Kigen and Borechaová won the Prague Marathon, Homoláč and Joglová have Czech titles
Updates: 08.05.2022 12:50
Released: 08.05.2022, 11:51
Prague – Kenyan Nobert Kigen and Ethiopian Bekelech Borecha have won the 26th Prague Marathon. Kigen reached 2:07:54 and became the first Kenyan winner since 2016. He won ahead of Ethiopian runners Kelkil Woldaregay and Yitayal Zerihun. Borecha set a personal performance record of 2:22:56, the race ended in an Ethiopian victory after seven years. Purity Changwony from Kenya finished second and Sintayehu Hailemichael, the winner’s third.
As expected, Jiří Homoláč, who triumphed for the third time, won the Czech titles in sunny and warm weather, and Marcela Joglová for the first time.
In the absence of the injured defending champion Vít Pavlišta, Homoláč continued the triumphs of 2013 and 2018. He won the Czech competition at 2:18:43, which is more than four minutes slower than the personal maximum. He finished tenth overall. Five-time domestic champion Petr Pechek and bronze Ondřej Fejfar won silver in the Czech Championships.
“We ran in a group about halfway through, quite a nice pace, then it fell apart and everyone ran on their own. From the 30th kilometer I was a little cramped in the foot, so I was a little afraid to catch up at all,” Homoláč admitted in a TV interview. . “But I adjusted the pace and I ran for the title. I ran the best time I’ve ever run here, and I take it in those conditions,” added the Czech champion.
Joglová reached the finish line in 2:39:23 and completed the first marathon of last year’s start at the Olympic Games. In April, she gave up the race in Rotterdam and decided to participate in Prague at the last minute due to health problems. Barbora Macurová and the owner of five titles Petra Pastorová accompanied her to the Czech podium.
According to a personal record (2:05:13), the winning Kigen was the second biggest favorite race. The main team was compatriot Emmanuel Saina (2:05:02), who soon began to lose the best and eventually gave up. The 29-year-old later winner started to move away from the rivals from the front group in the second half of the track, and the driver Ronald Korir from Kenya, who dropped out at the very end and finished fifth, stayed with him for a long time.
Twenty-four-year-old Borecha improved the seconds of last year’s personal record without five by a full two minutes. Nancy Met, Kenya’s biggest paper favorite, was not originally reported at the start due to illness.
The Prague Marathon in its classic form took place after three years, the previous two years were prevented by a coronavirus pandemic. The track record holders remained Kenyan Eliud Kiptanui with a time of 2:05:39 from 2010 and Lonah Salpeter, who won in the colors of Israel last year in 2019 in 2:19:46.
Men: 1. Kigen (Kenya) 2:07:54, 2. Woldaregay 2:08:30, 3. Zerihun (both Et.) 2:08:44, 4. E. Kosgei 2:08:58, 5. R. Korir (both Kenya) 2:09:53, 6. Serbessa (Et.) 2:12:37, …10. (1. MČR) Homoláč 2:18:43, 11. (2.) Pechek 2:21:08, 12. (3.) Fejfar 2:23:26.
women: 1. Borecha (Ezek.) 2:22:56, 2. Changwony (Kenya) 2:25:11, 3. Hailemichael 2:25:21, 4. Amare (both Et.) 2:27:57, 5. Chebet (Kenya) 2:29:54, 6. Gidey (Et.) 2:37:28, 7. (1.) Joglová 2:39:23…9. (2.) Macurová 2:45:48, 10. (3.) Pastorová 2:46:33.