Over 10,000 runners and their supporters will be flocking to the Grand-Duchy’s capital to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the ING Night Marathon Luxembourg on Saturday 30 May, with the race set to begin at 19:00.
Special events, such as the LEO light village and fifty music hotspots have been organised for the special landmark occasion to attract more runners and spectators to the difficult course. This year has seen a 10% increase in marathon runners. Due to the difficulty of the course, the half-marathon and team run are more popular.
Last year's winner, Kenyan, Stephen Rutto and his fellow countryman Johnstone Maiyo will be battling out for the top places once again. John Kipkorir Komen, another Kenyan, holding a superior Personal Best time of 02:07:13 will be trying to set a new course record by breaking the 02:10 minute barrier. As a first time participant and newcomer to the city, it will depend on how he deals with the difficult course.
All roads in the city will be open until 19:00, with the exception of the Kirchberg district - car access towards Kirchberg has been strongly discouraged. With the race set to start at 19:00, the Ville de Luxembourg authorities have invested in planning and ensuring the least amount of disturbance to the residents and businesses in the city.
During the race, all bus lines between the central train station and town centre will be suspended and replaced by one single service (between Place de Paris and Place Bruxelles). Athletes and supporters are encouraged to use public transport or one of the city's P&R car parks (Bouillon - 2,450 spaces: free for first 24 hours and Lux-Sud - 880 spaces: free). Shuttle buses will be made available from the P&Rs to the city centre and Kirchberg.
ING’s CEO, Luc Verbeken announced the ING Pop-Up store on the Place d'Armes, which will be selling running-related items, with all proceeds going to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Mr. Verbeken also presented the now-customary orange hats and the new-for-2015 maracas for the supporters. He also iterated that every runner would receive a special tenth anniversary present upon crossing the finish line.
As of Tuesday 26 May, there will be a hotline available for all enquiries, handled by the VdL (+352 26 48 22 48). Security services will rely on 160 volunteers to establish three advanced medical posts, five ambulance stations, four mobile teams and five motorbike response units. More information can be found on the Marathon website, along with the runner's handbook and the map of the course, as well as the music hotspots.
Erich François also proudly announced the sports celebrity team for the team run - Irina Mikitenko (Berlin Marathon winner 2008), Jan Fitschen (European Champion 10000m 2006) and Rosa Mota (Portugal's first ever Olympic gold medal winner – Marathon, Seoul ‘88). The fourth runner was selected by ballot and will be an American, coincidently called Janet Jackson.
Photo by Frazer Alexander
