A record group of runners will test their strength in Kaunas, among the participants are also titled runners | Sports

Last year in Kaunas, success accompanied the Lithuanian stallions: after a 10-year break, ours managed to triumph in both men’s and women’s competitions. They became champions with a distance of 42.195 km in 2 hours. 28 min. 30 sec. having overcome Modestas Dirsė and this distance in 2 hours. 50 minutes 34 sec. Gitana Akmanavičiūtė ran away. The latter set the women’s record for this competition.

“As I said, I’m in my home in Kaunas, so of course you always want to win and defend the title. I will run with that goal in mind – to do the best I can that day. A personal best is wanted, but it will depend on the weather. The marathon is a lottery, if there is a strong headwind, that maximally good result will not happen. In addition, there is a capable Ukrainian in the starting list. However, I don’t give up too early”, smiled G. Akmanavičiūtė.

The cool weather does not scare the holders of the Lithuanian records in the 50 km and 100 km races. On the contrary, for long-distance runners, cool weather is an advantage.

“Temperature-wise, it’s always cooler, it can even rain – that’s fine with me.” However, it is important that there is no strong wind. If the opponent is very strong, it will take a lot of energy in the first half, because you run with much greater effort to maintain the maximum pace, so you don’t have enough energy until the end. There is that unfavorable wind on the Kaunas waterfront, although last year, despite the heat, the weather conditions were really good,” recalled the track record holder.

G. Akmanavičiūtė started the 2024 season with the prestigious “Trans Gran Canaria” off-road running competition in Spain. There, the Lithuanian finished ninth over a distance of 126 km with more than 6,800 meters of vertical ascent. At the end of May, the skier will represent Lithuania at the European Off-Road Running Championship.

“According to the coach’s plan, the Kaunas “Acropolis” marathon is an intermediate stop before the European Off-Road Running Championship in France, so it’s as if I shouldn’t do something as much as possible. But I know myself, my passion and desire, so I will still run as hard as I can. I would like not to push too hard, to choose a reasonable pace, so that I can endure to the end without collapsing and burning”, laughs G. Akmanavičiūtė.

Various distances will be covered in the Kaunas “Acropolis” marathon by more titled runners: world championship participant Loreta Kančytė, Olympian Eglė Balčiūnaitė, last year’s winner of the Bienwald Marathon Marija Radko from Ukraine, multiple world record holder for ultra running distances Aleksandras Sorokinas and others. By the way, all registrations for the “Forvia” 10 km and “LKU credit union group” 1.5 km competitions are already sold out.

“We hoped that this year the number of participants will exceed 5,000 and we will achieve a record. We can already see that this goal will be achieved. It was surprising that all half-marathon distance registrations were bought a month before – we had to hastily ask for additional medals and increase the number of registrations, said Gytis Šumskas, director of Kaunas “Akropolis” marathon. – We are trying for participants, although in foreign marathons such a practice that registration ends several months or even six months before the event is very common.”

The Kaunas “Acropolis” marathon is one of the four events in Lithuania, where it is possible to fulfill the standards of this prestigious distance for the Paris Olympic Games, so it is not surprising that several hundred participants from abroad will flock to one of the country’s most important running events. Representatives of 57 countries will compete in Kaunas, including running enthusiasts from such countries as Costa Rica, Argentina, Canada, Venezuela, Kenya and India.

“We have about 400 registered runners from abroad. This year, we are cooperating with the Kaunas Information Center, which will be there during the competition and will provide foreigners with all the information they need. NATO runners, a large group of runners from Ukraine, will traditionally participate, G. Šumskas said. – What to expect in this year’s marathon? Various innovations and interesting things are waiting for you at the event. For example, our partners SDG have come up with an attraction where you can win prizes if the participants run past wearing the firefighter’s outfit they have provided.”

Marathon and half-marathon competitions start at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. Kaunas Town Hall Square.

Runners can pick up their numbers on Friday and Saturday at Kaunas “Acropolis” or on the day of the competition at Town Hall Square.