Men’s Health Urbanathlon Race Swept through Moscow
The Men’s Health Urbanathlon adventure race swept through downtown Moscow on Sept. 24. A sunny Indian summer day provided the best possible support and inspiration for participants.
The first teams started at noon from Gorky Park. Most of the race participants are not professionals but amateurs who came out to test their endurance and enjoy active recreation. Teams of two people each competed in three categories — men’s, women’s and mixed — running a 15-kilometer route through the center of Moscow and overcoming four artificial obstacles: a physically challenging labyrinth, a 6-meter climbing wall, a rope suspended across a pond, and turbolining (a net strung between two trees and a 1-meter-high cable that participants had to traverse without touching the ground).
Muscovites took the top honors in all three categories. Artyom Postovtsev and Alexei Troshchenko placed first for men’s teams, Irina Safronova and Natalya Abramova won for women’s, and Maria Alyoshina and Alexander Blagov were the winners in the mixed teams category. All three teams were awarded Men’s Health Adventure tours, and in early 2012 each will head off to a different corner of the globe to experience them. Second-place teams won gift certificates for a three-month membership at the World Class fitness club. Those placing third each won an Alpine Pot Wide — a universal system for preparing food under extreme conditions.
Every man in a winning team also received a new bottle of cologne from the Davidoff Champion Energy brand. Women’s Health editor-in-chief Maria Troitskaya handed out New Balance gift certificates to each of the winning women. Yes! magazine also gave an award to the youngest participant in the Men’s Health Urbanathlon.
Disc Jockeys Pirumov and Chagin of Flammable Beats and DJ Sestra of Low Budget Family entertained guests and participants at the main square of the race, at the starting line and along the route. The World Class fitness club chain also organized workshops on TRX workout machines during the event. All comers were welcome to try the new equipment.
Results for all the teams that competed in the Men’s Health Urbanathlon adventure race are posted at