XVI International Rostec Demino Ski Marathon this year will be held for the first time in a three-day format - on March 3, 4 and 5. The program will be supplemented by new races with in a skating style, the number of starting waves and the configuration of the course will change. Igor Samoylov, the director of Demino Marathons, spoke about the preparation for the marathon, its features and popularity to the Skiing portal.
- Igor, following the results of the last season, Demino ski marathon once again confirmed the status of the most massive one in Russia. This year, places for the main 50 km race ended again more than a month before the start. Are you ready to accept even more participants without sacrificing their comfort? Demino is not rubber.
— Yes, this year we are waiting for a new attendance record. More than 4.6 thousand participants have already registered. This is 1,500 more than last year. 57 regions of Russia and six countries are participating, so we maintain our international status. There have been no places for the main marathon race since January.
We are already getting crowded within two days. To ensure comfortable conditions for everyone, the third day of the marathon was introduced. It will remove the main burden from other dates, allow the introduction of an additional skating race and attract even more people to skiing. Thus, this year Rostec Demino Ski Marathon will take place on March 3, 4 and 5.
— How do you explain such popularity of Demino marathon? Closed borders?
— Closed borders, of course, affect the popularity of Russian marathons, but they were closed last year and during the pandemic, and interest in the event is only growing. Last year, there were not enough places for many who wished, so now everyone is taking care of their participation in advance. I am sure that last year's marathon with the participation of our team affected the popularity. After the Olympics, these were the first starts of our champions Alexander Bolshunov, Natalia Nepryaeva, Alexei Chervotkin, bronze medalist Karim Khalili and other famous athletes. Attention to them was increased, people watched the broadcast from Demino on Match TV and saw how everything was going with us. Despite the solid history of the marathon, every year there are people who have not heard anything about us. And if you heard, you had no idea how organized everything is, what route, infrastructure, preparation. Plus, we respond to requests from participants, carefully consider comments and suggestions. Every year we try to bring something new to the marathon, we do not stand still. I think all of this together gave such an effect.
- Last year you said that 2,500 people is the maximum for a fifty dollars, otherwise the waves cover each other and traffic jams form. And again increased the number of slots. Can you handle it?
— Yes, we have increased the number of slots to 2800. But we have taken a number of measures to ensure safe and comfortable passage of the distance. First, we reduced the number of waves from eight to five and increased the number of people per wave. Two waves will be 400 people each, two - 600 each, and the last fifth - 800. The interval is also three minutes. In the first wave, "Elite" and participants who have a high position in the ranking start. Secondly, they made an additional parallel first rise so that the wave would not catch up with the wave. If we see that part of the wave did not climb into the rise, let's start the next one along the parallel rise.
Read the full interview on the portal "Ski sport"