15 April 2006
THE CHILDREN’S SMOKI MARATHON HELD FOR THE THIRTEENTH TIME
 

At the Garden of Good Hope, the venue of the 13th Children’s Smoki Marathon, 12 Belgrade and sports hopes were chosen.
The choice was left to the children themselves, to the winners of the qualifications held in 134 Belgrade kindergartens, who have, before the vigilant eyes of the curious animals and the head judge, the elephant, in a direct clash chosen the fastest.
The twelve winners of the qualifications entered the finals: Marko Stefanović (Roda), Aleksa Vukotić (Princeza Olivera), Željko Stejić (Lane), Aleksa Uskoković (Grofica Olga), Kolja Malenković (Sveti Sava), Nataša Radovanović (Padina), Lazar Ivanović (Plavi čuperak), Aleksa Matić (Milica Petrović), Tamara Todorović (Cvrčak), Petar Mandić (Naša radost), Predrag Radić (Lastavica) and Jasmin Halili (Istok).
The excitement reached the climax. No one was able to resist it, not the participants, nor the teachers, nor the parents, nor the clowns, nor the inhabitants of the Garden of Good Hope.
The final race justified the expectations. The course record was equalled. The though course of 230 metre in length running around the elephant’s cage was conquered by Aleksa Uskoković (Grofica Olga) in only 37 seconds, a feat that earned him a place on the Children’s Marathon record-holders list. Having triumphed, he went on to give numerous interviews for the press, radio and television.
Close behind him were the first runner-up Marko Stefanović (Roda) and the second runner-up, and at the same time the fastest girl, Tamara Todorović (Cvrčak), and the three were showered with the prizes courtesy of UNICEF, “Štark”, the Belgrade Zoo, and “Esprit”. Of course, they were also awarded cups, medals, the Belgrade marathon diplomas, and the winner Aleksa was crowned with a laurel wreath. Equally fast were the “tortoises“ and the “rabbits“, and the “snail“ Jasmin Halili (Istok), who was somewhat bewildered by the ruthless final race...
Awarding the prizes to the fastest little runners were Jadranka Ivanović (UNICEF), Mirosinka Prodanović (the City’s Secretariat for Social and Child Care), Vesna Veljković (“Štark”), Zoran Ilić (the Garden of Good Hope) and Ivica Matijević (the Belgrade Athletic Association). This event only marked the beginning of the twelve finalists’ friendship. Next week they will gather once again for the “Public Class in Athletics“ at Partizan Stadium where they will be taught by the world’s best athlete of all time Carl Lewis, and then they will embark on a three-year track-and-field schooling experience in the programme “Let’s Start with Sports”.

13 April 2006
QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE 13th CHILDREN'S SMOKI MARATHON COMPLETED
Over 15,000 participants
 

About 240 Belgrade kindergartens staged qualifications for the participation in the 13th Children’s Smoki Marathon during the past week.
- Neither rain nor cold weather prevented the children from taking part in the qualifications for the finals that are to be held at the Belgrade Zoo. Depending on the conditions, children and teachers' imagination, the Belgrade kindergartens hosted races or sports games proper that yielded the fastest runners. Alongside the preschoolers, for whom this competition is originally intended, many kindergartens involved younger children, so the number of participants amounted to 15 to 18 thousands, and a huge interest of the kids and their parents led us to increase the number of finalists. Thus a total of 134 fastest youngsters will come to the Belgrade Zoo on Saturday 15 April, - said at the press conference Radmila Purić, an official of the City's Secretariat of Social and Child Care.
And at the Garden of Good Hope they will be welcomed by cordial atmosphere, music, song, competition and the gifts from the sponsor “Štark”.
- Are there any better promoters of the marathon and running than the children, and that is why “Štark” is proud, not only of the title sponsorship of the Children's Smoki Marathon, but also of the involvement in the programme “Let's Start with Sports” that will through organised activities, expert supervision and monitoring of training and competitive process amongst the youngest population promote a healthy and active lifestyle, which is one of our campaign's slogans, - said Marina Savić, “Štark” PR manager.
Supporting the Children's Smoki Marathon and the youngest athletes on behalf of the Directorate of Sports was Dragan Atanasov, its assistant director; while the Belgrade Zoo vice-director Zoran Ilić invited the kids, their teachers, parents and supporters to come on Saturday to the course around the elephant's cage of the Belgrade Zoo, one of the only two European zoos to own a pair of white lions...
 

