After three years, there will be a full-fledged half marathon in Prague with an elite and thousands of vacationers
Updates: 01.04.2022 12:26
Released: 01.04.2022, 12:26
Prague – After three years, a full-fledged half-marathon of the RunCzech series with elite racers and about eleven thousand recreational runners is being produced in Prague again. The men’s track record, which has held the 58:47 Ethiopian Atsedu Tsegay performance since 2012, may be in jeopardy. The biggest Czech star will be Jiří Homoláč.
Last year and the year before, the half marathon in this format could not take place due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the arrangements for mass events in the Czech Republic ended, so that the half marathon could return to the track with full capacity in the historical setting of the Czech capital.
“We are doing everything we can to do the same good race after those three years as we were used to until 2019. We run on both banks of the Vltava on a practically identical track. We start on Saturday, April 2 in front of Rudolfinum. We start to the sounds of the Vltava, there it also doesn’t change anything, it’s really the closest we can to the Vltava. There are still a few vacancies available, but they are individuals. In fact, it’s full, “said RunCzech race coordinator Tomáš Mirovský at today’s press conference.
During the coronavirus pandemic, RunCzech organized half marathons in the regions and various alternative events, including races for the elite in Prague. This time the calendar starts traditionally. “It’s hard to explain what happened those two years, but it was difficult. This is a restart,” said Carlo Capalbo.
The whole series is dedicated this year to Emil Zátopek, who was born a hundred years ago and won three gold medals at the Olympic Games in Helsinki seventy years ago. The organizers wanted to symbolically use the letter Z, but at the end of February it became a symbol of Russian aggression in Ukraine. That’s why they changed the graphics at the last minute. Zetko was turned around and turned into a promotional spot N at the beginning of the motto No War.
The eighth man of historical tables, Philemon Kiplimo, is preparing for the half marathon with a personal record of 58:11. Another Kenyan Benard Kimeli, the winner of the last two classic years of the Prague Half Marathon in 2018 and 2019, will race in Prague for the sixth time. He must also prepare for the cold weather. “If it’s not snowing or raining, it’s fine,” he said, predicting a temperature forecast around zero.
Homoláč, who arrived in the Czech Republic after more than a month’s stay in Kenya, is preparing for the popular half marathon. “I’m ready for tomorrow. I believe very well, but it will show the result. I have been in Iten for 36 days. I think I have prepared in great shape and I hope to show it tomorrow,” he said.
Among the women will be the 25-year-old member of the RunCzech Rancing team, Brenda Jepleting from Kenya. “When I was here for the first time in 2020, I was a driver and I finished second. I’m glad to be here again,” said the endurance race, who raced in the half marathon for the elite at Letná two years ago.
The Sportisimo Half Marathon Prague will start at 10:00.