Annita Demetriou, the President of the House, spoke about the Limassol Marathon, a sports celebration with a philanthropic character that boasts over 17,000 participants.
In her statements following the declaration of the start of the Youth Race “Andrey & Julia Dashin’s Foundation” (9-12 years) – 1200 Andrey & Julia Dashin’s Foundation Youth Race 1km, Demetriou expressed her appreciation to the organisers of the OPAP Limassol Marathon, the supporting foundations, the runners, and everyone participating in it.
“This is a celebration of sports that also has a philanthropic character. It is our minimal obligation as a State to be here and support such initiatives with such a noble purpose that has this dimension of philanthropy, which is so significant in our times,” Demetriou stated among other things.
The start of the OPAP Limassol Marathon took place in the morning with the PrimeTel Corporate Race 5KM, launched by the Mayor of Limassol, Nikos Nikolaides.
“On this grand celebration of sports, joy, and social solidarity. I particularly want to welcome the thousands of our friends from abroad to our beautiful, hospitable city,” said Nikolaides.
He congratulated the organising company for the impeccable organisation of this marathon yet another year and thanked the sponsors, OPAP, and the marathon’s supporters.
“Special thanks to all of you who with your massive participation have made the OPAP Limassol Marathon the most exciting marathon in the world,” said the Mayor of Limassol.
Also present were representatives of the co-organisers of the OPAP Limassol Marathon (the Municipality of Limassol, the Limassol Chamber of Commerce and Industry – EVEL, and the Limassol Tourism Development Company – ETAL), the Executive Director of the nominative sponsor OPAP Cyprus, Alexandros Davos, the Executive Director of the nominative sponsor of the Corporate Race Theodosios Theodosiou, the Vice-President and the General Manager of KOA Kalli Hadjiosif and Mary Charalambous Papamiltiades respectively, as well as other representatives of the political life of the region.
This year’s event set a record, with participation exceeding 17,000 in total across all six courses. Moreover, 3,000 of them come from abroad, from 75 or more countries, doubling this year the number of international participants.
“Our goal and ambition were for the Limassol Marathon to be more than a sports celebration, to be a celebration of humanism and voluntarism. I believe we achieve this goal through the rich philanthropic work performed by the organisation, which gives us strength and motivation to continue offering this celebration to the world that we see enjoys it, and this particularly pleases us,” highlighted the President of the Board of Directors of the OPAP Limassol Marathon, Spyros Spyrou.
