DUSHANBE, 30.05.2022 (NIAT Khovar) – Dushanbe will host two marathons on June 4 and June 9 as part of the Second Water Conference on the International Decade for Action «Water for Sustainable Development, 2018-2028» and dedicated to the achievement of SDG-6.

This will be a great opportunity for conference attendees to be part of the global campaign and get involved in running. Participants can run a full marathon (42.2 km) or a symbolic 6 km distance dedicated to SDG-6. The 42.2 km marathon will start on June 4 at 03:00 at the Sarob hotel in Khoja Obigarm, and the symbolic part of the 6 km distance will start at 9:00 at the northern gate of the new Istiklol park (Said Nosirov Street, 27). Participants can join the marathon, both from the very beginning — at 03:00 and for the last distance of 6 km at 9:00. This marathon will end at a large waterfall in the Navruzgoh park.

The marathon on June 9 will start at 5:00 in Dushanbe near the Hyatt Regency hotel and will end after passing 42.2 km towards Vahdat.

For those participants who run 6 km, transport will be organized for their return to the hotel for the purpose of subsequent participation in excursions according to the conference program.

The results of the marathons will be presented within the framework of the Second Dushanbe Conference, as well as the UN Conference on Water Resources in March 2023.

The RUN BLUE Global Water Marathon started on March 22 on International Water Day in Australia. RUN BLUE includes 200 marathons worldwide, attracting over 200 million people, and will end on March 22, 2023 ahead of the UN Conference in New York.

The purpose of the marathons is to draw the attention of the world community to the growing water issues, mobilize efforts to achieve real change on the ground, and promote the International Decade for Action and the UN Water Conference in 2023.

They are organized by activist and runner Mina Guli and are supported by many partners, including the governments of Tajikistan and the Netherlands as co-chairs of the conference.

The Central Asian part of RUN BLUE started on May 10 in the city of Muynak of Uzbekistan and will end on June 10 in Dushanbe. In Tajikistan, 11 marathons are planned with a length of 458.2 km along the Amudarya River and its tributaries, in places with difficult geographical conditions.