Together with famous athletes and professional marathoners, the XVII Rostec Demino Marathon will be attended by amateur cross-country skiers to look up to and promising juniors who are already on the heels of Olympic champions.
Yuri Isaev, 86, from the Moscow region, has been participating in the Rostec Demi Marathon since 2008, and in 15 years he has never missed a race. His sports achievements include 11 gold marathon races at 50 km and four half marathon classics. This year he will again take to the Demi tracks on March 3 to cover 25 kilometers in classic style. The master of sports in biathlon has been skiing for 68 years, although in 1970 doctors forbade him to do sports. According to Yuri Nikolaevich, thanks to skiing and running he got rid of a serious disease and every time he gets a burst of strength and energy.
The five-kilometer race will be run by 13-year-old Rybinsk resident Vyacheslav Smirnov. The pupil of sports school No. 4 took part in the Match-TV Race of Stars cross-country skiing tournament in Luzhniki on January 27. In a pair with 2010 Olympic silver medalist, skier Alexander Panzhinsky, he took first place in the mixed relay.
- I didn't arrange the distance, Slava Smirnov, a tough guy, did everything. My job was not to let him down, I used everything I had and had accumulated over 34 years. I would say that I was a junior partner, - commented "MATCH.TV" Alexander Panzhinsky.
Vyacheslav Smirnov's father works as a serviceman and prepares skis for the Russian national team. The example of parents determined the choice of sport. Vyacheslav has already won many competitions and is one of the leaders in his distance of the Rostec Demino Marathon.
Savely Korostelev, son of Vancouver Olympic medalist Natalia Korosteleva, is planning to take part in the XVII Rostec Demi Marathon. The junior successfully competes with adult athletes. For example, in the qualification of the sprint race he beat the multiple champion Alexander Bolshunov, and in a pair with him he won the team sprint of the Strongest in Tyumen.
Just two weeks before the start of the marathon, more than 4,700 people from eight countries and 59 regions of Russia registered to take part.
