“Courage to be the First” Corporate Fund has to postpone the Almaty Marathon from the previously announced date (11 April 2021) to 12 September 2021 as the Fund has received an official letter of refusal from the local authorities of Almaty represented by the Sports Department and the Almaty Department for Sanitary and Epidemiological Control. Such a large-scale sports event as the Almaty Marathon is impossible in Almaty amid the unstable sanitary and epidemiological situation.
“We discussed the possibility to arrange the Almaty Marathon many times,” comments the Head of the Almaty Department of Physical Culture and Sports, Baisseitov Rustem Salimovich. “We understand how sports events are important, but, unfortunately, the country is still facing the unstable situation and it was quite difficult to give a definite answer and permission for such a mass event. Nevertheless, we are ready to make concessions to the organizers. By joint efforts, we managed to obtain permission from a sanitary inspector to hold a smaller-scale Winter Run event at the end of February. This event may influence on other mass sports competitions during the quarantine period.”
The Almaty Marathon team has developed the regulations to combat the spread of Covid-19, which provides for all the measures that will enable the organizers of mass sports competitions to conduct their events during quarantine as safely as possible. The Regulations are based on the experience of foreign colleagues and recommendations from the WHO, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Track-and-Field Athletics Federation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Why is the Almaty Marathon postponed to September?
“We see that Kazakhstan is already gradually moving into a stable green zone, some concessions are in progress. Most of the population will be vaccinated by autumn. We have already obtained permission to arrange the Winter Run for 2,000 people. We also keep track of other organizers. World marathons, including the largest and most famous majors, are optimistic about the resumption of sports events in Q3-4, 2021,” says Almaty Marathon Director Saltanat Kazybayeva. “As soon as we hold the winter running race, we will raise the possibility of the Almaty Half Marathon for this spring. The number of participants will be less than in the marathon, only 5,000 people. In the present context, this will allow ensuring all the necessary sanitary conditions.”
Registration for the Almaty Marathon will be open until 1 September 2021. According to the Almaty Marathon Regulations, all entry fees paid by participants are automatically transferred to the new date.
Furthermore, the Organizing Committee took into account the interests of registered runners who will not be able to participate in September. At the request of the AM participants, all paid registration fees can be fully refunded. Applications will be accepted starting from 15 February 2021 until 31 March 2021. Detailed instructions how to apply for a refund will be published on the website and official social media channels of the Almaty Marathon. Follow the news!
