World Championships Marathon course is tested

Monaco – April 29, 2013: The IAAF World Championships, Moscow 2013, came several steps closer over the weekend with the staging of the Russian marathon championships on the course which will host the world title races in August.

The IAAF World Championships, Moscow, Russia takes place from 10 to 18 August, with the women’s Marathon held on the first day, Saturday 10 August at 14:00hrs local time (GMT +4hrs) and the men’s Marathon run on the penultimate afternoon, Saturday 17 August at 15:30hrs local time (GMT +4hrs).

The first 600m of the World Championships’ Marathon course is run on the track of the Luzhniki Stadium, then the runners complete four laps along the embankment of the Moskva river (from Luzhniki to the Kremlin and back) returning on the stadium’s track for the last 300m.

Last Saturday, 27 April, an official test event was held with the Russian Championships races for both men and women run on the course, in sunny, still conditions of about +13C. There were 43 participants in the men’s race and 27 in the women’s race, with the men starting at 12pm and the women following 15 minutes later. 21-year-old Artyom Aplachkin won the men’s national title in 2:15:23, with Marina Kovalyova the women’s victor in 2:35:03.  —- IAAF