Vilnius Marathon
Vilnius, Lithuania
- Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
The Vilnius Marathon is a great opportunity to see one of the most beautiful capitals in Eastern Europe. Though the course is in the very centre of Vilnius, you will not sense any smell of exhaust gas and you will not experience any other troubles as the Vilnius Marathon is … MORE
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Well organized and fun race
The race starts and ends in Cathedral Square. It is well organized and well attended. It is actually part of a running festival weekend, including a full marathon, half, 10k, … MORE
The race starts and ends in Cathedral Square. It is well organized and well attended. It is actually part of a running festival weekend, including a full marathon, half, 10k, 5k and kids run. All the races start at different times.
Even with Covid-19, there were about 5000 participants this year (down from around 10k in previous years). This is the first race where I’ve been required to wear a mask to the starting line and after the race. (they give out medals and face masks!). Route is scenic – first along the Neris river to the forests north of Vilnius. Then back along the other side of the river. The full marathon continues to Vingis park. Both have a short leg through old town before returning to Cathedral Square. Lots of water stops and even medical assistants roving the course on bicycles. Only a small amount of the course is on cobblestones. If you’re in the Baltics – check this one out!
Baltic tripple completed
After running in Riga and Tallinn - the capital cities of Latvia and Estonia- I completed my “Baltic tripple” this year with a half in Vilnius. All the three are … MORE
After running in Riga and Tallinn – the capital cities of Latvia and Estonia- I completed my “Baltic tripple” this year with a half in Vilnius. All the three are compared to most European cities fairly moderate in prices for accommodation, food and the registration fee for the races. All three countries have an increasing tourism and Vilnius felt “most real” and least Disneyland like out of the three. Transport from the airport is very easy and convenient with buses or Uber/ local company is called Bolt (about 5-10€ to get to town). The running festival holds 5 races from a kids race to full marathon. The small exhibition Center with tents is on the centrally located Cathedral Square on foot of the remains of the medieval castle. And this is also where the race starts and finishes. Everything was super smooth organised. With your bib you could choose a sticker according to your predicted finish time and start in one of the 5 corrals. The first part is an out and about loop along the river and through a forest (Vilnius is a very green city). Cobble stones and cracks in the asphalt (I got reminded of RnR NOLA), sometimes narrow. Only a few really even/ flat parts. One gets taken back to the city that you enter at around km17. Marathoners had to do two loops. Pacers helped to achieve your desired times and plenty of water in between. There are not a whole lot of spectators if you depend on crowd cheers to push. I finished with a season best and was very happy. Very quick result service via sms/ text.
Great food and great weather made it an amazing overall running getaway. I only wished the RDs of the three capital races would work together and maybe even make a special event or medal for runners who do all three events (Tallinn and Vilnius are always on the same weekend).