Foto: Tadej ŽivkoOn Sunday evening, when all the runners, their coaches and international officials gathered at the closing banquet in the Red Hall in Velenje and danced all night, the organisers could relax and congratulated themselves. They have managed to successfully carry out already the second European cross country championships. This time they were record-full championships. First with a record number of 479 competitors coming from 33 European countries. Second there was also a record number of spectators that gathered despite low temperatures in some thousands. To make their presence worthwhile the course itself was “to blame” since its structure enabled spectators to watch runners throughout the entire race. No doubt this was one of the reasons for a great atmosphere at the venue.Valid praise however also came from the top of the European Athletics. The President of EA Mr Hansjörg Wirz: “Having the opportunity to now look back on the 18th SPAR European Cross Country Championships, I believe that it was an excellent championships. The decision by European Athletics to return to Velenje 12 years after the city first staged the Championships in 1999 proved to be justified in every respect. The local organisers can take great pride in putting on a fantastic event, one of the best SPAR European Cross Country Championships I have witnessed. Talking to people from some of our 33 Member Federations that were in Velenje, at the closing banquet later on Sunday, I can say confidently that this view is held by everybody I spoke to, it's not just my personal perspective on the day.” (from EA)
A proof of the growing interest in cross country running and of organisers giving their best to bring European championships closer to the public is absolutely reflected in a few thousands of spectators coming to the event on Sunday in Velenje. An even greater number of visitors was recorded at our official webpage, which was visited by enviable 12,921 people, setting yet again one of the new records of the event. The official webpage of the event was active also before the day of the event where 28,205 visitors looked at the information. No doubt this is a proof of people being widely interested in running.
You can view some moments from the Sunday evening party in the last video.
