, countries near and far abroad. Just as once, during the war years, the Road of Life united the besieged city with the rest of the world, so our start became an important link between generations and distances. As the organizers, we have provided everything to make the race comfortable for the participants," said Denis Annikov, Director of ANO "Race of Heroes".

Alexander Storozhev became the winner of the marathon distance among men with a score of 2:30:49. Vladimir Ponomarev finished second in 2:31:43. Dmitry Popov rounded out the top three, running 42.2 km in 02:35:54.

Ksenia Avdeeva and Ekaterina Rodicheva finished the 42.2 km race hand in hand with an official time of 2:56:49. However, Ksenia became the winner, with her net time of 2:56:44. Ekaterina took the second place, with a clean time of 2:56:46. Polina Zhukova became the third with a score of 2:57:52.

Mikhail Kuzmin won the men's 10 km race with 34:20. Alexey Zborovsky took the second place with 35:42. Vladimir Smirnov took the third place, covering the distance in 36:02. Among women, Alexandra Borodinova became the winner with 39:37. Anastasia Burtseva took the second place with a score of 41:17. Alexandra Artebyakina is in third place: her time is 43:13.

The top three at a distance of 5 km looks like this: Vasily Andreev — 16:31, Alexey Shlepkov — 16:38, Vyacheslav Gladkov — 16:45. The results among women were as follows: Ekaterina Reznik — 20:01, Alisa Kubyshkina — 20:17, Julia Berg — 20:37.

This year, 75-year-old Vladimir Plotnikov and 68-year-old Nadezhda Shlyakhtina became the oldest participants in the marathon race. The oldest athletes at the 10 km distance were Vladimir Khlusevich (80 years old) and Nadezhda Saminova (73 years old). The 5 km distance was overcome by Vladimir Pavlov (93 years old) and Elizaveta Belenkova (85 years old). In the 1 km race, the Grigory Kolgashkin prize was taken by 90-year-olds Oleg Mikhailyuk and Nina Maikova.

The oldest participant in the "Road of Life" was Vladimir Pavlov, who will turn 94 in April, having successfully covered a distance of 5 km in 01:07:37. The youngest athletes, Sergey Smetanyuk and Varvara Baluyeva, are 6 years old.

90-year-old Mikhail Gershman, a regular participant in the Road of Life since 1982, who continues to inspire many with his example of love for sports and a healthy lifestyle, came to the start again. Olympic biathlon champion Dmitry Malyshko, who covered the 10-kilometer distance, also joined the main winter start. And the descendants of Tanya Savicheva — her great-nephew Mikhail, his children Elizabeth and Roman, made their debut on the "Road of Life", running 5 km and 1 km. Alexey Evseev, the son of Oleg Evseev, who participated in the very first marathon "The Road of Life", successfully finished the 5 km race. Russian frosts did not frighten Japanese Yasuhito Sumizu. He covered the 42.2 km distance in 03:53:44. And marathon runner Dmitry Kornilov was met at the finish line by a 93-year-old blockade grandmother. The athlete admitted that he thought about the great feat that all those who fought for their homeland had accomplished all the way!

At the finish, each participant received a medal, the design of which was developed with special attention. The award was decorated with images of Rostral Columns on the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island in St. Petersburg and a Victory salute that thundered over liberated Leningrad on January 27, 1944 at eight o'clock in the evening.