Darko Habuš: The Most Beautiful Picture of Belgrade

Over 13,000 participants took part in the 37th edition of the Comtrade Belgrade Marathon. A record was broken for the number of participants in the most massive sports event in Serbia.

Darko Habuš, the head of the Belgrade Marathon, didn’t hide his satisfaction with how everything went.

“Everything looked fantastic. We can say that we are extremely satisfied with the event we’ve organized. On this occasion, I would like to thank the entire Belgrade Marathon team, who have worked diligently over the past year. There are so many people on the streets supporting the runners, the stands are full at the finish line—I haven’t experienced anything like this in our capital before. We’ve sent the most beautiful picture of Belgrade to the world, and my heart is full because of it,” emphasized Habuš.

Never before have there been so many participants at the Belgrade Marathon. Last year, there were 10,500 participants, and now that number has been surpassed.

“There were 13,000 registered runners, and considering that about eight to ten percent don’t show up at the start, we still reach a number of 12,000, which is a kind of record. It’s also worth noting that we had over three thousand participants from abroad, and we’re proud that this number is growing every year. We strive to push the boundaries in every aspect. Our big goal is to host the European Street Running Championships in 2027, and I believe that on October 18th, the European Athletics Council will decide that we will be the hosts,” Darko Habuš outlined plans for the future.

For the first time in history, the marathon, half marathon, and 10-kilometer race did not start at the same time.

“The races started at different times for safety reasons. With a large number of 13,000 participants, we wanted to ensure that the marathon runners, half marathoners, and 10-kilometer participants had clear paths. Additionally, this made everything much easier for television broadcasting.”

It was close to breaking the record in the main marathon race in the men’s category.

“We were hoping for a record; somehow we were all tense, hoping that the Kenyan competitor would break it. He didn’t succeed, but he gave it his all. In the coming period, our goal is to make the Belgrade Marathon course faster and break records not only in terms of the number of participants but also in terms of the best results on the track,” concluded Darko Habuš.

The competitive program of the 37th Comtrade Belgrade Marathon concluded with the 10-kilometer race. In the men’s competition, the fastest was Christos Brentas from Greece with a time of 32:04. Russian athlete Vyacheslav Sokolov took silver (32:36), and Ivan Bubnov from Montenegro won bronze (32:54). The best competitor from Serbia, Nenad Milosavljević, finished fourth (32:59).

In the women’s category, Nevena Jovanović crossed the finish line first (37:24), ahead of Aleksandra Kostadinović (38:57) and Bilja Cvijanović (39:05). All three competitors are from Serbia.