Running 30 Marathons in 30 months for 30km/h speed limit in all cities

The Professor and Director of the Department of Transportation Planning Engineering of the School of Civil Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) George Yannis, has started a campaign to run 30 Marathons in 30 months in order to promote the 30km/h speed limit in cities. Running with the emblem of the NTUA, Prometheus the Fire-bearer, he has already successfully completed 24 Marathons in 24 months, all performing sub 4-hours, and there are 6 remaining Marathons to complete his challenge in November 2024 at the Athens Marathon.

This is an effort that has made a significant contribution to raising awareness of both society and the Authorities for a better quality of life in cities, with calm driving for safe, healthy and green trips for all city travellers. In the last period, more and more cities in Europe choose slower speeds and respect of pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

His campaign has a particularly significant social impact, as depicted by international findings, demonstrating an average 37% reduction in fatalities in road crashes in cities which have adopted the 30km/h speed limit. In a recent study conducted by Prof. Yannis’ scientific research team, it is estimated that city-wide 30 km/h speed limits on the road network of all cities in Greece (with the exception of major axes) will save lives annually:

– 104 fatalities, (out of 635 in all of Greece)

– 123 seriously injured, (out of 636 in all of Greece)

– 783 slightly injured, (out of 12,533 in all of Greece)

The Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering of NTUA actively supports the challenge of his colleague George Yannis and invites you to support his efforts for safer roads and mobility in cities for all.

You can follow and support his effort through his website and the relevant social media:

https://georgeruns30x30.com/