Soldiers Run Around Lake Balaton

To complete the four-day race, the entrants had to cover a total of more than 195 kilometers running individually, in pairs or in three- or four-man teams. They started from Siófok and finished there too. On their way the competitors stopped for rest in Fonyód, Szigliget, Badacsony and Balatonfüred.

The mayor of Balatonfüred, Dr. István Bóka, one of the patrons of the event was also present to watch the morning start in the town. He told us that he did not know that soldiers would also enter the race, but he congratulated them in advance.

“The Balaton Super Marathon attracts a lot of people to the region. What is more, it draws attention to the importance of a healthy lifestyle", the mayor added.

The competitors had opportunity to run only half of the distance (HalfBalaton Marathon), and the willing ones had the option of covering “only" the Balatonfüred–Siófok route within the “MarathonFüred" add-on competition. The teams and the individual runners were offered refreshments at special stations that were placed every six to eight kilometers.
Members of the local civil guards also helped with the organization at several places.

Let us return to István Bóka’s statement: he had no reason to be disappointed with the soldiers, as they gave a very good overall performance in the competition. Without intending to be exhaustive: for example, the 1st team of the HASE military runners finished third overall, while the runners of the Honvéd Arrabona Sports Club were placed fourth in the category “under 136 years" of the team contest (the age limit was set by adding up the team members’ ages). The HDF 54th Veszprém I." team was the runner-up in the team contest category “over 137 years", while the women’s team of Veszprém finished fourth in the same category. To complete our account the Air Force results, the pair of the HDF 86th Szolnok Helicopter Base finished fourth in the men’s pair contest.