On March 21 Ski Sport Centre Demino (Rybinsk, Yaroslavl region, Russia) hosted the fourth Demino Ski Marathon where athletes and amateurs from 30 regions of Russia as well as from Byelorussia, Ukraine, Germany, France and the USA took part. Honorable participants were the champion and the prize winners of the Olympic Games in Vancouver Nikita Krukov, Alexander Panjinsky and Alexei Petukhov and also the winner of Demino Marathon-2009, member of the Byelorussian National cross-country team Alexei Ivanov. During the press-conference held before the competitions the eminent athletes made special mention of good organization of the competitions in Demino, excellent preparation of the course and developed infrastructure, cordiality and interest of numerous spectators.
At 11 a.m. 1099 skiers started. Traditionally the Marathon was carried out under extreme weather conditions. Though 1017 athletes finished the distance. Alexei Ivanov (Byelorussia) became the winner among men, the second was Vadim Nesterov (Russia), the third place was occupied by Leonid Vinogradov (Russia). An Olympic hero Alexei Petukhov, who struggled for a place in the top ten up to the end, also showed a good result. Finally, Alexei became the fourth. The members of the Russian National cross-country team Alexander Panjinsky and Nikita Krukov were the 49th and 50th , respectively.
Ekaterina Rudakova (Byelorussia) was the first among 86 ladies come to the finish. Natalia Zernova and Irina Pridannikova (Russia) finished second and third, respectively.
More than 1000 supporters greeted participants at the finish. A concert program, a lot of entertainment and a trade fair were organized in Demino especially for spectators.
We are sure that Demino Marathon occupies the leading place in large-scale participation among Russialoppet marathons, said Dmitry Korovkin, Director of Demino Marathon. More than 1000 skiers finished the competitions. We hope that the Marathon will become a worthy representative of Russia in WorldLoppet series.
Contributed by WorldCup-Demino
