In real wintry conditions of frost and snow in the last weekend in October, a grand total of 16,441 runners took part in the 17th Ljubljana marathon.

With a time of 2 hours 9 minutes and 40 seconds, the 42km race was won by 19-year-old Ethiopian Shiferaw Berhanu in what were extremely testing conditions for African athletes. His compatriot Gebru Birhanu finished second in 2:11.20, with Ugandan Daniel Chepyegon (2:11.49) third.

The best-placed Slovene was Anton Kosmač in tenth place, who completed 42km in a time of 2 hours, 23 minutes and 10 seconds.

35-year-old Ethiopian Worknesh Tola, participant in and winner of numerous marathons around the world in was this year's winner of the Ljubljana marathon 42km women's race. She was followed home by Wanjiru Ruth from Kenya (2:34.37) and Ethiopian Nesga Aberasgh (2:35.50).

Slovene Mitja Krevs (1:09.20) and Hungarian Timea Merenyi (1:19.40) were the first to the finish line in the men's and women's 21km races, which also counted for the Slovenian championships. Among the women, second place over 21km was taken by Lidija Cerkovnik, whose time of 1:21.25 saw her claim the Slovenian title.

Mountain biker Tanja Žakelj (38:51) and athlete Blaž Grad (32:26) achieved first places in the 10km recreational races.

The 17th Ljubljana Marathon saw a record registration of 25,686 runners from 41 countries, although the very adverse weather conditions with snow and extremely low temperatures reduced somewhat the anticipated record participation, and also prevented any prospect of record-breaking times. Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 October saw a total of 16,441 runners taking part, around 2,000 lower than last year's record total.

In Saturday's Lumpi races for primary and middle school children, there were 4,541 young people taking part, while the following day saw totals of 4,436 running over 10km, and 7,470 over 21 and 42km.

The organisers had a great deal more work to attend to than usual at this year's Ljubljana marathon, as in addition to all the other organisational details, on Sunday morning it was necessary to assist the fire brigade in removing fallen trees from the marathon route after overnight snowfall.

Either due to or despite the cold and snowy weather in Ljubljana over the last weekend in October, the marathon runners radiated enthusiasm and energy. And if ever then certainly this year, all those that crossed the finish line of the 17th Ljubljana marathon were absolute winners.