Pelion's activities

As in previous years, the 2018 DOZ Łódź Marathon was a three-day festival for runners and their fans. Already from Friday, April 13th, visitors to Łódź’s Atlas Arena were awaited by over 30 exhibitors, including industry representatives and the event sponsors and partners, taking part in the Expo Run&Fun fair.

Sporting excitement began on Saturday April 14th. First to appear on the start line were participants of the Ibuprom Sport Gel 5k Run. The 5 km distance was first covered by Gezahegne Zelalem Mengistu of Ethiopia, with a time of 14 minutes 16 seconds. A moment later his fellow countryman Terefe Seifu crossed the finish line in 14:27. The third place was taken by a Pole, Mateusz Kaczor, whose time was 14 minutes 30 seconds. The women’s race was won by Katarzyna Rutkowska in 16:02. The second to reach the finish line was Monika Andrzejczak, with a time 16 minutes 19 seconds, and the third was Aleksandra Brzezińska in 16:22.

After the 5 km run, the youngest participants made it to the start line for the Pelavo Kids Run competition. It was attended by 823 children aged from 3 to 15.

Sunday’s DOZ Marathon Łódź and the Ibuprom Sport Gel Half Marathon, held as an associated event, were dominated by Ethiopians. The marathon was won by Tarekegn Zewdu Bekele with a time of 2:19:41, who came to the finishing line 12 seconds ahead of second Workneh Abate. The third to take a place on the podium was Kenyan national Roger Melly, whose time was 2:21:50. In the women’s race, the first to finish DOZ Marathon Łódź was Kenya’s Jane Jepkosgei Kiptoo (2:43:08). She was followed by two Poles, Natalia Mierzlikin (3:01:23) and Agnieszka Pelc-Wanielista (3:14:31).

In the half marathon, the fastest man was Hunegnaw Mesfin from Ethiopia (1:03:17). The second at the finishing line was Hillary Kiptum Maiyo Kimaiyo from Kenya (1:03:41), who came 10 seconds ahead of another Ethiopian, Emanuel Berhame. Victory in the women’s race of Ibuprom Sport Gel Łódź Half Marathon was claimed by Agnieszka Gortel (1:16:10), an award-winning runner from Poland. She was followed at the finish line by Anna Wójcik and Dorota Gapys.

For the first 18 kilometres, the marathon and half marathon ran together, passing by some of the city’s historical places, including the revitalized historic EC1 combined heat and power plant or the Księży Młyn industrial district, on their way. As in previous editions of the event, the runners had an unforgettable finish in a multimedia setting in Atlas Arena.

This year, the marathon distance could for the first time be covered in sections as part of the Ekiden Relay Race. This formula was chosen by several dozen teams.

To earn the name of Poland Loudest Marathon, the DOZ Marathon had over 50 cheering points, where schools competing to win the ‘Cheering Champion’ competition, companies taking part in the ‘Companies for the Marathon’ contest, and music bands supported the runners. The route of the DOZ Marathon Łódź was divided into five zones, each featuring a different music genre (pop, rock&roll, jazz and folk, club, and world music). The artistic aspects of the DOZ Marathon Łódź were supervised by the event’s Artistic Director Wojciech Łuszczykiewicz, a musician and lead singer of the Video music band.

Runners could also count on enthusiastic cheering by Pelion Group employees. Each of DOZ S.A., Polska Grupa Farmaceutyczna S.A., Business Support Solution S.A. and Urtica Sp. z o.o. organised their fan zones.

As in previous editions, DOZ Łódź Marathon 2018 promoted modern charity practices as part of the ‘Running to Help’ campaign, with runners encouraged to make donations to three charities: the Iskierka Foundation, the Stroke Foundation, and the Empowering Children Foundation. The DOZ Dbam o Zdrowie Foundation was a partner of the ‘Running to Help’ initiative.

The title sponsor of DOZ Łódź Marathon is DOZ S.A., and the City of Łódź is its Strategic Partner.

Read more on www.lodzmaraton.pl