Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Art and Culture Development Foundation and representatives of the Abbott World Marathon Majors entered into an agreement according to which Samarkand Marathon became a participant in the qualifying round of the world championship in the age groups of the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championship.

The Foundation is the initiator of the Samarkand Marathon project. The marathon has been held annually since 2019. For 3 years, more than 6,000 participants from more than 40 countries took part in the marathon. 

The main goal of the project is to draw public attention to the topic of inclusiveness at cultural and art sites of the country, as well as to promote a healthy lifestyle and develop sports tourism in Uzbekistan.

Every year the Samarkand Marathon project has different charitable goals.

In 2019, the goal of the marathon was to introduce audio commentary in the cultural institutions of the country.

As a result, more than 20 performances with audio commentary were staged, 2 specialists were trained, who studied under a grant from the Foundation at the REAKOMP Institute (Russia). Every year, the Foundation announces a grant for training in audiovisual commentary. The grant covers all tuition costs. More information about the grant on the website www.acdf.uz

Audio commentary is a concise description of an object, space or action that is incomprehensible to the blind (visually impaired) without special verbal explanations.

The goal in 2020 is to create a children’s art studio for children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).

The studio will be the declared result of the Samarkand Charity Half Marathon 2020.

The studio is created taking into account modern technologies and includes a convenient location in the Navruz park. The building will have all the conditions for creative and interactive activities: a recreation area, a creative workshop, a courtyard, a waiting area for parents. The studio is under completion and will be available for both teens and toddlers.

The goal in 2021 is the employment of persons with disabilities in cultural institutions.

Persons with disabilities need support for complex integration into society. Work in this direction is being carried out in stages. At this stage, problems in the field of employment of persons with disabilities are being studied. In March, the Foundation will announce an open competition for cultural institutions wishing to provide jobs for people with disabilities. Further, programs will be developed for the adaptation of persons with disabilities in the workplace.

This year’s AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championship qualifying races include the top 300 competitions in the world, as well as six of the most important marathons, and now Samarkand Marathon is among them. This means that every participant over the age of 40 will be able to earn points by participating in the Samarkand Marathon and will be included in the Abbott World Marathon Majors global age group rankings. Participants with the best results will have the opportunity to participate in the World Marathon Championship in age groups, which takes place in London (UK).

Abbott World Marathon Majors is a series of 6 of the biggest and most famous marathons in the world. This includes the Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York marathons.

Receiving the status of a qualifying race means that the results of runners over 40 who will participate in the fourth Samarkand Marathon on 6 November 2022 will be taken into account in the world ranking. The AbbottWMM Wanda World Age Group Rankings includes a one-year qualifying period (on 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022) during which athletes from nine different age groups (men and women: 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55- 59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80+) by participating in qualifying marathons around the world, earn rating points.

At the end of this period, the best runners (with the most ranking points) in each age group will be invited to the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championships to be held in London in 2023 as part of the TCS London Marathon.