CroRun project was presented in Zagreb on Monday. It is a series of eight athletic tracks on roads in attractive Croatian locations, custom made for top athletes, but also for beginners, families and business people.
“The idea came from our desire and need to present Croatia as a racing destination, use the racing movement, because that is what running is. Our goal is to consolidate more road races under one name and promote them with the main goal – improving the quality of life and health of the society. Of course, the goal is also to give an added value to the racing community. We want to rise above all other existing races with the quality and high racing standards and results. In doing so, we do not want to focus only on the Croatian racing community. The crown of the CroRun races will be the Plitvice marathon, for which we already have applications from 15 countries around the world”, Sinisa Ergotic, CroRun project manager, said.
Dalibor Bilic, president of the CroRun athletic club, who is the organizer of the project, talked about the goals and vision of the project;
“The vision was to join eight brands into one. CroRun is a brand and we want to present it as such to Europe and to the world. It consists of eight races, and each of them must become a brand for itself. We want to connect sports and tourism because I am convinced that Croatia has complete logistics for the development of sports tourism. We want to prove that with this project. Therefore, CroRun is not just for people who are actively engaged in running, but it also includes the business league and the family race. With this project, we want to tell the story of Croatian attractions in the way they have not yet been told.”
The first in a series of CroRun races is the Zagreb Spring Half Marathon – Zagreb 21, which will be held on 20 March.
“We start at 9 a.m. in front of the National and University Library, and the race will consist of two laps of 10.5 kilometers. We expect the race to be one of the best in Croatia and the region, and we already have a number of applications from top runners from Croatia, Hungary, Kenya…, some of which are preparing for the Olympic Games. In addition to the main race of 21 km, we will also have the FunRun race of 5 km, as well as the relay, so we expect about 1000 participants”, as the Director of the CroRun races Robert Franjkovic informed the participants about the Zagreb Spring Half Marathon – Zagreb 21.
Ambassador of the project is the best Croatian long-distance runner Dino Bosnjak, who did not hide his satisfaction with the races in the calendar:
“Top runners attend road races more and more and there will certainly be many of them at the CroRun races. I personally cannot wait for the races to start! As a runner, I will try to promote the project CroRun as much as possible among the best runners in the region and in Europe.
The health component of the project is also very important.
“Running and health should be synonyms. The department I manage deals the most with the prevention of diseases and I am personally very saddened by the insufficient physical activity of our citizens. So I am quite happy with the idea of getting involved in this project”, dr. Zvonimir Sostar, Director of the Institute of Public Health Dr. Andrija Štampar, said.
Among others, the City of Zagreb also supported the project.
“Mayor Milan Bandic’s patronage of this project is a message that the City of Zagreb is open to healthy lifestyle and sports activities. Zagreb is a city of sport and we promote running as a form of healthy lifestyle. Congratulations to the organizers who have made CroRun an all-Croatian project”, Ivica Lovric, head of the Zagreb City Office for Education, Culture and Sports, said.