54 Countries and 2720 Participants - Impressive stats from TbilisiMarathon

Tbilisi is a hidden gem in far eastern Europe that might not be on every runner's obvious radar, but it should be for numerous reasons!

HeidelbergCement foresaw the potential and initiated an annual healthy-lifestyle-promoting initiative back in 2012. The aim was not only to encourage people to exercise to become fit and vigorous but also to identify a worthy beneficiary each year and aid them, ultimately inspiring other individuals and companies to make charity a habit. Back then, close to 500 professionals and amateurs participated in the first official Half Marathon of Tbilisi, each paying GEL 10 for registration. The raised amount was doubled by HeidelbergCement and transferred to the charity fund Iavnana, making the matching contribution a tradition for years to come.

Seven marathons later, TbilisiMarathon hosted 2,720 participants from 54 that ran for the sake of “First Step“, a charity organization that has been around for 20 years, taking wonderful care of and developing the children with special needs. Their focus is on how to raise self-esteem of children and their respective families. Moreover, 500 kids also ran in two age groups to show their solidarity to the cause.

On September 30, 2018 the designated streets of Tbilisi were blocked for the ignited-by-elevated-emotions kids, 10K and half marathon runners. In a city that has seen an abundant number of politicly motivated rallies, it has been heartening to see so many people being united around the simple ideas of promoting joy, a healthy lifestyle and care for each other for a change.

Just to show the growth trend, money collected from the registrations in 2017 amounted to GEL 31,435. Seeing the steadily increased number of participants and thus raised contributions from year to year is reassuring and encouraging. This year TbilisiMarathon had a record number of 38 partners and sponsors and HeidelbergCement thanks them all cordially for the commitment to the cause.

Just to show the growth trend, money collected from the registrations in 2017 amounted to GEL 31,435. Seeing the steadily increased number of participants and thus raised contributions from year to year is reassuring and encouraging. This year TbilisiMarathon had a record number of 38 partners and sponsors and HeidelbergCement thanks them all cordially for the commitment to the cause. 

The 10K run and the half-marathon are officially recognized by AIMS, Association of International Marathons and Distance Races and the race results this year were presented using the BibTag system by MyLaps, the Inventors of the Standard in Sports Timing.

All participants that finished the run were awarded a finisher medal. It should be mentioned that shortly after the race was over, every person that crossed the finish line got an online certificate as well as a video footage depicting their crossing moment. Participants should visit the official TbilisiMarathon website to download their precious memorabilia.

Runners, locals and visitors from across the world, supporters and every company, team or organization involved in the TbilisiMarathon event got charged with positive emotions to last for a long time. Thus, start training now and show your full potential at this great race event next year! And remember, by paying the participation fee, every runner automatically becomes a donor to a great cause. HeidelbergCement pledges to take extra care in identifying next year’s beneficiary meanwhile. We all have our own race to run and our own purposes to fulfill in this life. Healthy habits need to be promoted constantly.