Athletic run as a kind of mass sport

The article discusses the role of athletics races in the development of mass sports, the main goals of these events are indicated. The authors considered the contraindications to long-distance running and indicated the types of super-long-distance running, presented the standards for marathon running. The work reveals the features of training athletes for ultra-long distances, focuses on the benefits of running in aerobic conditions. In order to study the influence of long-term running on the organism of the trainees, a pedagogical experiment is presented with an indication of the dynamics of indicators of physical readiness of the 2nd year students of the Volgograd Social - Pedagogical University. The authors examined the patriotic role of the races in the life of society, and provided a summary table of the participants in the race dedicated to the victory at Stalingrad in the period from 2011 to 2020.