Riga Marathon

Riga Marathon
Date	May
Location	Riga, Latvia
Event type	Road
Distance	Marathon, Half marathon, 10k, 6k
Primary sponsor	Rimi Baltic
Established	1991 (30 years ago) (1991)
Course records	Marathon: Men's: 2:08:51 (2019) Women's: 2:26:18 (2019) Half Marathon: Men's: 1:05:04 (2017) Women's: 1:10:27 (2012) Jeļena Prokopčuka
Official site	Riga Marathon
Participants	1 887 marathon finishers (2019)[1] 38 398 (all races) (2019)[2]

The Riga Marathon (also known as the Rimi Riga Marathon) is an annual road marathon held in Riga, Latvia, since 1991. It is a member of AIMS and is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athletics. The marathon starts and finishes near Riga Castle, and runs through Old Riga as well as across the Daugava River. As of 2019, the marathon winner may receive up to 15,000 EUR in prize money, plus a bonus if the distance record is also broken.

Rimi Riga Marathon is one of the fastest growing marathons in Northern Europe. In 2019, there were 25 659 participants over five different distances from 82 countries.^[2]​

History[]

The marathon was first held in 1991.

In 2007, it became a member of AIMS.

The main sponsor of the marathon from 2007 to 2014 was Nordea.

By 2013 the number of participants reached 20 020 people from 65 countries, of whom 1278 competed in the marathon distance.

For several years Riga Marathon held IAAF Bronze Label status, but was awarded Gold Label in late 2018.

In 2020, the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers cancelled the in-person edition of the race on the day before the marathon weekend due to the coronavirus pandemic.^[3][4][5][a]

Similarly, the 2021 edition of the race was postponed from the weekend of 16 May to the weekend of 29 August due to the pandemic.^[8][9]

Course[]

External image
Course map of full marathon in 2018[10]​

The start and finish line of the marathon is set on the  [lv] next to Riga Castle.^[11]

The marathon course crosses over the Daugava river via the Vanšu, Stone, and Island Bridges, and also includes a section that runs through the cobblestoned streets of Old Riga.^[10]

Prizes[]

As of 2019, the prize money received by the winner of the marathon can reach 15 000 euros, depending on the distance result, with an additional bonus reserved in case the distance record is broken. Money prizes are received by best eight finishers, with additional 2000 euros awarded to the highest placed Latvian runners in each of the distances.

Winners[]

Key:    Course record (in bold)

Marathon[]

Ed.	Year	Men's winner	Nationality	Time[b]	Women's winner	Nationality	Time[b]
1	1991		Soviet Union	2:28:27		Soviet Union	2:43:53
2	1992		Kazakhstan	2:21:29		Belarus	2:47:28
3	1993	Aleksandrs Prokopčuks	Latvia	2:26:41	Svetlana Șepelev-Tcaci	Moldova	2:55:07
4	1994		Latvia	2:43:09		Latvia	3:19:56
5	1995		Latvia	2:32:44		Estonia	3:02:11
6	1996	Aleksandrs Prokopčuks	Latvia	2:31:46		Latvia	3:30:42
7	1997		Latvia	2:33:05		Estonia	3:12:26
8	1998		Latvia	2:33:41		Latvia	3:27:49
9	1999		Lithuania	2:37:10		Latvia	3:37:21
10	2000		Latvia	2:30:59		Lithuania	3:12:11
11	2001		Latvia	2:27:25		Latvia	3:11:45
12	2002		Lithuania	2:31:25	Anita Liepiņa	Latvia	3:12:16
13	2003		Lithuania	2:28:07		Lithuania	3:05:26
14	2004		Latvia	2:27:09		Lithuania	2:58:29
15	2005		Latvia	2:45:58		Estonia	3:11:09
16	2006		Russia	2:41:57		Latvia	3:04:31
17	2007		Kenya	2:18:30		Russia	2:50:07
18	2008	Sammy Rotich	Kenya	2:16:42		Estonia	3:13:54
19	2009		Belarus	2:18:35		Belarus	2:47:30
20	2010		Morocco	2:17:33	Maryna Damantsevich	Belarus	2:38:16
21	2011	Julius Kuto	Kenya	2:15:48	Desta Tadesse	Ethiopia	2:37:14
22	2012		Kenya	2:16:53		Russia	2:37:37
23	2013	Duncan Koech	Kenya	2:15:34		Ethiopia	2:40:30
24	2014		Japan	2:13:44		Ethiopia	2:36:51
25	2015		Ethiopia	2:12:28		Ethiopia	2:37:03
26	2016		Kenya	2:11:45	Shitaye Gemechu	Ethiopia	2:38:40
27	2017		Kenya	2:12:14		Ethiopia	2:31:22
28	2018		Ethiopia	2:11:00	Georgina Rono	Kenya	2:28:22
29	2019		Ethiopia	2:08:51		Ethiopia	2:26:18
30	2020	cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic [3]​
31	2021		Latvia	2:38:36		Latvia	3:07:17

