A bright relay race Summer Relay took place at Almaty Arena Ice Palace on 26 July. This summer competition by “Courage to be the First” Corporate Fund gathered 300 children and 200 adult-teams of 5 persons each to cover distances, share emotions with the close ones and to get ready for the fall Almaty Marathon.

This Summer Relay is distinguished by evening coolness, unlike traditional runs. Perfect location of Almaty Arena Ice Palace provided the necessary comfort and safety to the participants of the summer competition. The start area was opened at 5 p.m., and the first distance (500 m for children) runners started at 6 p.m. The next were children running the 1- and 2-km distances.

 

“Today I am running one kilometre. This is my fourth participation in the running event and I really like it,” shares 11-year-old Sasha.

 

Active warm up arranged by organisers was in place before each start.

“The Summer Relay was held for the second time. A new location and a well-thought format made it especially comfortable for participants. The team relay race made everybody cover a section of 2 kilometres — in total 10 kilometres per one team. Such format will suit both experienced runners and those who have just taken up running. For the first time ever, the race was held in the evening and that allowed to avoid the heat and made a really comfortable atmosphere,” noted the Executive Director of “Courage to be the First” Corporate Fund, Saltanat Kazybayeva.

9 p.m. was the time when the 10-km distance relay race started among the teams of 5 members.

The Alay team takes part in relays on a regular basis. Its member says, “Our goal is to finish with no injuries and to achieve some personal results. We have participated in races with this team composition in previous years and have taken some prize-winning places. We promise to show a good result this year as well and to join the ranks of the best”. 

Upon having finished, all the runners were awarded their deserved commemorative medals. Participants congratulated each other, shared their emotions, and headed to celebrate their achievements.

The champions in four team categories were awarded commemorative figurines and valuable prizes from partners. Winners in the Business category additionally received cups and money prizes. 

The Bmai Girl team finished the relay race for 36:02.20 minutes and became the winner in the Women category. The second and third places went to SN Running Team Girls (40:55.50 minutes) and Trigada (41:56.70 minutes), respectively.

The first finisher among men was Bmai Turbo (30:36.60 minutes), next was Bmai Fly (30:51.70 minutes), and then Run Time Academy & Qulpynai Bakery (31:21.30 minutes).

Leaders in the Mixed category were the following teams: Bmai Pro with the result of 31:03.60 minutes, Heineken Running Team (32:23.90 minutes), and Die Hard Almaty (37:12.50 minutes).

The first place in the Business category was taken by the Halyk team (35:45.40 minutes). The second and third finishers were Rika-shop (36:16 minutes) and Railways team (36:47.80 minutes).

The Summer Relay became an extraordinary summer holiday for working parents and their kids. Here people shared team building with their colleagues and enjoyed precious moments of spending time with their children. While parents were competing in the relay race, their children found entertainment in a fulfilling program: they met their favourite characters, had their faces painted, enjoyed cotton candies and popcorn, played and worked out with superheroes, watched amusing experiments, took part in battles, and danced at the disco with soap bubbles.

Please don’t forget that 28 September is the day of the main run of Central Asia – Almaty Marathon. Registration for the marathon that will grant you the incredible opportunity to see your favourite sights and thrilling mountains continues on the website almaty-marathon.kz.

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