A 5 km race took place with the organization of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Athletics Federation of Azerbaijan, and the support of Financial Chain Corporation on the seafront boulevard. The race, held under the motto “Let’s run together” was devoted to the 100th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev’s birthday. According to the results of the race, the winners were determined in several categories among women and men aged 40-50, 50-60, +60 years, and veterans.
Namig Asadov, director of the event and Chairman of the Committee “Run for All” of the Athletics Federation of Azerbaijan said the main goal of the race was to encourage a healthy lifestyle and added that most of the 177 people who had registered took part in the race.
He said that had been the tenth event since last year and they tried to hold similar events at least once a month, including in the regions as well. Mr. Asadov mentioned the races had been held in Ismayilly and Masally and added that a mass race was to be held in Ganja and Gobustan in May.
The Chairman of the Committee “Run for All” was pleased to note that new people joined the mass events mainly intended for amateurs every time, and there was a tradition of holding such mass races at weekends all over the world. “Why not organize such a tradition in Azerbaijan?! We are working in this regard”- he added.
Mr. Asadov told about mass runs held once a month for that purpose and added that should the activity be greater, the races would be held once a week. He expressed the importance of actively promoting similar events and said that only making announcements on social media was not enough, as sometimes people did not simply know about such sports events.
He mentioned the growing interest in such events in the regions as well. The Chairman of the Committee “Run for All” said such events were mainly participated in by former sportsmen and the youth, though they are held for everybody, even for those who had never gone in for sports. Mr. Asadov stated that the committee’s motto was “Run for All,” and that they did not give out prizes and divided the participants into age groups.
“Any person feels happy while winning or taking a prize, regardless of the level of the event. We see how the person was upset when he took 5th place. People having a more active lifestyle tend to be healthier. When people are young they do not notice it, but age makes itself felt. There are participants in our mass events who have improved their health with the help of running. One of them had a heart attack 4 years ago, but having trained for years, he could run 114 km.” he noted.
Signifying his satisfaction with the cooperation of Financial Chain Corporation for providing support for such events, Mr. Asadov expressed his gratitude to FCHAIN for not refusing a single request of their committee and always supporting the events.
