Nicole Knyazeva, a 7-year-old Ukrainian girl, has set a new record: she ran a 21-kilometer race in Kyiv on Oct. 8 and became the first Ukrainian of her age to complete a full half-marathon distance.
She has already received her diploma from the National Register of Records of Ukraine, according to Darya Savchenko, a press officer with the Wizz Air Kyiv City Marathon organizers Run Ukraine.
Wizz Air Kyiv City Marathon is an annual event that includes several races: a full 42-kilometers marathon, a half marathon, 10 and 5 kilometers, and shorter distances of 100, 500 and 1,000 meters.
This year, more than 10,000 runners from 55 countries took part in the Kyiv marathon, according to the organizers.
Knyazeva was not the only one to set a record on Oct. 8: fitness trainer Yuliya Chernitska became the first Ukrainian woman to run a 21-kilometer half marathon with a stroller. She ran with her two daughters to fundraise money for medical equipment for Kyiv’s Romodanov Neurosurgery Institute.
One of the marathon participants, a 54-year-old man, died while running a 42-kilometer distance.
Yana Nerush, a spokeswoman with Kyiv’s police, told the 112 TV Channel that he fell while running along Lavrska Street in the center of Kyiv. The ambulance crew, when arrived at the scene, found him dead.
Savchenko from the Run Ukraine couldn’t comment on the matter, saying that organizers will issue an official comment after they receive results of the forensic examination.
Kyiv has been hosting its own annual street marathons since 2010, with the first event having been attended by 546 participants from 13 countries.