Half marathon[]

Year	Men's winner	Nationality	Time[b]	Women's winner	Nationality	Time[b]
2006		Latvia	1:15:20	Anita Liepiņa	Latvia	1:33:43
2007		Lithuania	1:09:17	Ilona Marhele	Latvia	1:22:21
2008	Pavel Loskutov	Estonia	1:05:52	Helen Decker	United Kingdom	1:20:00
2009		Kenya	1:06:49		Latvia	1:23:05
2010	Valērijs Žolnerovičs	Latvia	1:05:40		Kenya	1:14:04
2011		Russia	1:06:28	Lyubov Morgunova	Russia	1:15:01
2012	Valērijs Žolnerovičs	Latvia	1:06:04	Jeļena Prokopčuka	Latvia	1:10:27
2013		Latvia	1:07:24	Jeļena Prokopčuka	Latvia	1:14:39
2014		Kenya	1:05:56	Jeļena Prokopčuka	Latvia	1:14:52
2015		Latvia	1:06:20	Jeļena Prokopčuka	Latvia	1:13:24
2016		Kenya	1:05:26	Jeļena Prokopčuka	Latvia	1:16:06
2017		Kenya	1:05:04		Latvia	1:23:45
2018		Ukraine	1:05:14		Lithuania	1:14:38
2019		Latvia	1:05:59	Beatie Deutsch	Israel	1:17:34
2020	cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic [3]​
2021		Latvia	1:07:10		Estonia	1:20:11

By country[]

Note: Marathon and Half Marathon statistics only

Country	Total	Marathon (men's)	Marathon (women's)	Half Marathon (men's)	Half Marathon (women's)
Latvia	35	11	8	7	9
Kenya	14	7	1	4	1
Ethiopia	10	3	7	0	0
Lithuania	8	3	3	1	1
Belarus	6	2	4	0	0
Estonia	5	0	4	1	1
Russia	5	1	2	1	1
Morocco	1	1	0	0	0
Kazakhstan	1	1	0	0	0
Japan	1	1	0	0	0
Moldova	1	0	1	0	0
Ukraine	1	0	0	1	0
United Kingdom	1	0	0	0	1
Israel	1	0	0	0	1

Multiple wins[]

Note: Marathon and Half Marathon statistics only

Athlete	Country	Wins	Years	Distance
Jeļena Prokopčuka	Latvia	5	2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016	Half Marathon
	Latvia	4	1994, 1998, 1999, 2001	Marathon
	Latvia	4	1995, 1998, 2000, 2001	Marathon
	Lithuania	3	1999, 2000, 2003	Marathon
Aleksandrs Prokopčuks	Latvia	2	1993, 1996	Marathon
	Lithuania	2	2000, 2003	Marathon
Valērijs Žolnerovičs	Latvia	2	2010, 2012	Half Marathon
	Latvia	2	2013, 2015	Half Marathon
	Latvia	2	2019, 2021	Half Marathon

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• Riga Marathon
• Riga Marathon Photos 2014

Coordinates: 56°56′52″N 24°06′10″E / 56.9478°N 24.1028°E / 56.9478; 24.1028