The fastest 150 preschoolers at the 28th Dexyco Children’s Marathon.

The most beautiful prelude to the upcoming 37th Comtrade Belgrade Marathon, which is exactly 10 days away, will be the 28th Dexyco Children’s Marathon scheduled for Saturday, April 20th, starting at 10:30 AM. As tradition dictates, the Children’s Marathon will take place in the Zoo, on the now famous track around the elephant enclosure, spanning 230 meters in length.

Over 15 thousand preschoolers from Belgrade participated in the pre-qualifications. The fastest 150 will compete in 12 qualifying races, and the winners of the qualifiers will advance to the final.

“This is surely the most beautiful event held here. We are particularly happy that in recent years the race has had a charitable character. Thanks to the people from the Belgrade Marathon for the excellent cooperation, which will continue in the coming years. We will strive to be good hosts, as we do every year,” said Srboljub Aleksić, director of the Belgrade Zoo, in his opening speech at the press conference.

The City Secretariat for Sports and Youth has provided significant funds to assist in the realization of this event.

“Belgrade doesn’t have a more significant sports event than the Belgrade Marathon. The Children’s Marathon, which precedes it, is equally important to us as the marathon race. I want to believe that this year’s Children’s Marathon will be the best organized so far,” emphasized Nikola Penić, Secretary for Sports and Youth of the City of Belgrade.

Aleksandra Čamagić, the City Secretary for Education and Child Protection, expressed hope that a large number of parents and children will come to the Belgrade Zoo on Saturday to enjoy the Children’s Marathon. She then emphasized:

“The director of the Belgrade Marathon has the honor and fortune to have the most beautiful prelude event in the country. Over the past 28 years, around half a million of the youngest residents of Belgrade have participated in this event. This year, there were 15 thousand participants from all 17 city municipalities. We all strive to instill healthy lifestyle habits in children from a young age, and I am confident that we will have a great time on Saturday.”

For the second consecutive year, Dexyco company is the title sponsor of the Children’s Marathon.

“Through participation in such events, we cultivate values ​​such as sports, recreation, and outdoor play in children. It’s important to encourage children to be outdoors and to express their competitive spirit, and for the participants of the Children’s Marathon, we have prepared a plethora of gifts,” said Ivana Plećić, Marketing Director of Dexyco company.

“The Novak Djokovic Foundation is also a partner of the Children’s Marathon, joining this project to teach children from an early age about the right values ​​and a healthy lifestyle.”

“For the second year in a row, we have a partnership with the Children’s Marathon, and we are delighted because we nurture the same values and goals. This is a healthy and beautiful activity, and we are pleased to be part of this story because our ultimate goal is the healthy upbringing of children through sports,” emphasized Ana Jovanović from the Novak Djokovic Foundation.

Director of the Belgrade Marathon, Darko Habuš, expressed great gratitude to the City of Belgrade and all partners for their significant help and support in all activities and events organized by the Belgrade Marathon.

“The record for this famous track around the elephant enclosure is 35 seconds. Last year, Dušan Slavković equaled it, and we hope that this year the record will be broken. We also expect a good performance from the girls, as I would like to remind you that the winner of the 14th Children’s Marathon was a girl, Ana Dejanović from the “Zvončić” kindergarten. To motivate all the children, once again at the Children’s Marathon, we will award the Super Snail, or the slowest competitor in the final. We are particularly proud that this year, the top three winners as well as the Super Snail will be ambassadors for the 37th Comtrade Belgrade Marathon, which takes place on April 28th. Investing in children is extremely important to us, educating them about the importance of environmental conservation, inclusion, and the significance of physical activity and sports. These are values ​​that we will continue to teach them in the future,” concluded Habuš.

Leading up to the 28th Dexyco Children’s Marathon, an interesting panel discussion on the topic of ‘Rewarding Children in Sports’ was held. The host of the panel was the Novak Djokovic Foundation with the support of the ‘Heroes of the Belgrade Marathon Foundation. Participants included Darko Habuš, director of the Belgrade Marathon, Andrija Gerić, sports psychologist and former volleyball player, and Nemanja Radović, general secretary of the Belgrade Sports Association for Persons with Disabilities.