# Balkan Marathon Championships

The Balkan Marathon Championships is an annual road running competition over the marathon distance (42.195 km) between athletes from member nations of Balkan Athletics. It is one of two road running championships for the region, alongside the Balkan Half Marathon Championships (established in 2012).
Following an unofficial gathering of Balkan athletes in 1929, the Balkan Marathon Championship was formally established within the Balkan Athletics Championships in 1930. It was a men's competition exclusively until 1990, when a women's race was also added. The marathon event was separated from the track and field competition in 1996 and was established as an annual competition in its own right. The competition has not been held every year since, though it has been consistently held as an annual fixture from 2009 onwards. The venue varies each year and the championship is usually contested within an independently organised marathon in a city in the Balkans. A national team aspect was included in the competition in 2019.
Turkey is historically the most successful nation in the men's race, followed by Greece, while Serbia has produced the most female winners. Individually, Franjo Škrinjar of Yugoslavia has won the most titles with six and Serbia's Olivera Jevtić has the title of most successful woman with four wins.

## List of winners

| Edition | Year | Men's winner | Time (h:m:s) | Women's winner | Time (h:m:s) |
| - | 1929 | Christos Sarras (GRE) | 3:12:32 | Not held | Not held |
| 1st | 1930 | Nicolae Ilie (ROM) | 3:14:05 | Not held | Not held |
| 2nd | 1931 | Christos Sarras (GRE) | 3:11:21 | Not held | Not held |
| 3rd | 1932 | Ludovic Gall (ROM) | 3:20:41 | Not held | Not held |
| 4th | 1933 | Ludovic Gall (ROM) | 3:02:41 | Not held | Not held |
| 5th | 1934 | Stylianos Kyriakides (GRE) | 2:49:42 | Not held | Not held |
| 6th | 1935 | Ludovic Gall (ROM) | 3:07:40 | Not held | Not held |
| 7th | 1936 | Stylianos Kyriakides (GRE) | 2:49:10 | Not held | Not held |
| 8th | 1937 | Stylianos Kyriakides (GRE) | 3:02:22 | Not held | Not held |
| 9th | 1938 | Athanasios Ragazos (GRE) | 2:30:38 | Not held | Not held |
| 10th | 1939 | Stylianos Kyriakides (GRE) | 2:52:07 | Not held | Not held |
| 11th | 1940 | Athanasios Ragazos (GRE) | 2:44:37 | Not held | Not held |
| 12th | 1953 | Franjo Škrinjar (YUG) | 3:09:46 | Not held | Not held |
| 13th | 1954 | Franjo Škrinjar (YUG) | 2:48:49 | Not held | Not held |
| 14th | 1955 | Haydar Erturan (TUR) | 2:51:34 | Not held | Not held |
| 15th | 1956 | Franjo Mihalić (YUG) | 2:16:25 | Not held | Not held |
| 16th | 1957 | Franjo Škrinjar (YUG) | 2:41:37 | Not held | Not held |
| 17th | 1958 | Franjo Škrinjar (YUG) | 2:41:06 | Not held | Not held |
| 18th | 1959 | Franjo Škrinjar (YUG) | 2:33:17 | Not held | Not held |
| 19th | 1960 | Dobrivoje Stojanović (YUG) | 2:29:12 | Not held | Not held |
| 20th | 1961 | Franjo Škrinjar (YUG) | 2:33:18 | Not held | Not held |
| 21st | 1962 | Ivan Mustapić (YUG) | 2:36:43 | Not held | Not held |
| 22nd | 1963 | Ivan Mustapić (YUG) | 2:32:31 | Not held | Not held |
| 23rd | 1964 | Constantin Grecescu (ROM) | 2:28:24 | Not held | Not held |
| 24th | 1965 | Ivaylo Sharankov (BUL) | 2:39:50 | Not held | Not held |
| 25th | 1966 | İsmail Akçay (TUR) | 2:22:45 | Not held | Not held |
