Petrov-Vodkin is on day five. The format is familiar: 25 km Multirun, 10 to 30 September — as many starts as you need, kilometres accumulate, the distance is closed the moment the counter hits 25. By midday on the 14th the protocol shows 103 athletes, 168 runs, almost 1,605 km in total. Twenty-three have already closed the target. The more interesting line is elsewhere: several athletes sit three or four kilometres short of the finish — and their pace is faster than anyone who has already closed.
Men’s standings: Tsvetkov in front at 4:24
Aleksey Tsvetkov closed the distance on 12 September in one outing: 25.08 km at 4:24. One attempt, a finish photo — and immediately first among the men, the best pace of anyone who has already reached 25. He usually runs slower, around 5:28 — here he produced a day that will sit among the best in his own book.
Second is Maxim Danilov, on a different scheme. 11 September — 34.04 km at 5:21, the longest run in the race, with a huge surplus over the target. He later admitted the plan had gone off track: he wanted “something like 20, maybe 25 km at most,” and “flew straight past that distance without even noticing.” Then: “Now, of course, my body’s in shock. Set a personal record for distance, and for pace at this distance. Still can’t imagine how I’d run a marathon…” Seventeen races closed — a seasoned competitor in this Multirun.
Third is Georgiy Chikov: 30.64 km in two outings, overall pace 5:27. On the 10th — 13.35 km at 5:48; on the 12th — 17.29 km at 5:11. He does not match Tsvetkov on speed, but he is already in the finishing group, with kilometres to spare.
Tighter from there: Marat Kadyrov and Igor Shapar — both 5:33, Rafael Shaymardanov closed this morning at 5:36. If you count only those already on 25 km, Tsvetkov looks out of reach. That is only half the table.
Who can overtake the leader
The most dangerous unfinished bid belongs to Evgeniy Tindikov. On 12 September he ran 21.22 km at 4:09 and stopped four kilometres short of the target. If he adds them at the same pace, the lead changes: 4:09 is faster than Tsvetkov’s 4:24, with a margin no split can claw back.
Next — those who need one good closing piece. Leonid Shalimov: 21.55 km at 4:46 (12.03 km at 5:02, then 9.52 km at 4:27). A league debutant, and on his first run he left a line everyone here recognises: “Google Maps didn’t show the way.” Close at this pace and he sits right behind Tsvetkov, above Danilov and Chikov.
Alexander Okulov this morning put down 15.42 km at 4:29 and reached 20.47 km at an overall 4:58. A short finish is enough for him to pass the current second and third.
The fastest split in this whole desk is not about 25 km at all. Aleksey Kovalev ran 10.00 km at 3:44 early this morning — the best pace in the race. This is his first start in the league. Ten kilometres at 3:44 are not twenty-five at that pace, but a debut like that makes you watch: will he add the remaining fifteen as fast?
Dmitriy Sukhoruchenkov is another new name: 14.25 km at 4:05 on the 13th. Alexander Otreshchenko stopped 700 metres short of closing — 24.30 km, pace 5:25: “We ran the hills,” then “A training run, roughly 5 versts” — 11.00 km at 6:06 and 13.30 km at 4:51. If he adds them in the morning, he lands in the finishing group next to Danilov.
Shaymardanov has closed — and it is not about pace
Rafael Shaymardanov closed the distance in three outings: 5.63 km on the 12th, 10.37 km on the 13th, 9.09 km at 5:41 today. Total 25.09 km, pace 5:36, sixth among the men. It does not threaten Tsvetkov, but it says a lot about the race: first in the global ranking, fifty races closed, more than two thousand career kilometres — and not a single overall win, only silver and bronzes. He is not storming someone else’s pace. He is methodically taking another September medal.
Alexander Rakhmetov is still on a different pace: 11.47 km at 6:15. For him Petrov-Vodkin is only starting. Zhargal Bazarov has barely touched the distance: two short outings of two kilometres each, “Morning training — energy for the whole day!” and “Warm-up cardio.” Four overall wins on his record — 4.05 km is a presence in the protocol, nothing more. Until 30 September there is still time to turn a warm-up into a full 25.
Women’s standings: Sokol is already inside, Egorova is not
Natalya Sokol leads the women: 35.01 km in two outings, pace 5:07. 10 September — 18.00 km at 5:13; the 11th — 17.01 km at 5:02. Among women who have already closed 25, nobody has yet beaten her on pace.
Second is Alina Mikhailova: one outing on 13 September, 25.01 km at 5:41, and immediately the scene: “Final long run before the Moscow Marathon.” For her these 25 km are not a target assembled in pieces, but the last long run before an offline start that simply coincided with the Art race.
Third is Anastasia Aksyonova: 25.27 km at 5:53 on opening day, also in one outing, also with a photo. Valentina Yudenkova closed on the 10th at 6:14. Viktoria Atroshkina, in her first race in the league, immediately stacked almost 24 km and on 10.91 km drops a short “Nice one!” Today she added another 9.23 km: already 33.16 km at 6:40, the distance long since closed, and she is still running. Seven women have already hit the target.
The main threat to first is not among those who have finished. Anna Egorova ran 21.57 km at 4:43 this morning and sits three and a half kilometres short of the target. If she adds them at this pace, the lead moves to her: 4:43 against Sokol’s 5:07. She usually runs much slower, around 6:36 — this morning sits well above her form, which is why it worries the table.
Behind her on kilometres, not on pace, come Ekaterina Khomutnikova (19.77 km) and Elena Sharova (19.56 km) — they will close the distance, but they do not have the speed to turn the table over.
Voices of day five
Alexander Bestemyanov closed 26.95 km in two outings and explained the start himself: “Hadn’t run in almost a month, after a half marathon. Today was really tough) the race gets you going.” The next day he added 15.41 km and a short “Bright and early).” Pace 7:08 is a long way from Tsvetkov, but a closed target is a real argument for anyone who has not started yet, thinking time will wait.
Vladimir Ar ran 20.04 km at 5:35 this morning and closed as well: 26.87 km, pace 5:55. Konstantin Chernousov added eight kilometres today and reached 25.09 km. Total field kilometres grew day by day: 249 km on opening day, 436 km on 12 September, 411 km on the 13th. The 14th is only starting: fifteen athletes, nineteen runs, 174 km at the time of this desk.
The format lets you close in different ways, and the field is using that fully. Tsvetkov, Aksyonova, Mikhailova and Shapar ran all 25 km in one outing. Sokol and Chikov split the target across two long days. Shaymardanov built it in three medium ones. And Tindikov is still holding 21 km at a pace from which first place is there for the taking — he only has to finish.
What is still open
Until 23:59 on 30 September UTC sixteen days remain. The table is still provisional; official results come only after the live phase ends.
Among the men the lead sits on Tsvetkov’s 4:24 until Tindikov, Shalimov, Okulov and Kovalev run the missing kilometres. Among the women Sokol leads those who have closed, but that changes the moment Egorova turns this morning’s 21.57 km into a full 25.
Nothing is decided yet. This race will not go to whoever opened the first week brightly, but to whoever’s pace on a closed twenty-five kilometres lasts until the end of the period — and next to them already run people a few kilometres short of the finish who, right now, are faster than everyone who has already gone through it.
