The first Sofico Gent Marathon through the historic city centre was a big success. The number of participants doubled in comparison with the edition before the corona pandemic. Victory in the men’s race went to Lahcen El Matougui (2:27:37), Heidi Wouters (3:02:01) won the women’s race.
Bright spring sunshine, a brand new parcours through the historic city centre of Ghent and a record number of 10,500 enthusiastic participants, those were the ingredients of a successful first edition of the Sofico Gent Marathon on Sunday 27 March. Everybody, from the very first to the very last runner, really enjoyed it.
The success has exceeded our expectations. The Sofico Gent Marathon was sold out over one month before the starting shot sounded at the Topsporthal in Ghent. To maximise everyone’s comfort, we had made a conscious decision to limit the number of participants.
In comparison with the edition before the corona pandemic, the number of participants doubled. Runners from no fewer than 39 countries further emphasised the great international appeal of the Sofico Gent Marathon.
Victory in the men’s race went to Moroccan Lahcen El Matougui (2:27:37), Steven Garré and Loïc Bombaerts completed the top three. In the women’s race, Heidi Wouters (3:02:01) was the first to cross the line. She was joined on the podium by Katrien Beyers and Astrid Van Cleef.
The half marathon victory went to Matthew Neil (1:10:48) from the Netherlands and Eline Claerhout (1:21:52). In the 11 kilometres, Fabri Yander (37:43) and Eline De Jong (43:14) raced to victory.
