More than 250 thousand runners attended the anniversary start of the half marathon "Run.RF"

On May 23, the 10th largest half marathon of the country with a synchronized start "Run.RF" took place in all regions of Russia. At exactly 9:00 a.m. Moscow time, more than 200 thousand people took part in the 21.1 km race across the country at the same time. The most massive start took place in Moscow, bringing together about 50,000 sports fans, making it the largest running event in the history of Russia. The opening ceremony was conducted by the head of the organizing committee "Race.Russian Federation" Ksenia Sergeevna Shoigu, Vice President, Director of the Department of Corporate Culture and Sustainable Development of PJSC PSB Bank Ruben Begunts and Director of the Department of Physical Culture and Mass Sports of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation Maxim Urazov.

"The tenth anniversary race! All regions of Russia, 38 foreign countries and an absolute record in the number of participants! Of course, this is pride! Today we see the small logo of the League of Heroes on the backs of hundreds of thousands of participants around the world. I thank the Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, PSB Bank, Match TV channel and all our partners, thanks to whom we are hosting the largest running event in the world today," commented the head of the organizing committee of the half marathon "Race.Russian Federation" by Ksenia Shoigu.

"In the tenth anniversary year, the number of participants "race.Russia" has exceeded 250,000 people for the first time, and more than 10,000 PSB employees, their families and friends are participating. These are colossal figures, the event is already the most massive sporting event in the country and continues to develop. The PSB has traditionally supported and contributed to the development of mass sports, helping to involve as many residents of our country as possible in athletics and running. After all, mass involvement of people in physical activity is the main sign of Olympism and corresponds to the general goals of the state," said Ruben Begunts.

Maxim Urazov, Director of the Department of Physical Culture and Mass Sports of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, read out welcoming remarks from Mikhail Degtyarev, Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Russian Olympic Committee, during the opening ceremony.

"President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin emphasizes that sport is not just physical strength and agility, but a way of life based on the values of health, mutual respect, determination and responsibility. Running is one of the most accessible sports, such events inspire new achievements, form a culture of caring for one's health and an atmosphere of unity, because they unite people of different ages, professions and hobbies," he said.

The half marathon was held for the 10th time and started simultaneously in all regions of the Russian Federation from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad. In total, more than 200 thousand runners from all over Russia took part in the race. The organizers offered 4 distances to choose from: 1 km, 5 km PSB, 10 km or 21.1 km. Anyone over the age of six could become a participant.

In 2023, the first five countries joined the race for the first time, and this year its geography expanded — on May 23, more than 38 countries of the world ran together with Russia. The event there was called One Run and gathered more than 45 thousand people.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs pays great attention to international cooperation, and we actively cooperate with relevant Russian organizations, including sports. Today's event covers a huge number of foreign countries, and we are proud that our country is the organizer. International cooperation is impossible without Russian sports, and initiatives such as Run.RF and One Run are an excellent basis for cooperation between people around the world, which is why our agency is happy to support such an event," said the Ambassador—at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Special Representative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for International Cooperation. Mikhail Khorev.

Special guests of the event in Moscow were: famous Russian comedian, TV presenter and actor Denis Dorokhov, midfielder of the Dynamo football club Timofey Marinkin and characters of the famous cartoon "Fixiki", as well as several of the most important sights of Moscow — the Luzhniki Stadium, Ostankino TV Tower, the Ferris wheel "The Sun of Moscow", the media facade of MIA "Russia TodayThe media screens of the Moscow Metro and surface urban transport demonstrated the anniversary symbols of ZaBega.RF.

The pre-launch countdown was given by the most prominent representatives of sports and the media industry: Pavel Volya, Polina Gagarina, Sergey Zhukov, Valery Karpin, Sergey Bezrukov, Igor Akinfeev, Vladimir Presnyakov, Ida Galich, Stas Yarushin and Ksenia Shoigu.

The longest distance — 21.1 km — was run by more than 11 thousand people. There was a real struggle between professional athletes. Denis Chertykov became the winner with a score of 01:03:37, Alexey Troshkin took the second place with a score of 01:04:37, and Alexey Gushchin took the third (01:08:41). Luisa Lega took the first place in the women's competition, becoming the first three-time champion of "Race.RF" in history. Her result is 01:10:40. Anastasia Derkach took the second place, Marina Kovaleva took the third (01:15:06). The winners received the main prize — 150,000 rubles.

15,000 people took part in the start of the 10 km race, which has traditionally become one of the most popular among runners. The winners of the overall standings — Rinas Akhmadeev with a score of 00:29:15 and Elena Sedova with a score of 00:34:11 — received prizes in the amount of 100,000 rubles.

In addition, for the first time in the history of the RACE, a separate tournament was held for representatives of the media, the media community and the blogosphere — the Media Cup. More than 60 representatives of the country's leading media came to the launch. The victory was won by representatives of the "Sport-Express" edition. The Media Cup was held as part of a 5-kilometer race, which started with a total of over 18 thousand runners — it became the most massive distance of the Moscow stage of the "Race.Russian Federation" in 2026.

At a distance of 1 km, more than 6 thousand runners came out to try their hand at running, including Ksenia Shoigu's daughter Milana, for whom this was the first official race.

The most massive launches were held in Moscow (50,000 participants), St. Petersburg (20,000 participants), Perm (6,500 participants), Novosibirsk (5,200 participants) and Ufa (4,500 participants). These and other cities now claim to be the "Running Capital of Russia." Last year, St. Petersburg received this status. The running capital is determined by three criteria: the average mileage of all participants, and the percentage of participants in the "Race.RF" to the total population of the city, the average running speed of the participants. The winning city receives a rolling Cup, on which the winners of previous years are engraved.

In addition, at the start of the jubilee "Race.Famous athletes, bloggers and representatives of show business came out in Moscow: sports blogger Alexey Stolyarov, cosmonaut pilot, Hero of Russia Sergey Ryazansky, Olympic bobsleigh champion Dmitry Trunenkov, world champion in athletics Olesya Zykina, three-time Russian basketball champion Vitaly Ionov, world champion in skeleton Elena Nikitina, TV presenter Eldar Kenkerli, multiple world champions in mixed martial arts Evgeny Grachev and Roman Grachev, world and European champion in cross-country skiing Mikhail Devyatyarov, Olympic silver medalist in cross-country skiing Alexander Panzhinsky, MD, blogger Alexander Dzidzaria, multiple world champion in taekwondo Artem Maltsev, world champion in boxing and kickboxing Maria Pytina, Olympic synchronized swimming champion Marina Golyadkina, Match TV sports commentator Alexander Loginov and others.