The Balkan Marathon Championships is an annual road running competition over the marathon distance (42.195 km) between athletes from member nations of Balkan Athletics.[1] It is one of two road running championships for the region, alongside the Balkan Half Marathon Championships (established in 2012).

Following an unofficial gathering of Balkan athletes in 1929, the Balkan Marathon Championship was formally established within the Balkan Athletics Championships in 1930. It was a men's competition exclusively until 1990, when a women's race was also added. The marathon event was separated from the track and field competition in 1996 and was established as an annual competition in its own right.[2] The competition has not been held every year since, though it has been consistently held as an annual fixture from 2009 onwards. The venue varies each year and the championship is usually contested within an independently organised marathon in a city in the Balkans.[3] A national team aspect was included in the competition in 2019.[4]

Turkey is historically the most successful nation in the men's race, followed by Greece, while Serbia has produced the most female winners. Individually, Franjo Škrinjar of Yugoslavia has won the most titles with six and Serbia's Olivera Jevtić has the title of most successful woman with four wins.[3]

List of winners

EditionYearMen's winnerTime (h:m:s)Women's winnerTime (h:m:s)
-1929Christos Sarras (Greece)3:12:32Not held
1st1930Nicolae Ilie (Romania)3:14:05
2nd1931Christos Sarras (Greece)3:11:21
3rd1932Ludovic Gall (Romania)3:20:41
4th1933Ludovic Gall (Romania)3:02:41
5th1934Stylianos Kyriakides (Greece)2:49:42
6th1935Ludovic Gall (Romania)3:07:40
7th1936Stylianos Kyriakides (Greece)2:49:10
8th1937Stylianos Kyriakides (Greece)3:02:22
9th1938Athanasios Ragazos (Greece)2:30:38
10th1939Stylianos Kyriakides (Greece)2:52:07
11th1940Athanasios Ragazos (Greece)2:44:37
12th1953Franjo Škrinjar (Yugoslavia)3:09:46
13th1954Franjo Škrinjar (Yugoslavia)2:48:49
14th1955Haydar Erturan (Turkey)2:51:34
15th1956Franjo Mihalić (Yugoslavia)2:16:25
16th1957Franjo Škrinjar (Yugoslavia)2:41:37
17th1958Franjo Škrinjar (Yugoslavia)2:41:06
18th1959Franjo Škrinjar (Yugoslavia)2:33:17
19th1960Dobrivoje Stojanović (Yugoslavia)2:29:12
20th1961Franjo Škrinjar (Yugoslavia)2:33:18
21st1962Ivan Mustapić (Yugoslavia)2:36:43
22nd1963Ivan Mustapić (Yugoslavia)2:32:31
23rd1964Constantin Grecescu (Romania)2:28:24
24th1965Ivaylo Sharankov (Bulgaria)2:39:50
25th1966İsmail Akçay (Turkey)2:22:45
26th1967Ivaylo Sharankov (Bulgaria)2:24:52
27th1968İsmail Akçay (Turkey)2:21:56
28th1969Nedo Farčić (Yugoslavia)2:26:18
29th1970Hüseyin Aktaş (Turkey)2:27:51
30th1971İsmail Akçay (Turkey)2:25:36
31st1972Hüseyin Aktaş (Turkey)2:20:09
32nd1973İsmail Akçay (Turkey)
Hüseyin Aktaş (Turkey)		2:30:35
33rd1974Atanas Galabov (Bulgaria)2:30:37
34th1975Atanas Galabov (Bulgaria)2:28:21
35th1976Hüseyin Aktaş (Turkey)2:33:53
36th1977Veli Balli (Turkey)2:22:56
37th1978Vasil Lechev (Bulgaria)2:24:20
38th1979Michalis Kousis (Greece)2:21:20
39th1980Dimitrios Psathas (Greece)2:25:43
40th1981Michalis Kousis (Greece)2:19:06
41st1982Gheorghe Buruiană (Romania)2:31:47
42nd1983Mehmet Terzi (Turkey)2:19:51
43rd1984Mehmet Terzi (Turkey)2:21:30
44th1985Tomislav Ašković (Yugoslavia)2:25:21
45th1986Mehmet Terzi (Turkey)2:22:11
46th1988Mehmet Terzi (Turkey)2:23:00
47th1989Christos Papachristos (Greece)2:27:07
48th1990Haydar Dogan (Turkey)2:22:50Maria Polyzou (Greece)2:55:25
49th1992Cihangir Demirel (Turkey)2:23:47Rumyana Panovska (Bulgaria)2:46:51
50th1996Nikolaos Polias (Greece)2:18:43Suzana Ćirić (FR Yugoslavia)2:37:06
51st1997Spyros Andriopoulos (Greece)2:13:15Panayota Nikolakopoulou (Greece)2:44:24
52nd1998Nikolaos Polias (Greece)2:17:02Gergana Voynova (Bulgaria)2:46:54
53rd1999Petko Stefanov (Bulgaria)2:21:10Rumyana Panovska (Bulgaria)2:55:14
54th2000Petko Stefanov (Bulgaria)2:19:30Cristina Pomacu (Romania)2:36:54
55th2001Sreten Ninković (FR Yugoslavia)2:18:22Mehtap Doğan-Sızmaz (Turkey)2:39:13
56th2002Arthur Miklos (Romania)2:23:20Svetlana Tcaci (Moldova)2:37:57
57th2005Iaroslav Mușinschi (Moldova)2:20:42Natalia Cercheș (Moldova)2:42:58
58th2006Yusuf Zepak (Turkey)2:29:35Ekaterini Fotopoulou (Greece)3:15:30
59th2009Roman Prodius (Moldova)2:14:57Olivera Jevtić (Serbia)2:31:18
60th2010Ercan Muslu (Turkey)2:24:12Paula Todoran (Romania)2:44:23
61st2011Mehmet Ali Akbas (Turkey)2:37:16Slađana Perunović (Montenegro)2:53:15
62nd2012Ercan Muslu (Turkey)2:28:15Esra Güllü (Turkey)2:57:08
63rd2013Yolo Nikolov (Bulgaria)2:19:31Slađana Perunović (Montenegro)2:42:28
64th2014Vitalie Gheorghiță (Moldova)2:31:24Ana Subotić (Serbia)2:44:04
65th2015Darko Živanović (Serbia)2:23:05Olivera Jevtić (Serbia)2:39:32
66th2016Shaban Mustafa (Bulgaria)2:29:59Slađana Perunović (Montenegro)2:49:20
67th2017Yavuz Ağralı (Turkey)2:18:22Olivera Jevtić (Serbia)2:35:31
68th2018Anatoliy Bondarenko (Ukraine)2:38:58Olivera Jevtić (Serbia)2:44:26
69th2019Maxim Răileanu (Moldova)2:21:11Teodora Simović (Serbia)2:42:30

References

  1. ^ Ukraine Gets Silver and Bronze at the Balkan Athletics Federations’ Marathon. UATV (2018-03-20). Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  2. ^ Balkan Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  3. ^ Balkan Marathon Championships. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  4. ^ RESULTS Balkan Marathon Championship BELGRADE / SERBIA, 17 November 2019. Balkan Athletics. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
Winners list