Proposal for changes in the organization of the "Yerevan Marathon" international race

Tigran Avinyan
August 5, 2026

Dear Mr. Avinyan,
We thank Yerevan City Hall for many years of cooperation and support in organizing the "Yerevan Marathon" international race.
Considering that the organization of the Yerevan Marathon event has been agreed upon with the Staff of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, which, based on the position of the Ministry of Environment and the organizational processes related to COP17, has supported the holding of the "Yerevan Marathon", and has deemed it expedient to discuss the organizational issues related to the implementation of the event with Yerevan City Hall, we propose to consider the following changes in the organization of the event.
We propose to move the main part of the event from Shahumyan Square to Zakyan Street and the adjacent park area, also organizing the finish line of the race there. In this case, it will no longer be necessary to keep Republic Square and the adjacent central streets closed for a long time.
Runners will pass through the central streets of the city only once – in the morning hours, immediately after which the given streets will be able to be fully reopened for traffic. This will significantly reduce the duration of traffic restrictions and the impact of the event on the normal operation of the city.
We propose to hold the main distances of 12 km, 21 km, and 42 km on October 18, with the new route attached.
As for the 1 km (children's race) and 5 km distances, we propose to consider one of the following options:

• maintain their holding on October 17 in Hrazdan Gorge,
• or, if necessary, hold them on October 18 in the center of Yerevan – from the main start and finish area.
  In case of choosing the second option, we are ready to additionally discuss the routes of the mentioned distances and the solutions related to their organization with Yerevan City Hall.
  Attached are the changed route of the main distances and the scheme of temporary traffic restrictions.
  We propose to jointly discuss the presented options and choose the format for the implementation of the event that will best combine the successful holding of the international event and the normal operation of the city.

If you have any questions or additional suggestions, we are happy to meet and discuss all the details.
Sona Nahapetyan
Executive Director of "Arm Marathon" Foundation

Appendix 1: Half-marathon/marathon map

Google Maps interactive version here