Course
Yarche Tomsk International Marathon is going to be not only a sport event this time — the City is also celebrating its 415th anniversary this year! And our birthday-city is getting ready to show the best of it to its guests. Fantastic wooden laces of early 20th century buildings, dark secrets of old merchants’ mansions, Soviet-era monuments, works of modern sculptors of Tomsk, numerous legends of the land...
Let us tell you a story of this old city and invite you to share our feelings to it. Tomsk is a city you want to live in! And Tomsk is a city you want to run in — Faster! Yarche! Stronger!
In the ancient times when the Scythians enjoyed the rise of their glory, there was a taiga tribe in Western Siberia that we now call Kulai by the name of the mountain in Tomsk region where that culture artefacts were first discovered.
The Kulais were hunters, fishers and gatherers and, apparently, tried to comprehend the world around them. Kulai expressed their worldview in their unique artistic bronze casting that have no parallel in the world.
Moose image had a special significance among other bronze casting artefacts. Bold, strong, long-legged — the beast was feared and worshiped as a celestial patron. The constellation that we all know as the Great Bear (Big Dipper) was the Moose for Kulais. The Dipper is the running beast and the three stars on its handle are arrows of the hunters. Century after century the race is lasting. Tirelessly runs the Moose across the skies leaving his pursuers behind. What an inspiration for all of us, marathoners!
And now let’s check the course. It was selected carefully to make it, first, the most convenient and, second, the most interesting for the athletes. Last year the athletes were running from Novosobornaya Square up Lenin Avenue. This year the runners are taking the course in the opposite direction and enjoying a different, even more wonderful view of the city.
The full course consists of two 21.1 km loops. The course starts at Novosobornaya Square (city center) and follows the main street of the City.
Every street here is a history. How many people know that the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin, was appointed a position in Tomsk after his first vocational training? And how many people know that another space voyager, Nikolay Rukavishniokv, was born and brought up in Tomsk and lived in the street named as a tribute to Gagarin?
You will find a monument to Tomsk spaceman in a public garden around our White Lake. Following these streets, the marathoners will have a chance to see the famous “Tomsk Lace” — our wooden architecture heritage ornamented with sophisticated carving — a symbol of Siberian homes coziness and hospitality.
One of the highest hills of the town — Oktyabrskiy Vzvoz — gives a nice view of Voskresenskaya Church sitting proudly above the town. The course also goes down the Voskresensky Hill — the place where the town of Tomsk was actually found 415 years ago.
Full marathon follows the second loop along many other landmarks of Siberian Athens.
Tomsk is a city that stays in your heart even if you visit it just once. It’s a 400 years old city with a young and vibrant spirit where cold Siberian climate is compensated with a warm welcome. Tomsk is waiting for you! Let’s run Tomsk Marathon together — Faster! Yarche! Stronger!