The Latvian Informal Running Championship or “Summer Matches” starts on Friday, in the first stage of which this weekend, from June 26 to 28, all participants are offered to run five, ten or 21 kilometers.
Participation in the “Summer Matches” has been confirmed by the titled long-distance riders and former rivals Prokopchuk and the long-time world record holder in the Redcliffe marathon, with which all running lovers can run and test their strength. Registration for the race is free of charge at the Riga Marathon Running Club and is available throughout the weekend.
The first stage of the summer match is the first competition of the Riga Marathon Virtual Running Club, which will bring together an unlimited number of runners from all over Latvia and abroad. By registering in the club, participants can run competitions and challenges anywhere in Latvia (or the world) during the weekend, automatically reading the results and distances from smartphones, the most popular running sites and heart rate monitors. The organizers emphasize that the idea of summer matches is not all about speed, but about moving, a healthy lifestyle and virtual togetherness, which allows you to turn the accumulated kilometers into valuable prizes and medals.
In the first stage of the summer match, the company will be virtually composed of well-known Latvian athletes Sandis Ozoliņš and Kaspars Gorkšs, sports life organizers Raimonds Elbakjans and Rimants Liepiņš, marathon master Mārtiņš Kapzems and others. Together with Prokopchuk and Redcliffe, who will compete in the ten-kilometer distance, participation in the “Summer Matches” has also been confirmed by Latvian marathon champions Karina Helmane – Sorochenko and Dmitrijs Serjogins, as well as leading long distance runners Ilona Marhele, Jānis Višķers and others.
The first stage of the “Summer Match” will take place from June 26 to 28, the second stage from June 31 to August 2, and the third from September 4 to 6. The results of each stage, which the virtual club website will automatically upload from the members’ smart devices, will be summed up in the overall ranking, determining the fastest in all three distances.
The organizers remind that within the framework of the Riga Marathon Club, both the “Summer Match” competition and the “Good Will Kilometers” (July 17-27), when it will be possible to run and donate to the Children’s Hospital Foundation, and the “Baltic Way Challenge” ( 19-23 August) with the goal of running the length of the Baltic Way 31 times, and other challenges throughout the summer.
For both the “Summer Matches” and the Baltic Road Challenge, the marathon organizers have prepared medals, the author of which is the owner of the title of the best painter of the Nordic and Baltic year and the new talent Jānis Šneiders nominated for the “Purvītis Award 2021”. The medals created by him for each stage of the “Summer Match” and the challenge of the Baltic Way will be available in the Rimi Riga Marathon online store starting from June 29.
“Rimi” Riga Marathon postponed to October 10 and 11. The 30th Riga Marathon and related events were to take place on May 16 and 17, but at the end of March the race was postponed indefinitely, and in May – to October.
Children’s Day and the Family Race are planned for October 10, while a marathon, half marathon, ten-kilometer and six-kilometer races will take place on October 11. Depending on the restrictions set in the country, the participants will run, adapting to the new reality, or virtually, the organizers of the event indicate.
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