6 April 2006
THE 13th CHILDREN’S SMOKI MARATHON TO BE HELD AT THE BELGRADE ZOO ON 15 APRIL
“Štark” still with the youngest marathon runners

At the Garden of good hope or the Belgrade Zoo on 15 April the fastest of the
18,000 young Belgraders to take part in the kindergarten qualifications, will run in the overture to the 19th Belgrade BANCA INTESA Marathon. The Children’s Smoki Marathon is organised in the cooperation with Belgrade City Council, primarily with its Secretariat of Social and Child Care, and this year’s title sponsor is again “Štark”, the famous confectionary producer, who added the name of their popular product to the Children’s Marathon. This was the occasion to organise a press meeting in “Štark” where its general manager Mitar Jović and Dejan Nikolić, director of the Belgrade Marathon Ltd., signed a contract of cooperation.
- We at “Štark” are exceptionally pleased to further our traditional partnership with the Belgrade Marathon. We have cooperated for eleven years in the big marathon as title sponsors, and for the second year in a row we sponsor the Children’s Marathon, as a part of our policy to be with the sports and with our children, - said Mitar Jović, the company’s general manager.
- We hope that the thirteenth year of our cooperation will be as lucky as the first – 1994, and that belief is confirmed the fact that Carl Lewis, who was the promoter of the 1994 marathon, is promoting this year’s race. He failed to come to Belgrade then, but his invitation was accepted by the young people and the marathon had a record number of participants, the record we would like to break this year. “Soko Štark” helped us immensely in 1994 and the following years. We still wonder what would have happen with the marathon if it had not been for their support. Today, in a joint effort with Belgrade City Council and “Štark” we organise the Children’s Smoki Marathon, and we have struck an agreement with our promoter, the best athlete of all time Carl Lewis to teach an open class in running to the participants of the Children’s Smoki Marathon on 21 April, - added Dejan Nikolić.
That will serve as an extra incentive for the fastest Belgraders to continue their athletic activities within the project “Let’s Start with Sports” that will involve not only the city authorities and “Štark”, but also the Athletic Association of Serbia (ASS), the Athletic Federation of Serbia and Montenegro (AZSCG) and the European Athletic Association (EAA).
- It is designed as a three-year track-and-field school with educational, health, training and competitive programmes, that will admit the best runners of the Children’s Marathon and prepare them to, as the ten-year-olds, take up any sport they like. The significance of the project is appreciated by the European Athletic Association and they are providing us with media, organisational and financial support, - said Dejan Nikolić.
The April marathon days in Belgrade would not be possible without the assistance of the City Council and its Secretariats and public services.
- The project representing the upgrade of the Children’s Smoki Marathon enjoys the full support of Belgrade City Council. It is extremely important for Belgrade, for the state, for sports and physical education in general, as it focuses on the youngest population and their proper development. This week the qualifications in kindergartens begin, and will continue, and we are already considering how to accommodate all the kids who would like to run in the Zoo. It is very rare for a major marathon to pay so much attention to the children. And trust me, they deserve to run in the most beautiful overture to the big marathon, - said Andreja Mladenović of the City Council.
Stela Ćosić, marketing manager assistant stressed that “Štark”, as a company that had been founded 84 years ago, observed tradition and that the Belgrade marathon formed a part of it:
- It is certain that we’ll stay in the future with the youngest marathon runners and the great initiative “Let’s Start With Sports”, because it all starts with the children, and the only question is whether with Smoki or some other brand that we are preparing for the next year when we will be celebrating the 85th anniversary of our company.

