Over 17,500 tourists went on the Prague-Prčice march after a two-year break
Update: 21/05/2022 16:42
Issued by: 05/21/2022, 1:12 p.m
Sedlec-Prčice (Příbramsko) – Today, after a two-year covid break, 17,508 tourists set out on the Prague-Prčice route. The first of them hit the track before 05:00. After 1:30 p.m., the first participant of the longest seventy-kilometer route, which was followed by over 800 people, arrived at the finish line. Everyone should reach the destination by 20:00 today, around 15:00 there were about 4,000 of them. The organizers had to limit the number of participants due to the exclusion of railway traffic between Olbramovice and Chotoviny. Only those who had registered electronically in advance went on the route, informed ČTK on behalf of the organizer Dana Horáková.
This year, those interested could not register until the start, as they were used to, they only showed QR codes. “We needed a ceiling, that’s why we closed the registration two days before the march. Due to the reconstruction of the railway line, there are longer transport routes, we also strengthened the transport to the south,” said Horáková. The organizers appreciated that this year they had less work with money for entry fees.
Pedestrian routes range from 23 to 70 kilometers long, the longest starting in Prague. Part of 21 is reserved for cyclists. “Cyclists have had separate routes since 2006, we wanted to prevent danger because they interfered with the pedestrian route,” added Horáková.
Forty-five-year-old Jana from North Bohemian Teplice also went on the route this year. She and a friend walked the forty-two-kilometer route from Benešov. They spent the night in Prague today, and today they have secured overnight accommodation in Hulín near Jesenice. “We are going for the fourth time and I am happy, it is very nice, I am surprised that Central Bohemia is so picturesque,” she told ČTK.
The most popular is the 23 kilometer long children’s route from Votic. “It’s also used by seniors who don’t go as much anymore. The wheelchair route started in Miličín, 98 wheelchair users set out on it.
According to Horáková, roughly 300 people participate in the organization of the race. Each participant receives a shoe as a souvenir, each year in a different color, this year it is yellow. The entry fee is 40 crowns, in previous years the organizers also offered reduced prices for children and seniors, this year it is the same for everyone.
The Prague-Prčice march has been held since 1966, when 500 tourists managed to overcome a distance of 100,000 Czech cubits, which corresponds to roughly 60 kilometers. Tourists last went on the march in 2019, there were over 26,000 of them. A year later, the event was postponed due to the pandemic, but in the end it did not take place last year either. It was not possible to meet the conditions regarding the number of participants, nor to obtain a positive opinion from the chief hygienist for the city of Sedlec-Prčice.