Running With No Campaign: Russian Politicians Race at St Petersburg Forum

An array of senior Russian politicians, including President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, took part in a race held within the framework of the 2016 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

It took the Russian President's press secretary Dmitry Peskov 31 minutes to run a five-kilometer event, in a race that was held within the framework of the 2016 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), according to the Russian news website Gazeta.ru.

A total of 255 people, including German Gref (head of Sberbank, Russia's largest bank) and head of Match TV Tina Kandelaki, took part in the SPIEF race which kicked off near St.Isaac's Cathedral in the city's center at 06:30 Moscow time on Friday. The race was won by Dmitry Razumov, chief executive of the Russian investment company ONEXIM Group.

"SPIEF Race 2016: Forum participants & journalists take part in St Petersburg fun run" YouTube https://t.co/wIJFav7Byp

— Journalist JP (@bushi_jp) 17 июня 2016 г.

Earlier, Peskov said that winning the race does not matter for him, and that the dream of the overwhelming majority of those attending the 2016 SPIEF race was "to exchange suit and shoes for sneakers and sportswear."

Aerial panorama in Google Street View
St. Isaac's Cathedralhttps://t.co/beL6LQ72ZA pic.twitter.com/ZEq1nQlASQ

— k360 (@k360ru) 11 мая 2016 г.

Zakharova, in turn, said on her Facebook page that taking selfies during the start could prevent a participant from falling out of similar races. "Always take a selfie at the start and immediately post it on the Internet," she said.