On November 17, the “Silk Road” International University of Tourism held a press conference and a solemn award ceremony for the cities and clubs that won the results of the Samarkand charity half marathon.

Despite the pandemic, the Samarkand charity half marathon has shown excellent results.

The general start was given on November 1st. Statistics of the virtual race around the world are twice ahead of last year’s result: more than 3000 participants, 35 countries (Uzbekistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, USA, South Korea, Tajikistan, Spain, Belarus, Israel, Austria, Kyrgyzstan, Italy, Great Britain, Georgia, Japan, New Zealand, Germany, Turkey, Thailand, UAE, China, Australia, Finland, Ukraine, Romania, Portugal, the Netherlands, Moldova, Lithuania, Qatar, Yemen, Denmark, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Latvia).

The 43 best athletes of Uzbekistan competed for the championship in the city of Samarkand. This race was the first sporting event this year for track and field athletes specializing in long distances. The prize fund for the winners among professionals amounted to 82 million soums (UZS).

More than 20 outdoor running, yoga and General physical training sessions were held in preparation for the Samarkand Half Marathon. It was aimed at engaging in an active lifestyle and promoting the culture of running among the population, in which more than 400 people took part.

The end of the competition between clubs and cities was announced on November 16. In honor of this, a press conference was held on November 17, where the organizers summed up the results, discussed more about the mission and goals of the event, how the tasks will be implemented, and announced the winners. They were awarded by the Chairman of the organizing Committee of the half marathon, Deputy Prime Minister Aziz Abdukhakimov.

The organizers and participants of the press conference:

Gayane Umerova – Executive Director of the Foundation for the development of culture and arts under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

Alisher Mirzaev – the Chairman of the Board of JSCB “Kapitalbank” (the General partner of the Samarkand Half Marathon);

Botirjon Nurullaev - Deputy governor (khokim) of Samarkand region;

Mirkhan Sagitov - curator of the Samarkand Half Marathon project, head of the special projects division of the Development Fund of Culture and Art;

Madina Badalova – curator of educational and inclusive programs of the Half Marathon, head of the Department of education and inclusion of the Foundation for the development of culture and art.

Also, the JSCB “Kapitalbank” will transfer funds to the half-marathon account for each kilometre completed by participants. 1 km is equal to 1000 soums. This money, as well as all other proceeds, will be used to create 2 workshops for children with ASD in the cultural centres of Samarkand and Tashkent.

As a result of the project, all past educational sessions will be published on the half marathon website with subtitles in 3 languages (Uzbek, Russian, English) to ensure that the material is accessible to everyone.

Samarkand Half Marathon has become an international sports brand that contributes to the development of an inclusive environment, the country’s tourism potential, especially a new segment-sports tourism.