Olegs Gurejevs, who for the last two years has run the Riga-Valmiera 107km faster than eight hours and won second place both times, in his debut in “Tasina” was the main favorite to win the 84km distance, which the participants started at six in the morning in the dark near Sauriešu station. Oleg managed to justify his favorite status and also set a record, even though the last kilometers were very difficult and the vice-leader and the second debutant from among the favorites – Matīss Vecvagaris – was getting closer and closer. Gurejevs improved by 37 seconds the result of Artas Šaurins in 2022 and achieved a new record – 6:43:06. Vecvagaris also ran under 7 hours, who was second in the Sigulda mountain marathon a week earlier and is currently in great shape.
Thus, there are three men in the history of “Taisanais” who ran 84 km faster than 7 hours – record holder Gurejevs, Šauriņš, who did it for the first time, and Vecvagaris (6:51:55). The third-place winner Kārlis Škēle (7:01:45) was also close to the 7-hour mark, improving his previous result by an hour and becoming the fifth fastest ever in this distance, because in 2021 Reinis Jasliņš won with 7:00:54.
The women had a brand new trio of winners. Last year’s runner-up in the marathon, Zane Kaspere, won with 8:20:37, while Elīza Actiņa replaced the 4th place of 2023 with the second place, improving her last year’s result by almost four hours (8:25:31). Rounding out the top three was Canadian Andy Paris, very close to the eight and a half hour mark.
The second record was set for ladies in the 42km marathon, the start of which was near the Suntažu station at ten in the morning. Spartathlonist Sigita Vāce-Vecvagare, who this year won the Latvian championship in the 24-hour race in Roja, became the first woman in the “Taisnais” marathon under three and a half hours – 3:28:24, beating the previous one by Gita Muceniece, who is won the “Taisnais” half-marathon and marathon and took second place in the double marathon, but this year she was among the supporters and helped the commentator. Last year’s and 2021’s winner Evita Ruskova won second place for the second time, once again running faster than 3:40. Denmark’s Emily Westergaard took third place.
For the men’s 42km race, last year’s second place was replaced by Kaspars Vaivods, winning for the first time and also improving his result by several minutes – 3:04:27. The second place was won by Valdis Rozentāls, who won the “Stirnu buka” and “Izskrien Rīgu” award-winning places in the veteran group, while the third place was completed by foreigner Marius Moums.
Aivis Siliņš, the winner of the last year’s award in the half-marathon, finally won, moreover, he did it with the best result in the “Taisna” men’s competition – 1:23:18, improving by two minutes the achievement of Valdas Nilova in 2022. Second and third place for Spanish runners, who were also faster than an hour and a half. For men, the large influx of foreigners was evidenced by the fact that, apart from the winner Siliņš, there was only Dzintars Petrovs from Latvia in the top ten, who took 9th place and has more than 180 half-marathons on his account. For women, only the representatives of Latvia won the prized places – Anita Ieviņa won, who entered the top three in the age group “Stirnu bukos”, Angelika Panteļejeva was second, and Līga Riekstiņa was third.
An integral part of the “Straight” were the pole vaulters, where the first places were won by Kaspars Lēģeris and Dace Janeka (84km), Kaspars Roķis and last year’s 84km race winner Gunta Neija (42km), Gatis Štulbergs and Inese Kraģe (21km). “Taisnaja”, like Riga-Valmiera, has a tradition of donating to children with special needs. For the second year in a row, money from the participation fees was donated to Jēkabs, a young sportsman from Ogre region, whose favorite sports are swimming, running and table tennis.