It’s on, the 2013 Marathon has begun, accompanied by the words of welcome that the president of the organizing association, Azur Sport Organisation, Pascal Thiriot, wanted to publicly address:
This Sunday, November 10, you will be more than 11,500 at the start from 60 countries, showing that marathon rhymes with discovery and tourism.
More than 31% of runners will be foreigners starting from the Promenade des Anglais, with the participation prize going to the British once again this year.
I thank our title partner, the General Council of the Alpes-Maritimes, for their support, the city of Nice where the marathon village and the beautiful start on the Promenade des Anglais are located, the city of Cannes with the finish on the famous Croisette, and the unwavering support of the five relay marathon checkpoint communes associated with the event: Saint-Laurent-du-Var, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Villeneuve-Loubet, Antibes Juan-les-Pins, and Vallauris Golfe-Juan, not to mention adidas, the event’s equipment partner since the first edition in 2008, and the Caisse d’Epargne des Alpes-Maritimes, the official partner of the Relay Marathon, along with our silver, bronze partners, and official suppliers.
But the event would not be what it is without the faithful and unwavering participation of our 1,600 volunteers on the day, whom I want to warmly thank, and some of whom work in the shadows several days before the race alongside us. We hope the celebration is beautiful!
We always seek to innovate, to be as close as possible to you, and above all, to listen to you and the trends and what you write on the forums.
This edition is marked by the birth of a new race format, the 2×21.1 km, a half-marathon per runner in relay.
The 2×21.1 km will allow each team to connect Nice to Cannes in pairs with a baton exchange near Fort Carré in the commune of Antibes Juan-les-Pins. A new formula whose charm has attracted nearly 2,000 participants this year. Quite the performance for a first year!
For the second consecutive year, the Marathon des Alpes-Maritimes Nice-Cannes has partnered with Peace and Sport, the association for Peace through sport, as the charitable partner of the event. Under these agreements, Peace and Sport will be present on the ground with a team of Champions for Peace to raise funds to carry out field projects.
Big names from the sporting world will be present to run under the organization’s colors with Wilson Kipketer, triple world champion in 800 meters, as the “captain,” but also Hicham El Guerouj, Marc Raquil, and Vénuste Niyongabo.
A magnificent setting, a unique route, courage, respect, self-surpassing, performance, the spirit of celebration and conviviality, all of this is the Marathon des Alpes Maritimes Nice Cannes.
