Route 66 and Russia: Reconnecting Runners Through Sports Diplomacy
In late November 2025, TGA received a request from Pavel Chukaev at the Zelenograd Infoportal media outlet, asking for photos and videos of the 2025 Route 66 Marathon. Pavel visited Tulsa in June of 2019 as par of a group of Zelenograd journalists through the Congressional Office of International Leadership's Open World Program. After returning home, he helped to arrange for five Zelenograd runners to visit Tulsa in November of 2019 to participate in the Route 66 Marathon.
Two of the 2019 marathon runners, Dima and Lena Antonov, have held an annual marathon in Zelenograd ever since to coincide with the Tulsa marathon, sometimes spelling "T-U-L-S-A" with their running routes on the Strava app.Pavel worked to create a video about their tradition of sports diplomacy with Tulsa, using photos and videos from this years Route 66 Marathon and interviews with Dima and Lena. Destiny Green, Executive Director of the Route 66 Marathon, and Bob Lieser both recorded greetings for this video.
Translated Video Transcription:
0:00- Zelenograd and Tulsa are two cities divided by thousands of kilometers, but united by a love of sports, and by friendship. At 5 p.m., Lena and Dima are preparing for a run that they do every year simultaneously with the start of the Route 66 marathon in Tulsa. In Tulsa it’s only 8 a.m., by runners are already gathering on its streets.
0:25 - “3, 2, 1..” in Russian
0:29 - “5, 4,, 3, 2, 1… Let’s start!” in English
0:36 - Two cities, two continents, two teams, and one goal – to run the course simultaneously regardless of distance or time zones.
0:45 - Dmitrii Antonov, sportsman from Zelenograd “Above all, we run at the same day and the same hour as the Tulsa marathon because it’s the Sister City of Zelenograd.”
0:56 - It all began in 2019, when 5 sportsmen from Tulsa visited Tulsa to take part in the Route 66 Marathon. This trip became an important milestone in the history of relations between Tulsa and Zelenograd, which became Sister Cities in 1992.5 years ago, our Runners developed friendly relations with the local people, who hosted Russians with warmth and sincerity.
1:20 - Elena Antonova, Sportswoman from Zelenograd “We remember and celebrate birthdays and holidays on social media with our Tulsa friends” I need help with this one.
1:33 - In Tulsa they also remember the runners from Zelenograd and the run and tradition that the Antonovs continue to support. Bob Lieser, Senior Director of Citizen Diplomacy at Tulsa Global Alliance, a community organization that organizes Sister City ties, sent them a video greeting from America.
1:52 - Bob Lieser “Tulsa Global Alliance warmly remembers the Zelenograd Route 66 runner delegation. We are very glad that Dima and Lena have created and continued this tradition of sports diplomacy between our Sister Cities – Zelenograd and Tulsa.”
2:12 - Other runners sometimes join the Antonovs on their run in memory of Tulsa. Last year, they ran the 5 kilometer distance, and the organizers of the Route 66 Marathon, which also has a run of that distance, sent them completion medals in the mail.
2:31 - Destiny Green, Executive Director, Route 66 Marathon “Hello from Tulsa! I remember you guys from 2019. You guys all came in and ran our race. We’re so happy that you’re running our race today in Zelenograd. Thank you guys for always supporting us. Can’t wait to see you in the future.”
2:46 - In 2019, it seemed that cooperation between Tulsa and Zelenograd had received a new impulse. But after that, the Coronavirus and political disagreements between the governments of Russia and the U.S. interfered with the growth of such plans. In any case, there are people on both sides of the ocean who support Sister City relations despite the obstacles and believe that they will once again freely visit each other as guests.
3:14 - Elena – “We invited them to come either in the summer or in the winter to run in our marathon. Imagine how wide-eyed (surprised) they’d be if they had come in the winter to run in the snow.
3:25 - Of course, we’d really like to visit again, maybe not just once, and maybe not just to run. There hasn’t been a possibility.
3:34 - I am not losing any hope. I very much believe that everything will change for the better.”
- Dari Chuikova, Pavel Chukaev, Infoportal Zelenograd
