Belgrade » Beograd | 67 cović Square, is one of Belgrade’s maintransport junctions.Back inthe 19th century, the area of this square was covered by a pond that Belgraders would visit to hunt wild ducks, then a roundabout was erected on the site after the 1940s. This place is now home to the Slavija Musical Fountain and is a great attraction for runners. From here, the marathonroutecontinuesalongoneof the city’sbusiest thoroughfares,Nemanjina Street. Racing down this street reveals the building of the Government of theRepublic of Serbia, with the building of the former Central RailwayStationand thenewly erected monument to King Stefan Nemanja at the bottom of the street. Branko‘s Bridge Marathon runners are awaited by the crossing of the first bridge, whichprovidesviewsof theBelgrade Fortress of Kalemegdan, the confluence of the two rivers, theMuseum ofContemporaryArtandBetonaHala [ConcreteHall], one of Belgrade’s mostvibrantnightlifespots.KingAleksandarBridge, built in1935, stood here until it was destroyed during WorldWar II.Thenewbridge, incorporating someparts of the structure of the previous bridge, was built in the post-war period and opened to traffic in 1956. Concrete utopia The architectural brutalism of New Belgrade, based on the international spirit of architecture, provides a flat and stimulating running track for competitors.This “concrete utopia” is extremely interesting for marathonrunners.Hererise theskyscrapers of Ušće, while participants also runpast thePalaceof Serbiaand the famousHotel Yugoslavia, whose overnight guests included the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, Richard Nixon, Neil Armstrong et al... Belgrade‘s Central Park TheneighbourhoodofTošinBunar leads to Ada Bridge, which only became part of the marathon route a fewyears ago.This bridge provides views over Belgrade’s Central Park, Ada Ciganlija, but also Košutnjak Forest, known as the lungs of Belgrade, andtheBelgradeFairgrounds. The Narodni Front Maternity Hospital is an institution where many Belgraders have been, and still are, born. That’s why it’s good to know that you’ll pass it just 700 metres fromthe finish line and that the tradition here is for supporters not to shout and cheer, but rather to allow runners to pass in silence. Belgrade‘s top charmer: hotel Moskva Themarathon’sfinishline issituated inoneof thecitycentre’sbusiest streets, on Terazije square, in front of Hotel Moskva, where the Olympic Committee of Serbia was established 112 years ago. Hotel Moskva isBelgrade’s topcharmer, akeeper of the city’s secrets, and those who’ve spent theirBelgradedays andnights here include Albert Einstein, Alfred Hitchcock, Richard Nixon, Luciano Pavarotti, Robert De Niro and Indira Gandhi, among many others. Themajority of the world’s metropolises have at least a couple of running societies that can help you get acquaintedwith that city in running shoes. And Belgrade doesn’t lag behind world trends in this area, with the local Belgrade Running Club,whichhas itsfirstRunnersHub locatedatDorćol’s25th MaySports& Recreation Centre, also able to provide a starting point for getting acquainted with Belgrade.
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