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AthensMarathonAthens ready for record-breaking 33rd Marathon race on Sunday
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
A record number of 43,000 athletes will participate in the 33rd Athens Marathon and the shorter races which will be held in Athens on Sunday (Nov 8) and with authorities preparing to close the city center to traffic to facilitate the event.
According to race organisers, applications by foreign participants in the race had increased 35 pct compared with last year, with 16,000 foreign nationals taking part. “The record we were aiming for [in participation] has already been achieved. This year we focus on the average runner, every man and woman who wants to participate,” the president of Greek athletics federation (SEGAS) Kostas Panagopoulos said.
Apart from the classic 42.19 klm Marathon race – the classic course from the town of Marathon to the 1896 Olympic Stadium in the heart of Athens – the event includes a 10- and 5-kilometer race in the center of Athens.
Police has announced road closures for the duration of the main event, from 09.00 to 17.30 (local time). For central Athens, traffic will be stopped from 07:45 – 09:15 for the 5 kilometer race on Amalias Avenue, Panepistimiou Avenue, Riga Ferraiou Street, Akadimias Avenue, Vasilisis Sofias Avenue, NIMITS Hospital Junction, Irodou Attikou Street, and around the Panathinaikon Stadium.
For the 10 kilometer race, the aforementioned streets will be closed off, along with Charilaou Trikoupi and Pheidippidou Street, Mesogeion Avenue up to the Police Academy and Michalakopoulou Avenue, from 08:45 – 10:40.