Running

Ethiopian-Turkish middle and long distance runner Elvan Abeylegesse has been banned from sports for two years by the Turkish Athletics Federation (TAF) for using a banned substance.

The 5th Athens Half Marathon kicked off at 9pm on March 20 in the heart of Athens, at Syntagma Square, in front of the Greek Parliament, with more than 18,000 runners taking part.

The Athens Half Marathon event includes three (3) different races with timing services and one (1) more with no timing services for athletes with disabilities and athletes of Special Olympics.

The Marathon organized in Tokyo is one of six World Marathon Majors, but it is the only one in the world that the runners are dressed in eccentric costumes.

More than 1.7 million roadside spectators had the chance to see ballerinas, princesses, superheroes, and cartoon characters running in Tokyo Marathon on Sunday February 28.

Kenyan and an Ethiopian athlete have come first at the 37th Vodafone Istanbul Marathon on Nov. 15, as thousands of Istanbulites have enjoyed the opportunity to cross the Bosphorus Bridge combining the Asian and European continents on foot. 

Thousands of people will once again enjoy running, or walking, over the Bosporus when the Istanbul Marathon, unique for spanning the Asian and European continents, is run for the 37th time on Nov. 15.

Marathon runner Christoforos Merousis won the 33rd Athens Authentic Marathon on Sunday for the third consecutive year. He managed to come first in the men’s race with a time of 2:21.22. The gold in the women’s race went to Minori Hayakari from Japan, who came first with 2:52.06.

A 2-euro coin from Greece has been coincide to circulate with the 75th anniversary of the death of marathon runner Spyros Louis. The marathon runner had won the modern Olympic Games in 1896.

October 10

Turkish 10,000-meter runner Elvan Abeylegesse has said she has withdrawn from competitions until doping claims, which might strip her of her Olympics and world championships silver medals, have concluded after testing positive for steroids in a reanalysis of her doping samples.

A 92-year-old US grandmother has become the oldest woman to finish a marathon, when she crossed the finish line of a San Diego 26-miler on May 31, race organizers said.