Looking ahead | 8 November 2020 Athens Marathon The Authentic, Greece
Honouring and protecting The Authentic Marathon tried valiantly to keep its place on the road – even in the COVID-19 era. Although cancelled just six weeks before the race the work done in preparation was not wasted. It helped to define the approach that will be needed before races can find their place on the road again Greece took strict measures quite early on to safeguard against the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. By doing so the registered number of infections in the country has been kept low compared to the rest of Europe, allowing Greece to remain active in various aspects of social, cultural, touristic and sporting life. Within this framework the 2020 Athens Marathon was planning to welcome thousands of runners – both local and international. They were to honour history by being part of the reopening of running events in Europe. Organisers wanted to present a major international running event focused on the runner and providing all possible care to make sure that safety and the protection of public health remained the top priority in all cases. With this ambition in mind the Hellenic Athletics Federation (SEGAS), rights holder and organiser of the annual Authentic Marathon, drew up a manual of rules and regulations to ensure that the health of participants, staff, paramedics and volunteers would be protected throughout the event. The Greek State had already approved the Manual of Rules and Regulations that would govern the event and specify all health measures and procedures that would be followed during, before and after it took place. Social distancing and contactless procedures were to allow all participants to enjoy the actual race without concerns regarding health safety. The core of this Manual suggests how to allow for the participation of 12,000 Marathon runners, all allocated in blocks of 500 runners each, who would cross the start line in lines of eight. Start waves with time differences would be applied to all starting blocks and lines. Services at the feed zones on the course and the Distance Running | 2020 Edition 4
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