1 March 2006
Project “LET’S START WITH SPORTS” Ahead of its Time

- I am happy to be in Belgrade, not only because of our cooperation in the field of athletics that spans over the decades, but also because your project “Let’s Start with Sports” is ahead of its time, not only in Belgrade but in Europe also, - said Janez Aljančič, president of the European Athletic Association (EAA) and its development commission, at the presentation of the Belgrade Marathon’s project.
The significance of project “Let’s Start with Sports” mobilised alongside the initiator - the Belgrade Marathon, the athletic associations of Belgrade, Serbia and the state union, Belgrade City Council and the Republic of Serbia via the Directorate of Sports; the EAA also took part through a form of patronage investing a sum of 20,000 Swiss francs.
The project “Let’s Start with Sports” stemmed from the Children’s Smoki Marathon which gathers each year in the qualifiers 18,000 to 20,000 youngest Belgraders and yields 240 fastest for the finals in the Belgrade Zoo.

Tack-and-field School for the Youngest
Those first, sports and track-and-field steps of the kindergarten children involved in the project “Let’s Start with Sports” will evolve into a systematic approach of introducing the kids to the organised track-and-field activities…
- After this year’s Children’s Smoki Marathon 240 participants of the finals will be invited to join a track-and-field school with specially adapted health, training, competitive and educational programmes. The school will work throughout the year and will last for three years, so that after the first three years it will produce the ten-year-olds who have learned to walk, run, throw and jump properly and who are prepared to take up any sport or enrol in any sports school. Each year 240 fastest young Belgraders will be admitted to the school, so that in the third year of its existence the school will have approximately 700 pupils, - explained Dejan Nikolić, director of the Belgrade Marathon.
The most prominent athletic experts and the final year students of the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education will comprise the teaching staff of the school, while many other institutions and organisations will be included in the realisation of the project – ranging from the City’s Secretariat of Social and Child Care and Secretariat of Sports and Youth to different sponsors.
Clearly, the assistance and support of the athletics associations of Belgrade, Serbia and Serbia and Montenegro is given which was confirmed yesterday by Ivica Matijević, vice-president of the Belgrade Athletic Association (ASB) and secretary general of the Athletic Association of Serbia and Montenegro (AZSCG) and Milan Spasojević, president of the Athletic Association of Serbia (ASS).

Belgrade Supports Athletics
- We may not be aware ourselves entirely just how important, long-term project we’re about to enter. Realistically speaking, its outcomes may have extraordinary impact on the whole sport development in our city and our state. The Belgrade authorities will give their best to make it work and I am confident that we shall soon have problems with the parents who will want to enrol their children, even though they failed to qualify through Children’s Smoki Marathon. I am also confident that this project, as everything else that the Belgrade authorities do together with the Belgrade Marathon will be successful and I am especially happy as it is a quality activity designed for the youngest. We at the City Council view athletics as the starting point for practising sports and a beginning of a healthy and wholesome life of each of our citizens, and the support of the European Athletic Association only strengthens our belief, - said Andreja Mladenović, of the city council in charge of sports.
If athletics is to complete its mission in Belgrade and if our athletes are to enhance their performance, facilities are needed…
- In ten days’ time, following the agreement with the athletic associations, we will present to the public complete information concerning the building of the track-and-field centre, with a stadium and a hall. We have given up the location at Bežanijska kosa (which was neither city nor athletic associations’ fault) and are on the verge of a new, quality solution, - promised Mladenović.
- The importance of the project “Let’s Start with Sports” is evident in the fact that it united all institutions dealing with the sport development and youth welfare and acquired their support, which is not an easy thing to achieve in Serbia. There is no doubt that this is the most important project not only from the sports perspective, but from social also, - concluded Dragan Atanasov, assistant director of the Directorate of Sports of the Republic of Serbia.