Nizhny Novgorod Marathon 2024: date, route, distances

Have you already made plans for the first weekend of September? We don’t know about you, but thousands of runners have already made them long ago, and someone started as long as six months in advance – that’s how long it takes to prepare for the 42.2 km race, the main distance of the Nizhny Novgorod Marathon. On September 8, about 9500 people will gather in the Capital of Sunsets to welcome this autumn with a race.

What we will tell you about

History of the marathon

The Nizhny Novgorod Marathon is one of the flagship projects of the sports events organizing company “League of Heroes”. This year the marathon is four years old – it was first held in 2021 to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the city. Then, in honor of the anniversary, the event was held under the name “Marathon-800”.

Deputy Director of the Nizhny Novgorod Marathon

“Within the framework of the All-Russian Half Marathon with synchronized start “ZaBeg.RF”, which takes place in all regions of Russia (another project of the “League of Heroes” – ed.), we hold a competition for the title of the Running Capital of the country. One of the first winners was Nizhny Novgorod. In the fall of 2020, the head of the “League of Heroes” Ksenia Shoigu presented the Cup of the Running Capital to the Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region Gleb Nikitin, and at their meeting the idea to hold a marathon in the city emerged. In the summer of 2021, Nizhny Novgorod celebrated its 800th anniversary, and the city wanted to diversify the celebration program.”

The “League of Heroes” event is not new for Nizhny Novgorod – this city hosted marathons 24 years in a row, from 1985 to 2009. After a 12-year pause, the good tradition of marathons was revived. Nizhny Novgorod Region is one of the leaders in the field of sports development in the country. This makes it a unique place, which is best suited for the marathon.

Marathon schedule

The Nizhny Novgorod Marathon will run the entire Sunday, September 8. Read more about the time frame of the event:

• 6:30 – opening of the start and finish camp;
• 7:30 – official opening;
• 8:00 – start of 5 km;
• 8:50 – awarding of winners at 5 km;
• 9:30 – start 42.2 km;
• 10:10 – start 10 km;
• 10:25 – start of 1 km;
• 12:00 – awarding of winners at 10 km;
• 12:15 – awarding of winners at 1 km;
• 12:35 – awarding of winners at 42.2 km;
• 16:30 – end of the event.

Where is the route?

There are several distances for participants to choose from: 1, 5, 10 and 42.2 km. Athletes will have a real tour of the city: all the distances start from the stadium “Nizhny Novgorod”, the finish line of all the routes will be located there.

The routes are laid along the picturesque embankments of the city, during the running tour participants will be able to get acquainted with the key sights of Nizhny Novgorod: the Kremlin, the famous Chkalovskaya Staircase, see the place where the Oka River flows into the Volga River, and also cross the Oka River on the picturesque metro bridge.

Who will help on the route?

Along with the organizers, about 800 volunteers will work at the marathon – they help to create a festive atmosphere for the participants of the event and fans.

Anastasia Zolina

Deputy Head of the volunteer center of the “League of Heroes”

“No event – neither sports nor social – is held without volunteers. They are the first people the participants meet. They help with navigation, work in the luggage room, provide activities in the fan zone. At the start, volunteers divide the participants into clusters, and on the course itself they support the runners, hand out water and fruit at the refreshment points. They also hand out medals at the finish line.

Volunteers from Moscow and other regions come to the event – at such a large-scale event the guys exchange experience, make new acquaintances and expand the geography of their work. But nevertheless, the main core of volunteers at the marathon are from Nizhny Novgorod.

Marina Maslova

Head of the Volunteers 800 project

“Our team was assembled in 2021, when Nizhny Novgorod celebrated its 800th anniversary. Now there are about 500 people in it, 100 of them have been working since the beginning. Now the team includes people from 16 to 74 years old: there are older schoolchildren, students, working people, active pensioners. And we also have family volunteering, when parents work at events together with their children. Everyone has their own motivation: someone comes to be a part of big events, where he can not get as a spectator or participant, someone wants to see from the inside how the organization of events works. Schoolchildren decide on their profession and go to specialized universities. Working people perceive volunteering as a mental vacation – they come in the evenings and on weekends to disconnect from their work and have fun. For pensioners it is an additional social activity”.

