An official source at the Committee for Youth and Sports Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan says a National Running Race Day will be held in Tajikistan on May 15.

In Dushanbe, the race route will begin at the traffic police checkpoint “Chorbogh” in Varzob district and ends at the Navrouzgoh Complex (Dushanbe’s hippodrome) in Dushanbe.  Therefore, most likely, this route will be closed for traffic from 8:00 am to 11:00 am.

The race’s itinerary lies along the Hofiz Sherozi Avenue (a road along the Dushanbinka River), and a total distance of the race is 10 kilometers.     

The National Running Race Day is expected to start simultaneously in all cities and district centers across the country.

In Dushanbe, sports veterans, disabled people, students, entrepreneurs as well as representatives of diplomatic missions and international organizations active in the country are expected to take part in the race.

“In all, about 20,000 people are expected to participate in the race in Dushanbe,” the source within the Committee for Youth and Sports Affairs. 

According to him, some 300,000-400,000 people throughout the country will participate in the race this year.

The National Running Race Day is marked in Tajikistan on the third Sunday of May for the purpose of propagating healthy lifestyle.   

The National Running Race Day has been held in Tajikistan since 1996.

In 2006, President Emomali Rahmon led the three-kilometer race.  The president ran the distance together with government members and his bodyguards.