Men’s Health Urbanathlon & Festival

Moscow’s first weekend of summer turned out to be truly dynamic thanks to the Men’s Health Urbanathlon & Festival, held on the grounds of the city’s Palace of Pioneers.

Healthy lifestyle and adventure fans gathered at Moscow’s Palace of Pioneers on June 2 to test their stamina and athletic ability. More than 500 teams participated, with the Multirun team of Oleg Opalev and Dmitry Dubrovin taking first place for men’s pairs, the Dina team of Nadezhda Trilinskaya and Yury Usachev winning for mixed pairs, and the Red Fox-Garmin team of Irina Safronova and Natalya Abramova taking the honors for women’s pairs.

The greater part of the 7.5-kilometer (4.7-mile) track lay within the grounds of the Palace of Pioneers in Sparrow Hills and adjacent territory. All of the six artificial barriers were placed in relative proximity to each other, making it possible for the fastest participants to finish the course in least possible time (27 minutes for the men’s team). The battle for first place was intense, with only a 10-second spread between the first and third place finishers in the men’s pairs.

After completing the 7.5-kilometer circuit, the runners rested on the grass as the next wave of contestants prepared to start. They could also relax in a special lounge not far from the finish line. Female participants received additional support in a zone organized by Women’s Health magazine. There the ladies sipped smoothies and enjoyed the services of a “beauty salon” providing hand massages, consultations with cosmetologists and help in fashioning fancy braids. Each race participant also received a cosmetic set from Biotherm as a special complimentary gift.

Members and trainers from World Class fitness centers comprised a World Class Outdoor Team that competed in a separately timed set of races. The winners received renewals of their fitness center memberships, and the overall winners were given World Class gift certificates.

Swinging DJ Miss Dippy kept Men’s Health Urbanathlon & Festival participants pumped up all day long. The awards ceremony was followed by a musical program that included festival partner A-One TV along with stars of the hip-hop scene Ligalize, Dino MC47, Nel Marselle and beatboxer Vakhtang. They were joined by music groups Koritsa (Arkhangelsk), Nizkiz (Mogilev) and Sdelai Shag (Tambov) — all of whom were Rock Smena festival finalists.