21. PHILIPS HALF MARATHON PIŁA/Poland on 4 September 2011 – Registration for the 21st PHILIPS Half Marathon in Pila is now open.

As part of this year’s half marathon the Polish Championship in Half Marathon will be held. What is more, we will also organise the Polish Army Championship, the Polish Police Championship and Polish Academic Cup in Half Marathon.

Last year 1,721 participants finished the race.

As in the past few years also this year the medal will feature an image of a well-known Polish marathon runner. We will announce the name of the runner at a later date.

Please visit our website where you will find past years’ results, the photo gallery as well as other useful information.

You can access the site at www.pila.halfmarathon.pl 

We hope to see you in Pila!

 

Short History

The year 2000, when the distance was changed from 15km into half-marathon (21.97,5km) was special for the history of the Piła run. After many efforts of the director of the run, Piła received an offer from the Polish Association of Athletics (Polski Związek Lekkiej Atletyki) to organize Polish Championships in Half-marathon.  

The prestige of the contest made the organizers face next challenges. Among the most significant ones was changing the route so that it was the fastest and the most attractive, and finding a strategic sponsor. The first task could be solved by Tadeusz Dziekoński, the surveyor of AIMS, also a marathoner, who measured the marathon route marked out by organizers. The run is always held on the first Sunday of September on a small loop in the city centre and a large one around the city, with great cheers of the residents of Staszic’s town. The route has the certificates of IAAF, AIMS and the Polish Association of Athletics.  

A running event of this prestige could not take place without sponsors and supporting institutions. The main sponsor of the Piła half-marathon is the PHILIPS company. Also, the sponsors of the International PHILIPS Half-marathon are: ASICS, the City of Piła, POWERADE, Coca-Cola, HBC Poland, District Starosty, LUBELLA, 7 Days, Termopil-Bud, Pil-Building, Brother, District Police Headquarters, Police Academy. Due to the continuously increasing number of runners willing to participate in the Piła half-marathon, the organizers were forced to change the logistic centre of the contest, which is now located in the sports hall of the Primary School No. 1 in the city centre.

 

The implementation by the director of the run Henryk Paskal of the most modern organizational solutions employed in the marathons worldwide into the organization of the run, allowed the Piła event to be given the largest dimension in this class of street runs in our country. For years the Polish Association of Athletics has granted Piła the right to organize the Polish Championships in Half-marathon, and the organizers of many similar national events can find numerous interesting solutions for organizing mass runs.  

In 2009 1449 runners from Poland and other countries finished the Piła marathon, which puts the Piła run at the top of the largest street runs in our country.

The organizers of the Piła marathon gladly agree to conduct additional individual classifications for various social groups exercising running for health. The oldest of them, soldiers' classification and policemen's classification have been held since 2000. The following also have their distinct place in the competition: the employees of Piła Philips, KB Maniac, KB Biegaj z Nami and, since 2008, students of universities in our country.

Mentioning the topic of fun and education through sport, the participation of approximately two thousand children in the mini-marathon (2km) in every edition of the Piła run cannot be forgotten. Thanks to the Dryfex company, all children received sweets and drinks at the finishing line, and the best runners prizes in kind in the form of sports equipment. Businessmen, people of culture and art as well as members of local authorities, who compete with one another in the VIP Run on the distance of 1000m also have their place for recreation.  

Since 2006, a symbolic prize for all who finish the Piła marathon has been the occasional and unique medal with the picture of the best Polish marathoners in the history of Polish athletics. In the past years the following persons loaned their image: Zdzisław Bogusz (2006), Edward Stawiarz (2007), Michał Wójcik (2008) and Kazimierz Orzeł (2009).

Considering the fact that running is being exercised in our country by more and more people, the organizers of the International Philips Half-marathon in Piła are convinced that year after year an increasing number of runners will come to Piła; and they will come not only for a good sports outcomes, but also to meet friends who share the same passion for running.