Oslo 2010 marathon event in Norway marks 2500 years of the marathon

Norway’s answer to the New York marathon, the Fokus Bank Oslo Marathon 2010 is set to mark the 2500-year anniversary of the long-distance running event tomorrow. Fokus Bank Oslo Marathon organizers, The Vidar Sports Club, expects close to 16,000 people to participate during this weekend’s proceedings.

This event, marking the fabled run of Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger who allegedly ran from the Battle of Marathon to Athens in 490 BC, will set its stamp on the Norwegian capital over these two days. The event’s starting and finishing lines are located at Akershus Castle in the city center, and if the forecasts for participation stand correct, this event will set a new record for a street race in Oslo; the previous record, set in 1994 at 14,192 runners.

The Fokus Bank Oslo Marathon, Norway’s largest street marathon, first began in 1981. After the race attracted a record 14 000 runners in 1994 interest declined and consequently was not staged in 2002 or 2003. Due to this, its organization was then taken over by the Vidar Sports Club in 2004 and now, in its 28th series, is more popular than ever.

This year’s event is now run over the following distances: marathon (42,195 meters), half marathon (21,097 meters), 10 kilometers and three kilometers. The route for the full and half marathons follows the coast around the Oslo Fjord from Akershus Castle in the city center to Sjursoya in the east, back into the center, up the main Karl Johan street and back along the parallel Stortingsgaten, past Oslo City Hall, and west along Drammensveien to Sjolyst before returning to the finishing line at the castle.

“The goal is to create a top-class European marathon event which also serves as a popular festival in Oslo,” explains Nils-Jostein Helland, chair of Vidar Sports Club. “We have participants from all over Norway as well as from 71 countries worldwide. So this represents an excellent way to market Oslo as well.”

The Fokus Bank Oslo Marathon 2010 is organized by the Vidar Sports Club (www.skvidar.no) and is sponsored by Fokus Bank (http://www.fokus.no/nb-no/om-fokus-bank/InEnglish/Pages/in-english.aspx), a branch of Danske Bank.

For further information on the Fokus Bank Oslo Marathon 2010, see www.oslomaraton.no.

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