European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen travelled to Belarus from Brussels for the Minsk Half Marathon held on 13 September.
President Hansen was welcomed by city officials and organisers of the Minsk Half Marathon and was impressed by the numerous enthusiastic runners and spectators.
The Marathon boasted over 14,000 participants this year and has been certified as a 1-Star Quality Road Race on the European Athletics Running For all platform.
“It’s the responsibility of European Athletics to assist in further developing the road racing market across the continent,” Hansen stated.
“We will help to increase awareness of these kind of races and make them more accessible to runners at all levels.”
Hansen was also in Minsk to watch his daughter compete over the 21.1km and presented the fastest runners with medals during the victory ceremonies following the races.
'I very much look forward to returning to Belarus and hope to see further activities from European Athletics taking place here in the years to come,' said Hansen.
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