30th Marathon of the Three Hearts

Slovenia's third largest running event is held in May in the small spa town of Radenci, which is located in the low-lying north-eastern part of the country, very close to the Austrian border.

The event is named after the logo of the locally produced Radenska mineral water.

Overall, more than 3000 runners took part in last year's 5.5k, 10k, 21k and 42k races. The half marathon and the 10k race were by far the most popular.

With just 136 finishers (12 of them women) the full marathon was a small affair, probably because many runners find it mentally quite challenging to run two laps of the relatively dull course around large fields on a broad flat plain. Furthermore, it can get pretty hot in these parts in mid-May, and there's hardly any shade on the route.

The large wooded park next to the start/finish area, in contrast, is really nice, and the adjacent spa with its indoor and outdoor thermal pools is a wonderful place to relax after the race.

In 2009, Zsolt Kószar of Hungary (1:08:42) and Slovenia's Daneja Grandovec (1:21:25) celebrated victory in the half marathon. The full marathon winners were Mitja Kosovelj (2:23:09) and Neža Mravlje (3:04:33), both of Slovenia.

Country: Slovenia

Venue (Map): Radenci (Graz 80km, Zagreb 125km, Ljubljana 164km, Budapest 300km)

Date: 15 May 2010 (Saturday)

Race distance: 42.2km, 21.1km, 10km, 5.5km

Start time: 9.30 (21km, 42km), 9.40 (5.5km, 10km)

Start and finish: at the spa complex in Radenci

Entries: online or by post; payment by bank transfer; entries close 10 May (date of payment)

Entry fees (5.5km, 10km): 14 EUR* (until 3 May), 23 EUR* (until 10 May)

Entry fees (21km, 42km): 22 EUR* (until 3 May), 32 EUR* (until 10 May)

* 3 EUR off if you use your own ChampionChip timing chip

Race centre: at the start (Friday 14.00-20.00, on the day 7.00-8.30)

Prizes (21km, 42km): prize money to the first 3 M/F

You get: T-Shirt, medal, certificate, a present

Award ceremony: 11.10 (5.5km), 11.20 (10km), 13.20 (21km), 13.40 (42km)

Number of finishers 2009: 614 (5.5km), 1152 (10km), 1239 (21km), 136 (42km)

Event website (in Slovene and English): www.maraton-radenci.si

No guarantee is made as to the accuracy or thoroughness of the information on this page.