On June 10 Lviv turned into the capital city of a running fairytale giving the participants sunny weather and perfect organization of the 3rd Molokiya Lviv Half Marathon. For the first time in history the half marathon course in Lviv had almost 1300 participants! The overall number of participants was 4000 residents and guests of the city of Lviv. For the second time in a row the winner among men is Taras Salo (1:08:51), and this is his home run, as to women, the winner in the fierce competition is a representative of Bukovyna Yuliia Profis (1:19:18), however, there were no track records set this year.
In the competition among men, right from the beginning Taras Salo took the initiative and became the sole leader straight to the finish line. The resident of Lviv had a speedy start, which ensured him being safely away from his rivals, keeping the situation under control and confidently confirming his last year title. The other two winning places were taken by Yurii Hrytsak (1:09:29) and Yurii Vykhopen (1:12:14).
“My time result was one minute worse than last year. Of course, deep inside I wanted to set a new record. But first of all my goal was to win, and I did! I realized that setting a record was doubtful, taking into account the weather condition. I was still running for the track record on the 10th kilometer. But it was connected with tactical moments, since right from the start I was planning to get away from my rivals and keep this distance till the finish line. This tactics worked, even though it was hard! It seemed to me that compared to 2017 the pavement became worse and the hills became steeper.
I am overall satisfied with the winning result. I am overwhelmed with emotions! I dedicate my victory to my loved ones who always support me no matter where, no matter when I run, they always support me”, – said Taras.
Contrary to the men, the result of the race among women was a mystery almost until the finish line. Right from the start the leadership position belonged to an experienced runner Tetiana Vernyhor, but closer to the middle of the course the leading positions were taken by Yuliia Profis and Mariia Hudak. The victory in the running duel of Lviv half marathon belongs to Yuliia Profis, Mariia Hudak finished second with the time of 1:19:41, the third winner is Tetiana Vernyhor 1:20:16.
The winner shared about her struggles on the course and emotions after the victory:
“It was not easy to run, I was trying to keep up with the leaders, I would get behind on some uphill portions of the road, but I would always catch up with them on the downhill portions. Even before the 10 kilometer mark there was just Maria Hudak and I left among leaders, and 6 kilometers before the finish line, on one of the downhill portions of the route I made an attempt to get away and succeeded. After this and straight to the finish line I had to give my best, so the last uphill portion was the hardest. I must confess that joy after a victory was a few times greater than my efforts on the course!”
Therefore, 3rd Molokiya Lviv Half Marathon became the second after Nova Poshta Kyiv Half Marathon with over 1000 finishers on the 21 km course! Now we hope to outdo this number on the fourth race of the Run Ukraine Running League 2018 in Odesa on August 26!
