On the last weekend of April, Europe’s largest lake-circling running event will reach a milestone: the NN Ultrabalaton will be held for the 20th time.
According to the organizers, this year’s event is expected to attract more participants than ever before. The race distance will be 209 kilometers, with a record 433 individual runners at the старт, alongside tens of thousands of team members, supporters, and fans. The total number of registered participants will reach 35,100.
The scale of the event is reflected in its organization: more than 1,000 staff members will ensure smooth operations, 58 refreshment and relay stations will support runners, and the route will pass through more than 50 settlements around Lake Balaton. Over the long weekend, an estimated 45,360 liters of water and nearly 8 tons of bananas will be consumed.
In addition to the traditional individual and team races, special attention will again be given to an extreme challenge: as part of the #Projekt418 initiative, five ultrarunners—Linda Boros, János Bogár, István Csingár, Ádám Kertész, and Róbert Varga—will attempt to complete a double lap, running more than 400 kilometers without stopping.
“The 20th NN Ultrabalaton is special for us—not only because of its size, but also because of what it represents: a community that proves year after year that sport brings people together, motivates, and pushes boundaries,” said Róbert Kulcsár, the event’s director.
The anniversary is also shared with BioTechUSA, one of Europe’s крупнейших dietary supplement manufacturers, which has been the event’s refreshment partner for 10 years. To mark the occasion, the company is increasing its contribution to the traditional on-site charity fundraising campaign by 18 million forints. So far, 100,000 charity runners have joined the initiative, helping the BioTechUSA NN Ultrabalaton Charity program support the treatment of 12 sick children with 25 million forints and contribute 69 million forints to the development of 15 hospitals and civil organizations.
As in previous years, runners can donate by giving up the deposit fee for their timing chips, and their contributions will be rewarded with a total of 18,000 specially designed shakers provided by BioTechUSA.
(MTI)
