Belgrade Marathon with a record 13,000 participants: Route, changes to city transport and three Polish hospitals – Society

Upcoming 37th Comtrade Belgrade Marathon will gather competitors at distances of 10, 21 and 42 kilometers, and 2,500 foreigners from 72 countries around the world will come to Belgrade.

Darko Glavaš, Secretary of the Secretariat for Defense Affairs, Emergency Situations and Coordination, at the conference in Stari dvor, pointed out that preparatory activities have been going on for months and that city services are constantly on the ground.

“This is an event of exceptional importance for the city of Belgrade, and the changes in public city transport lines will begin on April 27 in the evening hours, in the area of ​​Terazije and Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra. “Successively, from the early hours of the morning, the streets will be closed, and this year everything was designed in a slightly different way,” said Glavaš.

Belgrade Marathon changes city transport lines

Unlike previous years, and due to the significant increase in the number of participants, as well as the efficiency of the organization of the races themselves, the starts of the marathon, half-marathon, as well as the 10-kilometer race and pleasure race will be separated. This year, the marathon race will start at 08:00 in the morning, the half-marathon and relay half-marathon will start at 9:30, the start of the 10-kilometer race is scheduled at 11:00, and the pleasure run will start at 13:00.

“Because of all that, the city services, as well as the organizers, expect a lot more work, and all of that will require much greater coordination of all activities on our streets.” We will have changes to 73 day bus lines, as well as five night bus lines, and five minibus lines are also changing. Also, nine tram lines and six trolleybus lines will be changed. This means that more than 10,000 departures during Saturday and Sunday will be realized differently, and all information about public city transport lines will be available on the website of the City Assembly”, said Glavaš.

He added that vehicles will be selectively removed along the route this year as well, and he appealed to fellow citizens to be understanding and to remove their vehicles from the places marked for the necessary safety of all participants.

Glavaš especially emphasized that passageways for emergency services vehicles have been secured so that the city can function normally, and all sports activities should end around 5 p.m.

“Considering that this is the biggest sports event in our country, accordingly, the police department for the city of Belgrade, based on the security assessment, will take traffic, physical and operational security measures.” A large number of streets will be closed on Sunday, April 28, but the traffic police administration is ready and the company will take all measures to ensure that the city functions normally, that there are no delays in traffic and that citizens who do not participate in this event can function normally,” said the deputy chief Traffic Police Administration, police colonel Goran Radenković.

Belgrade Marathon and three Polish hospitals

Due to the increased number of participants, there will be a larger number of ambulance teams.

“Ambulance teams will strictly take care of the competitors and will be at predetermined points.” For all the others who may need help, the teams that are on the ground according to the regular schedule that day will intervene, and we will again have cooperation with the Red Cross”, pointed out Zoran Pavlović from the Institute of Emergency Medicine of the City of Belgrade.

Just like last year, Red Cross volunteers will do the first triage of those who need help, thus relieving the burden on the emergency centers and the emergency services. Also, three Polish hospitals will be set up on the course itself, following the example of major world marathons.

“It is an honor for us to participate in this manifestation and the organization of this event.” We will have about 110 volunteers on electric scooters on the track, who will be deployed at 27 points on the track so that they can reach those who need help in the shortest possible time, and that time is reduced to less than one minute. Unlike last year when we had two, this time we will have three Polish hospitals as well as three triage points and all of them will be equipped with automatic defibrillators,” said Nikola Prica from the Red Cross.

About 2,500 people are involved in the organization of the Belgrade Marathon

The director of the Belgrade Marathon, Darko Habuš, said that in accordance with the slogan of this event, “Always more”, high goals were set and achieved, primarily in terms of filling the race capacity.

“I am overjoyed that Belgrade will once again host a sports spectacle, which Belgrade Marathon it certainly is and that almost three thousand foreigners took part in the races in all three disciplines. They are accompanied by their families and friends, and that is a large number of foreign guests who chose to spend that weekend in Belgrade, which means that we are a real sports-tourist destination that is very regrettable and to which runners return,” he said.

The director of the Belgrade Marathon emphasized that taking care of the runners is the most important, and that is why raising the quality level of the organization is something that makes him especially happy, and about 2,500 people will be involved in the organization itself.

“This year we will have the software support that we tested in November and at any moment we will know the density of runners on the track itself, as well as where all our vehicles are located on the track itself via GPS device control. This will allow us to know exactly where each runner is so we can successively open streets. It is a great organizational improvement of the Belgrade Marathon, all with the aim of enabling the best possible movement for our fellow citizens”, he stated and asked all those who do not run to be a part of the Belgrade Marathon in some other way.

“Together with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, we launched an interesting action due to the fact that the Belgrade Marathon generates large amounts of packaging waste. All those who want to can collect that waste, there will be two so-called eco headquarters in New Belgrade and in the city center where that waste will be measured and at the end the most successful ones will be rewarded. In this way, we contribute to the protection of the environment,” said Habuš, adding that the main sponsor of the event since 1988 has been the City of Belgrade.

Heroes of the Belgrade Marathon

The Heroes of the Belgrade Marathon Foundation has activated a special humanitarian number, so by sending an SMS message with the content heroes on the 3023 they support people with disabilities who are equal participants in all races.