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 After
II SIM in 1991 there came the idea of holding another running
event - half-marathon race. The peculiarity of the new race
would be the season of helding - winter, before the New Year.
A lot of runners liked that idea, because it was an excellent
chance for them to compete and keep in a good sport shape. The
first winter half-marathon was held on December
29, 1991. And the first winners
were Andrey Lavrikov (Omsk) - 1:20.55 and Galina
Kuragina (Omsk) - 1:31.15.
There were arcticles about the first winter half-marathon in
the newspapers, and with their help the number of participants
increased up to more than 200. The second half-marathon became
not only Christmas one (it was held on January
7, 1993), but international as
well. Peter Loeffler (Germany) ventured to
run the race and since then he has been the traditional guest
of the half-marathon. The winners were the same, but they improved
their times: Andrey Lavrikov (Omsk) - 1:15.04
and Galina Kuragina (Omsk) - 1:28.51.
 The
third X-mas half-marathon changed the course. The new course
laid on the city central streets and there were seven loops
of three km. Each loop was completed on the central squares,
thus the spectators could comfortably observe the struggle among
competitors. The number of participants arose up to 350 runners
from 15 Russian and Kazakhstan cities. In 1994 the group of
German TV journalists came to Omsk to make
a film about the Christmas run. Afterwards that film was shown
in Germany, Austria, and France. The new course gave new results:
Vladimir Shtyrts (Ekaterinburg) - 1:10.55,
Inna Kozina (Omsk) - 1:23.04.
 
The IV Christmas Half-marathon brought surprises. Two runners,
Vladimir Komarov (Omsk) and Anatoli
Antonov (Cherlak), crossed the finish line together
with the time 1:15.02. Thus there were two 1st places
that year. Inna Kozina remained the best among
women, having become the overall female winner for the second
time (1:24.39).
 The
competition was held for the 7th time. Runners from Tuimen,
Irkutsk, Kurgan, Ekaterinburg, Petropavlovsk (Kazakhstan) came
to Omsk. As usual, our friend from Germany, Peter Loeffler,
visited Omsk and ran the distance.
 More
than 300 runners participated in the VIII Christmas half-marathon.
Twelve of them were not satisfied with 21 km distance, and completed
the whole marathon - 42 km 195 m. The half-marathon
winner was Valeri Zakharov, the marathon one
became Konstantin Zavyalov.
 IThe
9th Christmas Half-Marathon was held in the city of Omsk on
January 7th, 2000,
the day Russians celebrate Orthodox Christmas. More than 250
runners from Omsk and other neighboring cities took part in
it.
Unfortunately, the constant participant and the old friend of
the half-marathon, Peter Loeffler, was not able to come to Omsk
due to the busy schedule, but he recommended this event to Jay
Tuck, an American journalist working in Germany, who
became the first American who ever run the Christmas Half-marathon.
The race day with its clear skies, and low humidity was almost
perfect for a healthy and enjoyable run. Despite the temperature
(approx. - 25 - 27 oC) all participants seemed to enjoy the
run and the competition was very strong. After the Prize-Awarding
Ceremony that was held after the race the Christmas celebration
continued in the city's central square.
The 10th Siberian Ice Marathon was the most international one.
Four runners from Germany, despite the real Siberian frosts,
came to Omsk and completed the race. Later one of them, Tom
Ockers, wrote a book about
his Siberian experience.
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| © Siberian
International Marathon, 2005. |
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