Record number of 13,000 athletes at Utrecht Science Park at Utrecht Marathon and Giro d'Utrecht
On Sunday 19 May, Utrecht was all about sports. Two wonderful sports events, the Utrecht Marathon and the Giro d'Utrecht, had the Utrecht Science Park as their start and finish location. 13,000 runners and cyclists took part in one of these events. The athletes prepared for their race during the morning. Gradually, the sun broke through, providing an extra challenge for the participants.
40th edition of Utrecht Marathon supported by Utrecht Science Park
One out of five adults in Utrecht runs. This is well above the national average, according to an earlier survey by the RIVM. This was also reflected in the record number of participants who gathered at the Cambridgelaan, the start and finish location. There was a choice of distances: the GenDx ¼ Marathon, Utrecht Science Park Half Marathon, the Full Marathon and, for the young participants, the Mini Marathon.
From 09:00, participants started in different groups. The course was a combination of the green surroundings and the historic city centre of Utrecht, with of course many enthusiastic spectators.
Among others, former speed skater Erben Wennemars, running fanatic and presenter Dolf Jansen and top athlete Jill Holterman were at the start of the Utrecht Marathon.
About 1,000 participants who work or study on the Utrecht Science Park ran a distance during the Utrecht Marathon. They were received at the special Community reception at Heidelberglaan 7, organised by Hogeschool Utrecht, Utrecht University, UMC Utrecht, Sportcentrum Olympos and Utrecht Science Park Foundation.
Results
Many top performances were achieved during the Utrecht Marathon.
At 09:00, the running event started with the GenDx ¼ Marathon, the Zorg van de Zaak Business Runs ¼ marathon and the Utregse Studentenbokaal:
GenDx ¼ Marathon:
Man: Learoy Alcock – 37:39
Woman: Jiske Wessels – 41:13
Studentenbokaal winner: Team ‘Meedoen is belangrijker dan winnen’
Zorg van de Zaak Business Runs ¼ winner: Gemeente Utrecht
At 10:05, Jan Henk van de Velden, managing director of the Utrecht Science Park Foundation, fired the starting gun for the Utrecht Marathon and the Utrecht Science Park Half Marathon.
Fastest man and woman Half Marathon:
Man: Tommy Kinders – 01:09:26
Woman: Jill Holterman - 01:17:56
Fastest man and woman full Marathon:
Man: Thomas Cornthwaite – 02:33:12
Woman: Wiebke Kleinwächter – 02:59:55
For the youngest participants, the Mini Marathon started as last, where children aged 4 to 12 enjoyed a 1.5-kilometre course through the Utrecht Science Park.
Jan Henk van der Velden, managing director of the Utrecht Science Park Foundation, on the record number of participants: "Wonderful to see that the number of participants increases every year. We saw many enthusiastic participants, who were delighted with the many spectators at both the Utrecht Science Park and along the beautiful route."
Giro d’Utrecht
On the other side of the Utrecht Science Park, at Grand Café LIVING, cyclists were ready to ride their courses from early in the morning. There was a choice of several courses with different distances: 150km, 110km, 70km and the Dikke banden race for the kids.
The Giro was, of course, all about Italy. During the afternoon, the first cyclists returned from their tour. They were welcomed in the Italian atmosphere, with matching music and delicious snacks.
KWF
This year, both the Utrecht Marathon and the Giro d'Utrecht supported KWF Kankerbestrijding. Many participants worked hard to raise as much sponsorship money as possible, contributing to a better life for people affected by cancer.
A total of 343,469 euros was raised at the Utrecht Marathon supported by Utrecht Science Park. KWF spends this amount on cancer research conducted by institutes throughout the Netherlands, including here at the Utrecht Science Park.
Importance of sport and exercise at the Utrecht Science Park
At the Utrecht Science Park, people work on a healthy, sustainable society every day. Sport and exercise play an important role in this. It is great to see a large number of athletes showing their sporty side at the Utrecht Science Park. It was a great day!
See you next year!
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