Belgrade

Belgrade is located at the intersection of the Danube and Sava rivers which divide it into Old Belgrade (mostly hilly) and New Belgrade (completely flat). The course starts and finishes in the centre of Old Belgrade but most of the race is run on the flat in New Belgrade. Two of the three climbs come close to the end of the race. The scenery varies from very old houses to newly-built skyscrapers. Runners pass by the Parliament House and the Old King’s Palace, the headquarters of the Serbian Government and two big parks. The bridge over the Sava affords great views of the Belgrade fortress as runners descend into New Belgrade.

Normal temperatures at race time are from 12–16C but the weather has been warmer — in recent years reaching over 20C and in 2016 hitting a 28C maximum.

Belgrade is one of the world’s oldest cities with traces from more than 6000 years ago found on its territory. The Belgrade fortress is located at the river confluence where many invaders landed. The city was destroyed and rebuilt more than 60 times. There are many churches, museums and monuments dating from different eras.

Belgrade is well known for excellent cuisine and prices for food, drink and hotels are reasonable. There is an extensive night life — particularly on boats on the Sava and Danube Rivers. Belgrade is placed among the “world’s top ten party towns”.

Since 1995 the “Fred Lebow” Trophy has been presented to the winners (both men and women) every year. It is a token of the great friendship that Belgrade marathon developed with the New York race founder and of thanks for his assistance.

In 2017 the Belgrade marathon celebrates its 30th edition including a project called “Legends come back to Belgrade”. Previous event ambassadors such as Carl Lewis, Sergey Bubka, Lasse Viren, Merlene Ottey and Javier Sotomayor will be invited back to promote the Belgrade Marathon and the marathon movement in general as an important healthy and socially responsible activity.

A record 8000 runners are expected in the half marathon and marathon and 20000 in the 5km fun run.