Fancy a nice marathon in Belgium? Greg Broekmans, one of the key members of Golazo sports and of the Brussels marathon is going to reveal to RunAbroad.com some secrets about the Belgian race.

Tell us something about the race we cannot find on the homepage of the event.
That Brussels is a surprising city for most runners. They did not know that it:
- is a super green place
- has great architecture
- is a bit hilly…

Do you have a favourite mile? Have you run the races yourself in the past?
The stretch between 25K and 30K is my favourite part. It's atypical for a city marathon to run in such a green and quiet environment. Quite a contrast with the final kilometre in the heart of the city centre: the Grand-Place. In that way the Brussels Marathon offers something of both worlds. Unfortunately I didn't run the Brussels Marathon myself. As an organizer it impossible to run your own event, unless you run with 3 cell phones . Marathon running is my passion but I need to race somewhere else.

Apart from a pair of shoes and a smile, what would you like runners to bring to the race?
Their friends! To cheer, to run with.

How many people are involved in the organisation of the event? How many runners do you expect for the next edition? How many from abroad?
We are with 2 people year round involved, allthough this is not the only event we organize. Each and everyone of us at our sports events company is responsible for about 15 events yearly. When event day comes up, more and more people get involved. On race day there are about 1.000 people involved. In 2010 we had for the first time 10.100 entries. We hope to do better and reach 11.000. This is a realistic target. Most people take part in the half marathon, but we hope to get 3.000 runners in the full marathon this year. From the 3.000, 45% comes from abroad. If we include the expats living in Brussels, it is over 50%. The French are the biggest group before the Dutch.

What is your favourite race (excluding the ones your organise)?
Not very original, but it would be the ING New York City Marathon. Followed by the Amsterdam Marathon, because I love the city.

Read other 'interviews with a race director'.