A record number of runners from 3 continents participate in the run "Running of the Free Spirit Giurgiu - Ruse"

Wednesday, 02 October 2024

A record number of participants took part in the seventh edition of the International Road Run "Free Spirit Run Giurgiu - Ruse" on October 5. Nearly 400 competitors from 11 countries will appear at the start at 11 am in the center of Giurgiu. To run 15 km, athletes from Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine, Kuwait, Poland, Hungary, Ireland, USA, Switzerland and Kenya arrive here.

This became clear at the press conference held today in the building of the Municipality of Ruse. It was attended by Borislav Rachev, deputy. – Mayor for Sports and Youth Activities; Marian Damian, Deputy. – Mayor of Giurgiu Municipality; Evgeni Ignatov, Chairman of the Sports Athletics Club "Dunav" - Ruse; Lachezar Ivanov, Director of Municipal Enterprise "Disputed Properties"; Anelia Nuneva, sprinter, medalist from European and world championships; Diana Ivanova, member of the Board of the International Police Association.

Borislav Rachev expressed confidence that it will be a very good sports holiday. "The important thing is that there are outstretched hands on both sides of the river and this is the only possible option to move forward together, because Bulgaria and Romania have their place on the map of Europe," he said.  

According to the Deputy Mayor of Giurgiu Marian Damian, this is not only a sports event, but a manifestation of the free spirit of the people. He assured that in Giurgiu everything is ready for the competition. 

The citizens of Ruse will be able to see the runners on the boulevard. "Tutrakan", "Dorostol" str. and "Svetlana" str.Alexandrovska". The first participants will finish on Svoboda Square around 11:45 am in Ruse. The award ceremony is at 1:15 p.m. Athletes from the age groups 45 and 50 will also pass along the route. The oldest participant for another year is Ivan Grozev, born in 1946, who has been running since 2016.

Since the run passes through the Danube Bridge, the traffic on the facility will be completely stopped from 11 a.m. for only 30-40 minutes, said Evgeni Ignatov. He assured that running will not interfere with the repair in any way. "We expect all runners to cross the bridge by 11:30 a.m.," Ignatov added. He specified that both Bulgarian and Romanian participants are about 180-190 people. Among them is Mariela Nineva, who was second last year, and the representative of the club "Danube" - Ruse Milka Mihaylova. In the men's category, the participation of Yanislav Todorov in Ruse is the case. "Once again, the event shows that sport unites. When we started in 2016, the participants were 120-130. Now there are a record nearly 400, with another 150 on the waiting list. Unfortunately, due to the capacity of the bridge, the number of runners is limited to 400," said the chairman of SLAC "Danube". The representatives of Ruse and Giurgiu agreed that a second bridge should be built between the two settlements as soon as possible.

A cultural program is also organized in the two neighboring Danube towns, and many surprises are ahead.

For the first year, members of the International Olympic Association of Police Officers will also participate in the event. About 20 former and current police officers will visit their colleagues in Ruse and will join the run. Among them is a representative of Kuwait.

The run is part of the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Bulgarian Athletics Federation. Therefore, the caretaker Minister of Youth and Sports Georgi Glushkov and the chairman of the national federation Ivan Kolev are expected to arrive in Ruse.

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