DUSHANBE, May 16, Asia-Plus  -- A traditional annual National Race will be held on May 18 but not May 17 as the Youth Committee under the Tajik Government had reported earlier, Asia-Plus has learned from Shavkat Saidov, a spokesman for the Dushanbe mayor.  

The relay race will start at 8:00 a.m. at the traffic police checkpoint Chorbogh and end at the bridge near the half-finished Water Park.  The race’s itinerary lies along the Hoofiz Sherozi Avenue (concrete-surfaced road along the Dushanbinka River), and the race participants will run 3-kilometer, 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer distances.       

In all, some 100,000 people across the country are expected to participate in the National Race Day this year.  

We will recall that last year, the National Race day was held on May 20 under the motto of “Healthy Lifestyle”.  

Sports veterans, disabled people, students as well as representatives from the Dushanbe mayor’s office, NOC, youth and sports committee under the Tajik government, and representatives from diplomatic missions and international organizations active in the country took part in the race last year.  Some 150,000 people across the country took part in the National Race Day in 2007.  

            The National Race Day has been held in Tajikistan since 1996.