Bucharest Marathon will take place as planned, new mayor says

The ninth edition of the Bucharest International Marathon, the biggest sports competition organized in Romania by number of participants, will take place on October 8-9 and will start from the Constitutiei Square as initially announced at the beginning of this year, according to Bucharest Running Club, the competition’s organizer. Bucharest Running Club president Valeria Racila Van Groningen met with Bucharest’s new mayor Gabriela Firea on Wednesday to talk about the event just days after Firea said in a TV show that she didn’t want any more cultural and sports events that block traffic in downtown Bucharest. “I never said I want to ban the Bucharest Marathon. It is a competition that already has tradition in successfully promoting Romania’s capital abroad,” Firea said on Wednesday. She added that her intentions have been misunderstood. “I wish to assure everyone that the Bucharest Marathon will take place in the same conditions as in the previous years. It is an event that takes place on Sunday, in the first part of the day, which is a period when traffic is not as intense as in a workday. The municipality will inform the people who live in the areas where the marathon takes place of its program and restrictions, and alternative routes,” Firea explained. The Bucharest International Marathon and the other running competitions organized by the Bucharest Running Club gather some 30,000 runners from 60 countries each year. Romania’s Sports Ministry and the Romanian Athletics Federation are also partners to this event. The marathon is also a tourist magnet, as it draws some 3,500 foreign tourists, some for the first time in Romania. Runners from 60 countries join the Bucharest Half Marathon this weekend editor@romania-insider.com