This weekend’s Prague Worldwide Marathon would be the twenty ninth version of the occasion and, courtesy of organisers RunCzech, has develop into certainly one of Europe’s fastest-growing highway races.
It was based again in 1995 by Carlo Capalbo, alongside 1988 Olympic males’s marathon champion Gelindo Bordin and quadruple Olympic gold medallist Emil Zátopek.
Zátopek, nicknamed the “Czech Locomotive”, is likely one of the nation’s biggest ever athletes. He’s finest recognized for being the one particular person in historical past to assert three Olympic gold medals over the 5000m, 10,000m and the marathon in the identical Video games, at Helsinki 1952.
Extremely, Zátopek’s gold within the marathon got here in his first ever race over 26.2 miles.
The Czech athlete was additionally the primary runner in historical past to go sub-29 minutes within the 10,000m and went undefeated in his first 38 races over the gap from 1948 by means of to 1954.
Emil Zátopek at Helsinki 1952 (Getty)
Zátopek’s legacy isn’t simply outlined by his athletics achievements although. The 8000-plus runners that may take to the streets on Sunday (Could 5) for the Prague Worldwide Marathon – beginning and ending across the Outdated City Sq. – can thank Zátopek, Capalbo and Bordin for his or her imaginative and prescient again in 1995.
“, almost 30 years in the past I had this easy and exquisite dream,” Capalbo tells AW. “A pal of mine [Bordin] mentioned to me that we must always organise a marathon. So we went to see Mr Zátopek. That was the beginning of every thing.
“Once we went and met Mr Zátopek, we began off with a espresso and bábovka. On the finish we tasted some beautiful brandy that Mr Zátopek had. After that, we’d devised the marathon however we wanted to work out the place the individuals would run.
“So Mr Zátopek determined to attract the course for the Prague Worldwide Marathon on a serviette. The remainder is historical past.”
Carlo Capalbo (RunCzech)
The elite winners within the inaugural yr of the occasion have been Ethiopian Turbo Tummo (2:12:44) and Ukrainian Svetlana Tkach (2:38:33).
Since then, the course information have plummeted and are at present held by Alexander Mutiso (2:05:09 – 2023) and Lonah Salpeter (2:19:46 – 2019), though sadly Zátopek didn’t dwell to see the current races as he died in 2000 aged 78.
Prague is a traditionally fast course and the truth that the IOC have prolonged the qualification interval for the Olympic marathon previous the April 30 date, to incorporate the Prague Worldwide Marathon, says rather a lot.
It means runners from a mess of continents have flocked to the Czech Republic to fulfill the usual.
Alexander Mutiso Munyao (London Marathon Occasions)
“The Prague Worldwide Marathon is a really prestigious occasion for each the IOC and World Athletics,” Capalbo says.
“There are such a lot of individuals working to get the usual. The Olympics is the head of sport and it’s a celebration.”
Capalbo can be eager to emphasize of the significance of the lots. He states that working is rather more than only one particular person and his mission is to create sports activities occasions to make “individuals joyful and wholesome”, plus making the game “extra watchable for most people”.
Prague Marathon and Half (RunCzech)
“This isn’t a standard job and working just isn’t a standard sport,” he provides. “It’s a little bit bit particular. We wished to present the notion that the winners of working are those that end the race, not simply these first throughout the road. The marathon is a incredible commercial for town and it’s nice for individuals’s psychological well being.
“We’re a small nation within the Czech Republic and many individuals come from overseas to the marathon. It’s an ideal earnings for Prague. This generates happiness and love for an occasion which is a convention for us.”
There will even be the added factor of “Battle of the Groups”. Efficiently launched final yr, the thought is that each lots and elites are cut up into groups. It implies that the putting of each runner issues.
The 4 athletes on stage are:
🇵🇹 Solange Jesus (2:27:30 PB)🇺🇬 Abel Chebet (Official debut)🇨🇿 Patrik Vebr (Official debut)🇪🇹 Lemi Berhanu Hayle (2:04:33 PB + 2016 Boston Marathon winner)
They’ll every signify a group in “Battle of the Groups” – the purpose to convey the… pic.twitter.com/aVBr4f6hCx
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) Could 3, 2024
This yr, there will probably be 4 groups: Group Mattoni, Group Prague Airport, Group Turkish Airways and Group Volkswagen.
“There’s nonetheless the elephant within the room,” Capalbo says. “The lots don’t know the identify of the winners. It’s why we’ve achieved Battle of the Groups so the individuals participating within the marathon can take a look at the names of the elite athletes.
“We need to get the individuals near the elite athletes. In addition they want European legends like Paula Radcliffe, Sebastian Coe and Rosa Mota to look as much as. Once you go to observe a soccer match you go loopy to your group and that’s what I have to see in working.”
The occasion is on Czech TV. Or watch the dwell stream to the occasion on the RunCzech Youtube channel.
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