Nearly 5 thousand people take part in 24-hour world-record marathon

A 24-hour relay race, held to set a Russian and a Guinness Book record on 100 metres, has completed in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan.

The 24-hour marathon began yesterday at 11 am. Each marathon participant had to cover 100 metres in 24 hours. To set a record for the Guinness Book, the runners had to cover the distance in 20 seconds in average.

A total of 4,789 people ran the distance in 24 hours. It is more than the previous world record, set by Riga, where 3,845 people took part in the race.

The first to hand over the baton to the Tatarstan Youth Affairs, Sports and Tourism Minister Marat Bariev was the city’s mayor Ildar Khalikov.

A jury panel of 120 monitored the race for the entire 24 hours. Besides, 478 law enforcement officers were engaged in ensuring public order and the safety of the runners at night.

Two ambulance and paramedical crews were at standby at the stadium. According to the latest reports, no serious complaints took place, despite that there were instances of runners falling. According to the rules, a runner had a right to get up and continue running, provided that he or she did it without someone’s help.

Today, the Guinness Book of Records Russia editor in chief Alexei Svistunov should confirm or deny a Russian record, after which the entire evidence including photos, video and documents will be forwarded to London headquarters that is to decide whether Naberezhye Chelny has broken the previous record.