Unrepeatable moments were given to 18,000 runners and thousands of spectators 11th International Night Half Marathon of Thessaloniki – ZeniΘ, which created eto human river in the center of the city, with intense emotions, very strong performances, but also with record participation from both runners outside Thessaloniki and from abroad, with representatives of 61 countries and five continents!

Athletes of all ages, from 90-year-old Nikos Antoniadis and 83-year-old Tasoula Vassilopoulou in the 5,000m Road, as well as 77-year-old Nikos Barba who covered the 21.1 km of the Half Marathon, up to one-year-old babies who were the youngest registered runners and took part in the One Mile Road in a pram with their parents, as well as long-distance champions, Paralympic athletes, people with disabilities, personalities of the city and the country, enjoyed the joy of participating in a license from Thessaloniki cars, full of sound and color.

The amazing weather conditions helped to add to all of them many more participants, who ran alongside approx. 18,000 registered runners without bringing the competition equipment, given that the last 2,000 places that had been allocated the previous two days by the Registration Center became up for grabs.

The number of countries represented also broke a record, since runners from 61 countries participated in this year’s eventand five continents, an unprecedented number in the history of the institution, with participants even from distant places such as Nepal, Nicaragua, Peru and New Zealand.

After the finale of the racing program, the unique evening continued with the Half Marathon Night Party in honor of the runners, supporters and spectators, as well as the Night Chess Marathon, which ended at 08:00 on Sunday morning (22/ 10).

In the competitive part, on the Half Marathon road of 21.1 kilometers, the first place was won by Moroccan Mohamed Saaboud with a time of 1 hour 06:08, with 2nd Giorgos Iatroudellis (1 hour 09:58) and 3rd Michalis Parmakis (1 hour 10:11), who won his fifth medal in the event, after two golds (2013, 2022) ) and two silver (2015, 2016).

Among the women, Anastasia Marinakou crossed the finish line first (1 hour 18:28), followed by Matina Noula (1 hour 19:21), who moved up one place compared to last year, and Anna Vassiliou (1 hour 21:25).

In the 10,000m Health & Dynamic Walk, Marios Anagnostou (31:28) was the winner for the second consecutive year, leaving behind the British Alan Harry (33:00) and Yiannis Kalogeropoulos (33:06).

In the women’s category, Denisa Balla prevailed (35:41), with Athanasia Kokkorou (37:23) second and Theodora Karyati (38:06) third.

On the Health & Dynamic Walking Path 5,000m. the men’s gold medal was won by Orpheas Ioannou (14:57), finishing ahead of Marios Anagnostou who added another medal after his triumph in the Road 10,000m. (14:58), while the trio was completed by Giorgos Matzaridis (15:09).

Among the women, expatriate Melissa-Elena Anastasakis prevailed for the second consecutive year (16:59), with 2nd, as last year, Vasiliki Kallimoyannis (17:10) and 3rd Maria Siutka (18:50).

In the One Mile Road, which was ideal for the whole family, Neophytos Lemonaris (4:52) led the men, followed by Sakis Marisios (6:21) and Konstantinos Panakas (6:22), while in the female winner was Anastasia Stamboulidou (6:49), ahead of Maria Daviti (8:43) and Aphrodite Kotini (9:22).

Paralympian Makis Kalaras and disabled athlete Diogenes Tsonis, who ran in the Half Marathon with manual wheelchairs, as well as runners who competed accompanied by a wheelchair, such as the Athens team “Run With Me”, sent their own special message through their efforts. with five wheelchairs and the Thessaloniki team “Never Give Up” with three wheelchairs, as well as three more similar individual entries, offering an equal number of people with disabilities the joy of participation.

Several of the total 84 social service providers, who support and are supported by the “Nychterinos” Social Responsibility Program, ran with their own running teams.

At the same time, the organization and its Sponsors, within the framework of the Social Responsibility Program, support social actions of its Institutional and Voluntary Support Agencies, while within the framework of the environmental responsibility program, recycling of all the materials used will be carried out, as special care has been taken for the minimization of the environmental footprint.

The Thessaloniki International Night Half Marathon is a regular member of the AIMS World Marathon Federation and the road routes of the race program carry the official World Athletics certification. It is organized by MEAS TRITON with the institutional cooperation of the Municipality of Thessaloniki and the institutional support of the SEGAS federation and EAS SEGAS Thessaloniki, as well as the Region of Central Macedonia, whose patronage it bears. It is also held under the auspices of the Greek National Committee for UNESCO, the Ministry of the Interior (Macedonia – Thrace), the Deputy Ministry of Sports – General Secretariat of Sports, the Ministry of Tourism – Hellenic Tourism Organization and the Ministry of National Defense. At the same time, it is held with the kind support of the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization, as well as a number of Institutional Bodies, Support Bodies and Voluntary Bodies, as can be seen on the official website www.thesshalfmarathon.org.

The new great success of the event raises even higher the expectations for the next one. Now, the thousands of runners who flooded the streets of Thessaloniki renew their appointment for next spring, when the 18th “ALEXANDER THE GREAT” International Marathon will take place – bwin, on April 21, 2024.

We will all be there!