On Sunday the Municipality of Ilinden held the first edition of the "Ilinden Life Run" street race and drew around 1,000 participants: 600 in the adult categories and 400 children. Runners took on 5 and 10 kilometres and a 2x5 km relay, and there were kids' races over 100, 200, 400 and 600 metres. Start and finish were in front of the "Ilinden" Culture House, and the course ran through Ilinden, Marino and Kadino.

In the women's 5 km, Darija Krstevska from Macedonia won ahead of Umeja Bogućanin from Serbia and Radostina Balova from Bulgaria. In the men's race, Bulgaria's Ivo Balabanov came first, ahead of Marko Mrljes and Kaid Koča from Serbia. The women's 10 km went to Marinela Nineva from Bulgaria, with Gresa Bakrači from Kosovo second and Adrijana Pop Arsova Rašić from Macedonia third. The fastest man was Aldin Čatović from Serbia, ahead of compatriot Sergej Kostić and Macedonia's Muksaid Mislimi.

The race also made it onto the World Athletics calendar of certified road races, and the top finishers took home prize money. Mayor Aleksandar Georgievski, who handed out the awards, said the goal is "for sport and recreation to be as present as possible in the everyday lives of our citizens" and that he believes the race will grow into a tradition.

For a municipality on the edge of Skopje, a thousand people on the street early on a Sunday is a result worth noting - especially with 400 kids on the start line. The real test comes next year, because a race only becomes a tradition once it happens a second and a third time.