Registration opens for the 31st Rimi Riga Marathon, which this year will take place without a mass start

At the end of March, exactly five months before the event, registration opened for the 31st Rimi Riga Marathon, which this year will take place at the end of summer – on 28 and 29 August.

As usual, Children’s Day and the Family Run will take place on 28 August, while on 29 August participants in the marathon, half marathon, 10 km and 5.5 km races will set off on new courses starting at the Freedom Monument. The organisers already anticipate that restrictions on gatherings will remain in place, so the 31st Rimi Riga Marathon is being planned without a mass start and with a limited number of participants in order to comply with all epidemiological safety measures. 

“We assume that no major changes in Latvia’s COVID situation are expected over the next five months. Even if restrictions are eased and outdoor competitions are permitted, masks, physical distancing and hand disinfection will remain in place. Taking the new arrangements into account, we nevertheless want to give runners the opportunity to complete their distance in person, enjoying Riga and the new courses starting at the Freedom Monument and finishing on 11 November Embankment. Without a mass start, without crowds, but still in person. Society is emotionally tired of the pandemic, so we in the events industry must learn to create new-format events that can also take place safely in person,” says Rimi Riga Marathon director Aigars Nords, expressing his conviction.  

This year, the marathon will feature a new type of start held throughout the day, eliminating gatherings. The start for each distance will take place over several hours, with two to four runners starting every five seconds. The start area will be restricted to runners only, and a distance of two metres will be maintained in the starting corridors. When receiving their race numbers, participants will be given a specific start time at which they must arrive and begin their distance. This makes it possible to calculate the exact number of participants who can safely take part in the Rimi Riga Marathon. Accordingly, the number of participants in each distance will be limited. 

At the same time, given the unpredictability of the spread of COVID-19, the Rimi Riga Marathon may also be held virtually on the new dates and will certainly be adapted to the public-event restrictions in force on 28–29 August.   

Registration is already open for the Rimi Riga Marathon’s 42.195 km distance, the half marathon, 10 km, 5.5 km and Family Run on the marathon’s official website www.rimirigamarathon.com. Registration will remain open until 15 August or until the participant limit is reached for individual distances. Participants will receive their race numbers, showing their start times, on 1 August. 

Participants who postponed their participation in summer 2020 to 2021 will receive a free re-registration code by email. For other participants, registration is available at a reduced entry fee until 1 June. Registration for the short Children’s Day distances for children under 12 will open on 1 June. Detailed information about the Latvian Schools Cup and the possibility of registering for individual distances at a reduced entry fee will be announced in April. Meanwhile, on the usual May dates, 15–16 May, the Rimi Riga Marathon is planning a new hybrid-format event, details of which will be announced shortly.