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Memorial of the Košice Peace Marathon at the Marathon Square in Košice, Slovakia ©wikipedia
Košice Peace Marathon – Oldest Marathon in Europe – since 1924 – Invitation to the photo exhibition at the Expo of the Berlin Halfmarathon from 27th to 29th March 2014
The Košice Peace Marathon is the oldest marathon in Europe and the third-oldest in the world (after the Boston Marathon and the Yonkers Marathon).
The first course was held in 1924. The marathon takes place each year on the first October Sunday (this year on october 5, 2014).
The first women's race was held in 1980.
The course is flat, completely asphalted and traffic free, two laps in the historic city center of Košice, Slovakia. The course records are 2:27:47 for women (set by Ashete Dido in 2013) and 2:07:01 hours for men (set by Lawrence Kimaiyo in 2012). (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Invitation:
"We would like to kindly invite you to visit the photo exhibition of Košice Peace Marathon 1924 – 2014 which will be presented during BERLIN VITAL Spring Expo 2014 – Berlin Half Marathon from 27th to 29th March 2014.
The presentation of history and present of the Europe's oldest marathon is held under the auspices of the Ambassadorof Federal Republic of Germany in Bratislava, H.E. Michael Schmunk, and the Ambassador of the Slovak Republic in Berlin, H.E. Igor Slobodník."
Event venue: Flughafen Tempelhof – Haupthalle
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HISTORY"The only witnesses were Turňa Castle, gnawed away by time, and one great lone tree standing below it. Probably five hundred metres beyond the village bearing the same name as the ruins, Turňa. Beneath this tree, beside the high road, the photographic artist focussed the lens of his instrument on eight runners and a handful of other figures, all obsessed for a couple of weeks now with one common idea – to transform the marathon dream into reality. A threesome of East Slovakian sports officials returned with this dream from Paris to Košice in 1924. For it was on one hot summer’s day in the Colombes Stadium at the seventh Olympic Games that they were gripped by this most noble of all athletic disciplines.. Those men, who remain to this day captured on that wonderful old yellowed photograph in their vests and shorts, even though it was October 28th and late in the year, had a true baptism of fire awaiting them, a trial of as yet untested strengths and abilities. Ahead of them through this attractive, interesting countryside stretched more than 42 km of road all the way back to Košice." …extract from the publication MMM Košice 1924-1999 (For downloading the complete publication roll to the bottom of this page) MARATHON MILESTONES since 1924 ABEBE BIKILA – ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION If you have the taste and time, read yourself the story of the Kosice marathon the same way as it was recorded by the authors of the book publication in the year 1999. Download the complete publication MMM 1924-1999 in the format pdf:
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Source: Košice Peace Marathon
Official site: www.kosicemarathon.com
