European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov is excited at the prospect of the inaugural European Running Championships in Brussels-Leuven on 12-13 April as a "game-changing" event for the sport.
The European Running Championships will be streamed live from start to finish with English-language commentary on the European Athletics website.
Speaking at the official pre-event press conference in Brussels on Friday (11), he said: “It’s a really historical event. The first ever! And it has already broken some records. More than 28,000 runners from 46 member federations are here.”
Organisers also revealed that 12,500 runners have registered specifically for the marathon, making it the largest ever race over the classic distance ever in Belgium. Meanwhile, 10,000 have entered for the half marathon and 5,500 for the 10km.
On a domestic level, there are 23,500 entrants from the host country, including 4500 residents of Leuven and 2200 from Brussels. It was also revealed that 50% of participants are aged 18-34, a reflection of the work invested into community engagement around Brussels-Leuven 2025.
Run with the champions
Karamarinov also highlighted the opportunity for recreational runners to take part in the same event as elite athletes at a European Athletics championship event.
Alongside the elite individual and team competitions, there will also be a country ranking competition, where the top 25 runners from each country – elite and recreational – will contribute to the team ranking.
“It is a chance for all mass participants to run together with the champions. All runners are champions,” he said. “The first 25 runners from each country will give their points to the team scoring. It’s a game changer.”
Sitting alongside the President, Christophe Stockman, Alderman of Sports, City of Leuven was equally enthused about the event.
“Leuven is ready for a fantastic weekend,” he said. “We are very glad to host again a top international competition in Leuven. When you walk into Leuven, everybody is talking about the European Championships. Everybody is running. It’s created a good running vibe in Leuven.”
Saturday (12) will see the half marathons take place in Leuven and Sunday (13) brings the marathon starting in Brussels and finishing in Leuven, which will also host the 10km races.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics