Georgia Takes 3rd Place in Wings for Life World Run 2018
On May 6, Georgia for the fifth time joined the largest charity event in the world, The Wings for Life World Run, claiming third place.
The winners of World Run 2018 Georgia were: Alexander Cherbukin (74.72 km) among men and Nina Zarina (47.45 km) among women. Irma Zveriashvili and Merab Dukashvili were the winners among the wheelchair runners.
The event took place in in Kakheti, with a trail that edged the Lopota section of the Caucasus Range.
Aside from an 18+ age limit, World Run has no restrictions. A total of 7,000 people registered to take part in the race in Georgia, including professional athletes, amateurs, persons with disabilities and foreigners living in or visiting the country.
2017 winners from Poland, Germany, Turkey and Georgia participated in the run in Kakheti.
Wings for Life World Run 2018 was also attended by the Minister of Culture and Sports Mikheil Giorgadze, Olympic champions Lasha Talakhadze and Giorgi Asanidze, World Champion in Paralympic Fencing Irma Khetsuriani, and many others.
This year’s Male Global Champion 2018 is Aron Anderson from the United States, who ran 89.85 kilometers.
The 2018 Female Global Champion is Vera Nunes of Portugal who ran 53.78km in Germany.
The world marathon 2018 was held in 200 locations in 66 countries. In total, 100,000 participants were able to cover 934,484 km.
Georgian media reported that the event participants in Georgia littered the marathon area with plastic bottles and cups. However, the Wings for Life World Run Organizer and the President of the National Federation of Sport 'Sport for Everyone,' Maya Azarashvili stated that special clean-up teams were located in the area, and cleaned the whole territory after the race was over.
Wings for Life World Run Georgia is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sports and organized by the National Federation of Sport 'Sport for Everyone.'
Last year, in Georgia, 5,000 people registered for the global run, and Georgian national, Shota Samushia, 94, was the oldest participant in the world.
By Thea Morrison