Other events in Baltic States

The number of participants in Tet Riga Marathon will be increased to 50,000 in five years, of which 10,000 participants will be from other countries, NECom CEO and head of the organizational team Aigars Nords told reporters LETA.

This year's Tet Riga Marathon will for the first time be held under the International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) Gold Label. Tet Riga Marathon is the only marathon in Northern Europe to have the IAAF Golden Label together with such marathons as Berlin, Tokyo, Boston, New York, Prague marathons, said Nords.

Thousands of marathons are organized in the world every year, but to be awarded the IAAF Gold Label, the route and infrastructure of the marathon, security and a number of other factors have to meet the highest requirements, said Nords.

"This is the only marathon in Northern Europe that has the Gold Label, and this opportunity must be used to popularize Latvia," said Nords, adding that the goal was to increase the number of runners participating in the marathon to 50,000, of which 10,000 runners would be from other countries.

Each participant in the marathon that comes to Latvia from another country usually stays here for several days and is accompanied by one or more supporters, which means that the marathon also has a significant economic effect, stressed Nords.

Women's world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe and Latvia's Jelena Prokopcuka also participated in the press conference today.

The Riga Marathon has been organized since 1991. It was initially named Nordea Riga Marathon, but for the last five years, Lattelecom has been the general sponsor of the marathon. The marathon's name will be changed to Tet Riga Marathon as Lattelecom will change its name to Tet on April 1.

This year, Riga Marathon will be held on May 19.