| 26th | 1967 | Ivaylo Sharankov (BUL) | 2:24:52 | Not held | Not held |
| 27th | 1968 | İsmail Akçay (TUR) | 2:21:56 | Not held | Not held |
| 28th | 1969 | Nedo Farčić (YUG) | 2:26:18 | Not held | Not held |
| 29th | 1970 | Hüseyin Aktaş (TUR) | 2:27:51 | Not held | Not held |
| 30th | 1971 | İsmail Akçay (TUR) | 2:25:36 | Not held | Not held |
| 31st | 1972 | Hüseyin Aktaş (TUR) | 2:20:09 | Not held | Not held |
| 32nd | 1973 | İsmail Akçay (TUR) Hüseyin Aktaş (TUR) | 2:30:35 | Not held | Not held |
| 33rd | 1974 | Atanas Galabov (BUL) | 2:30:37 | Not held | Not held |
| 34th | 1975 | Atanas Galabov (BUL) | 2:28:21 | Not held | Not held |
| 35th | 1976 | Hüseyin Aktaş (TUR) | 2:33:53 | Not held | Not held |
| 36th | 1977 | Veli Balli (TUR) | 2:22:56 | Not held | Not held |
| 37th | 1978 | Vasil Lechev (BUL) | 2:24:20 | Not held | Not held |
| 38th | 1979 | Michalis Kousis (GRE) | 2:21:20 | Not held | Not held |
| 39th | 1980 | Dimitrios Psathas (GRE) | 2:25:43 | Not held | Not held |
| 40th | 1981 | Michalis Kousis (GRE) | 2:19:06 | Not held | Not held |
| 41st | 1982 | Gheorghe Buruiană (ROM) | 2:31:47 | Not held | Not held |
| 42nd | 1983 | Mehmet Terzi (TUR) | 2:19:51 | Not held | Not held |
| 43rd | 1984 | Mehmet Terzi (TUR) | 2:21:30 | Not held | Not held |
| 44th | 1985 | Tomislav Ašković (YUG) | 2:25:21 | Not held | Not held |
| 45th | 1986 | Mehmet Terzi (TUR) | 2:22:11 | Not held | Not held |
| 46th | 1988 | Mehmet Terzi (TUR) | 2:23:00 | Not held | Not held |
| 47th | 1989 | Christos Papachristos (GRE) | 2:27:07 | Not held | Not held |
| 48th | 1990 | Haydar Dogan (TUR) | 2:22:50 | Maria Polyzou (GRE) | 2:55:25 |
| 49th | 1992 | Cihangir Demirel (TUR) | 2:23:47 | Rumyana Panovska (BUL) | 2:46:51 |
| 50th | 1996 | Nikolaos Polias (GRE) | 2:18:43 | Suzana Ćirić (YUG) | 2:37:06 |
| 51st | 1997 | Spyros Andriopoulos (GRE) | 2:13:15 | Panayota Nikolakopoulou (GRE) | 2:44:24 |
| 52nd | 1998 | Nikolaos Polias (GRE) | 2:17:02 | Gergana Voynova (BUL) | 2:46:54 |
| 53rd | 1999 | Petko Stefanov (BUL) | 2:21:10 | Rumyana Panovska (BUL) | 2:55:14 |
| 54th | 2000 | Petko Stefanov (BUL) | 2:19:30 | Cristina Pomacu (ROM) | 2:36:54 |
| 55th | 2001 | Sreten Ninković (YUG) | 2:18:22 | Mehtap Doğan-Sızmaz (TUR) | 2:39:13 |
| 56th | 2002 | Arthur Miklos (ROM) | 2:23:20 | Svetlana Tcaci (MDA) | 2:37:57 |
| 57th | 2005 | Iaroslav Mușinschi (MDA) | 2:20:42 | Natalia Cercheș (MDA) | 2:42:58 |
| 58th | 2006 | Yusuf Zepak (TUR) | 2:29:35 | Ekaterini Fotopoulou (GRE) | 3:15:30 |
| 59th | 2009 | Roman Prodius (MDA) | 2:14:57 | Olivera Jevtić (SRB) | 2:31:18 |
| 60th | 2010 | Ercan Muslu (TUR) | 2:24:12 | Paula Todoran (ROU) | 2:44:23 |
| 61st | 2011 | Mehmet Ali Akbas (TUR) | 2:37:16 | Slađana Perunović (MNE) | 2:53:15 |
| 62nd | 2012 | Ercan Muslu (TUR) | 2:28:15 | Esra Güllü (TUR) | 2:57:08 |
| 63rd | 2013 | Yolo Nikolov (BUL) | 2:19:31 | Slađana Perunović (MNE) | 2:42:28 |
| 64th | 2014 | Vitalie Gheorghiță (MDA) | 2:31:24 | Ana Subotić (SRB) | 2:44:04 |
| 65th | 2015 | Darko Živanović (SRB) | 2:23:05 | Olivera Jevtić (SRB) | 2:39:32 |
| 66th | 2016 | Shaban Mustafa (BUL) | 2:29:59 | Slađana Perunović (MNE) | 2:49:20 |
| 67th | 2017 | Yavuz Ağralı (TUR) | 2:18:22 | Olivera Jevtić (SRB) | 2:35:31 |
| 68th | 2018 | Anatoliy Bondarenko (UKR) | 2:38:58 | Olivera Jevtić (SRB) | 2:44:26 |
| 69th | 2019 | Maxim Răileanu (MDA) | 2:21:11 | Teodora Simović (SRB) | 2:42:30 |