The Erbil marathon team presented an exhibition ahead of the major event to attract racers from around the world to join the Kurdistan Regional capital’s annual marathon events.

Erbil's sixth marathon took place on March 11.

Hemin Askandar, head of the Erbil Marathon Organization, told Rudaw: “People are warmly visiting the Erbil Marathon Organization in Rotterdam and we are inviting them to take part in the October marathon of Erbil.”

Another reason for the visit is to watch the Rotterdam Marathon closely and learn from it, he said.

“We want to learn from the Rotterdam Marathon in order to correct some mistakes we had made in the past especially in terms of organization,” Askandar added.

Some Kurds living in Norway and Sweden have registered to take part in the marathon.

This year is the 38th Rotterdam Marathon, which is considered Holland’s biggest and most beautiful.

“The NN Marathon Rotterdam is one of the fastest marathons in the world, attracting thousands of runners and 925,000 spectators each year,” according to the Rotterdam Marathon website.

Photos by Hemin Askandar, head of the Erbil Marathon organization