The 31st edition of the Marrakech international marathon and half-marathon is scheduled for January 26. More than 13,000 professional and amateur athletes, including 75 Top Runners, are expected for this event.
During a press conference dedicated to the presentation of this edition, the director of the Marathon, Mohamed Knidri, said that some 75 countries will be represented at this great international sporting event, and more than 1,500 foreign athletes from all over the world have have been registered so far.
After having underlined the quality participation planned during this edition with the departure of great athletes, notably African, Knidri noted that the 31st international marathon of Marrakech and became a school of promotion and launching of Moroccan athletes, citing in this context the participation of the Moroccan athlete Hicham Laqouahi, who has a time of 2h08mn35s.
Referring to the novelties of this 2020 edition, which will be marked by the presence of directors and representatives of organizing committees of other renowned international marathons, Knidri said that a change was made this year at the circuit level for make it faster and conducive to performance, while making sure to offer athletes and countless visitors the most emblematic landscapes of this imperial city.
He recalled that this event, which has acquired international renown and enjoys the confidence and credibility of the sponsors, remains the most important marathon on the African level and is par excellence on the world stage of the discipline thanks to the record time (2h06mn35s) recorded by the Kenyan Stephan Tum in 2013.
Knidri did not fail to highlight the socio-economic impact and the remarkable contribution of this friendly and unifying event to the animation of the city, to the tourist promotion of the whole region and to the development of sports tourism in Morocco , in general, and in the ocher city, in particular.
He then took the opportunity to call for the mobilization and support of Marrakchis and visitors to the city in order to contribute to the success of this event, in particular by avoiding the use of cars during the morning January 26.
In addition to the Marathon and the half-marathon, the program of this event also includes a 3.5 km race which will be organized on the eve of this 31st edition, for the benefit of school children aged 10 to 13, in order to make people love physical effort for these young people, who constitute a breeding ground for athletes and future sportspeople, and to allow them to meet their national sports idols, to discover the framework of international competition and to surpass themselves, and to share moments of pleasure with each other and with the Top Runners.
Note that the marathon village will be open from Thursday, January 23 with entertainment (folk songs and dances) on the menu for the public.
Become a major athletic event and of international scope, this marathon was erected in a school of promotion and launch of big stars of this discipline which marked the international scene, and Moroccan athletes in particular, like Abdelkader El Mouaziz who held the Marrakech Marathon record from 1999 to 2012 (2h08min15s) and twice won the London Marathon (1999 and 2001) and that of New York in 2000, Aderrahim Goumri who held the best Moroccan performance ( 2h05min30s) from 2002 to 2009 and Jaouad Gharib, double world champion having achieved 2h05min27s in London in 2009 and so many other performances.
Thanks to upstream planning and operational supervision experienced in major competitions, the Marrakesh International Marathon not only aspired to obtain the 11th place on the world scale which it won in 2013 but to become a essential international meeting of all the stars of this sport, like its glorious position in 2012 where it was the only marathon on the African continent to qualify for the London Olympics.
This sporting event has also received the label allowing it to qualify for the World Championship which took place in August 2015 in Beijing, and will thus qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.
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