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Despite the difficult conditions, the legendary Tartu Maraton was held today on the classic Otepää-Elva 63 km route. Henri Roos won the men’s competition, Justyna Kowalczyk-Tekieli (POL) was the fastest among the women.

Tartu Maraton 2023 winners

The first to cross the finish line was Henri Roos (time 3:14:53.8). He was followed by Andres Juursalu (+01.13,1) and Taavi Kaiv (+01.52,8).

“Today’s race definitely came down to who can eat and drink the most during the race to avoid cramps and to have the strength to pick up the pace for the last 15 km at the end,” said Roos. According to him, there was a gap with others about 10 km before the end. “When the gap started to increase, it was clear. It was definitely not easy, but the team managed to do good skis today,” he stated.

1. Henri Roos, EST
2. Andres Juursalu, EST
3. Taavi Kaiv, EST

Among the women, multiple Olympic champion Justyna Kowalczyk-Tekieli (3.22.00,1) became the winner of the Tartu Maraton. She was followed by Merilin Jürisaar (+00.33,1) and Noora Kivikko (FIN) (+06.14,9).

“Although the race was very difficult, the skis were good in these conditions. All in all, I am very satisfied with the race and of course happy that I won,” she stated.

1. Justyna Kowalczyk-Tekieli, POL
2. Merilin Jürisaar, EST
3. Noora Kivikko, FIN

A total of 3,477 skiers had registered for today’s main races, 2,573 of them for the longest distance of 63 km and 904 for the 31 km track. Both distances turned out to become a real snow fight. During the morning it started to snow, first slightly then quite heavily. Here come some impressions of the race day:

Impressions of Tartu Maraton 2023

Pictures: Adam Illingworth