Who can participate?

Anyone from the age of 16 can take part in the race at any distance, there will be a separate children’s race at 1 km, but the most popular distance will traditionally be 10 km. The Nizhny Novgorod Marathon is a classic city highway race, so it is suitable for athletes with any level of training.

Andrei Pigasin

participant of the Nizhny Novgorod Marathon

“I will run 5 km at the marathon. It will be my first race – I have been running since last year. My coach told me about the marathon and suggested to run a minimum distance, so I decided to try. Now I am actively preparing: once a week I study with my coach in person and a few more times – in absentia by assignments. I’m not worried – I have no goal to set records or to run the distance in a certain time. I want to run my 5 km, overcome myself and start my running career”.

“Nizhny Novgorod” is famous for its elite participants-athletes: since the very beginning of the event, the marathon has become a platform for the best athletes to fight for prize money. Every year the organizers allocate a prize fund, this time it amounted to 2,400,000 rubles, which encourages athletes to show the best results every time. For example, last year the famous track and field athlete Rinas Akhmadeev set his personal record at the distance of 10 km (28.43) in Nizhny Novgorod and became the winner of the race in this category.

Such famous athletes as Rinas Akhmadeev, the winner of the Moscow Half Marathon – 2024, Dmitry Nedelin, the owner of the best result of Russia at 10 km in 2023, Konstantin Plokhotnikov, the multiple champion of Russia, Andrey Strizhako, the multiple winner and medalist of championships and championship of Russia, participated in the Nizhny Novgorod Marathon in different years.

Among women, the marathon medals were added to their bank of medals by Ekaterina Ivonina and Olga Vovk, multiple Russian champions in track and field athletics who have fulfilled the Olympic standard, Anna Vikulova, the owner of the best result of Russia at 10 km in 2023, and Anna Tropina, silver medalist of the BRICS Games.

Ivan Biryuzov

silver medalist of the Nizhny Novgorod Marathon – 2023

“Nizhny Novgorod is one of the most important races in my calendar. I will run the main distance, 42.2 kilometers. I have participated in marathons in Nizhny Novgorod even before the 12-year break, and this is the third time I am participating in the Nizhny Novgorod Marathon. Each time I ran the maximum distance: at the first one I took the fourth place, and last year I took silver. Now I also hope to be among the prize-winners – I would like to take the first place at once, but I realize that the fight for gold will be tough. I am from Nizhny Novgorod, and this is a home start for me, my family, relatives, friends and acquaintances live in this city. I want to perform for them, I will defend the honor of Nizhny Novgorod sports. This start is unique because nowhere there is such a beautiful long ascent as our Zelensky exit – a whole kilometer we run uphill, the height gain and slope are solid. This is just a specialty of our marathon, there is no other race like it. Besides, the route of the track is practically a running excursion”.

What else is important to know?

There is great news for spectators: the race will be broadcast live in the social network “VKontakte”. In addition to the race itself, the organizers have prepared a rich cultural program for participants and guests of the event: on the eve of the race there will be a traditional amateur fan-ran with the movement “5 Wurst”, where elite athletes will participate along with all comers. The fan-ran will take place on September 7 at 9:00 in the park “Switzerland”.

It will be possible to meet the top athletes at the pasta-party – carbohydrate party, which will be held within the framework of the Expo at the stadium “Nizhny Novgorod” from 17:00 to 20:00.

There is not much time left before the Nizhny Novgorod Marathon, so if you want to be a part of the large-scale celebration of sports, hurry up – there are not many slots left. You can register for the Nizhny Novgorod Marathon on the website until September 6 inclusive.