Prague Marathon

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Prague Marathon
Prague 2008 Finish.jpg
Finish line outside St. Nicholas Church in 2008
DateMay
LocationPrague, Czech Republic
Event typeRoad
DistanceMarathon
Primary sponsorVolkswagen
Established1995 (26 years ago) (1995)
Course recordsMen's: 2:05:39 (2010)
Kenya Eliud Kiptanui
Women's: 2:19:46 (2019)
Israel Lonah Chemtai
Official sitePrague Marathon
Participants7,299 finishers (2019)[1]
Lining up at the start in the corrals at the Old Town Square in 2016
Runners on Čech Bridge in 2013
Taking on refreshment in 2010

The Prague Marathon (also known as Prague International Marathon (PIM) and Volkswagen Prague Marathon) is an annual road marathon held in the city of Prague in the Czech Republic each May. It was founded in 1995 and has grown to become a significant event, being awarded IAAF Gold Label status.[2] According to media it is the world's most international marathon, with two-thirds of runners coming from 55 different countries. Prague's marathon course is also the seventh-fastest[failed verification] and has been voted one of the most beautiful in the world.[3]

History[]

The inaugural marathon was held in 1995 with the support of Emil Zátopek, a Czech runner who had won the marathon at the 1952 Summer Olympics despite never having run a marathon before.[4][5][6] For its inaugural year, the marathon itself had 985 participants, while runners in two additional races, measuring 9.2 and 4.8 km (5.7 and 3.0 mi), made up the rest of the roughly 15,000 participants in total.[4][7]

The 2020 edition of the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, with all registrants given the options of transferring their entry to 2021 or 2022 and transferring their entry to another runner.[a][9][10]

Other races[]

The Prague Marathon event takes place over a full weekend and comprises several events, including the Volkswagen Prague Marathon, the Volkswagen Family Minimarathon 4.2 km, the Allianz Eco Walk 2 km, and the In-line party 6.5 km - a skating event. The Hervis Prague Half Marathon, which is also awarded IAAF Gold Label status, is held each March or April.[11]

Winners[]

Since its inception in 1995, the men's race has been dominated by East African runners, with Kenyan athletes in particular winning 13 titles alone. Hélder Ornelas became the first and so far only European men's winner in 2007. The winners of the women's race have been mainly Russian and Kenyan. Alena Vinnitskaya of Belarus is the most successful women's athlete however, with her three straight wins from 1996 to 1998. Eliud Kiptanui is the men's record holder with 2:05:39 hours while Lonah Chemtai Salpeter has the women's course best of 2:19:45 hours.[12]

In 2019, crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified in 2020 by the Athletics Integrity Unit for using a prohibited substance, as determined by abnormalities in his athlete biological passport.[13][14][15] Dawit Wolde was named the winner after Dazza's disqualification.[13][16]

Key:

   Course record (in bold)
   Czech Republic championship race

Marathon[]

Ed. Year Men's winner Time[b] Women's winner Time[b] Rf.
1 1995  Tumo Turbo (ETH) 2:12:44  Svetlana Tkach (MDA) 2:39:33
2 1996   (KEN) 2:12:21  Alena Vinnitskaya (BLR) 2:37:33
3 1997  John Kagwe (KEN) 2:09:07  Alena Vinnitskaya (BLR) 2:32:58
4 1998  Elijah Lagat (KEN) 2:08:52  Alena Vinnitskaya (BLR) 2:34:25
5 1999   (KEN) 2:11:19  Franca Fiacconi (ITA) 2:28:33
6 2000  Simon Chemoiywo (KEN) 2:10:35  Alina Ivanova (RUS) 2:27:42
7 2001  Andrea Sipe (TAN) 2:10:14  Maura Viceconte (ITA) 2:26:33
8 2002   (KEN) 2:11:41  Alevtina Ivanova (RUS) 2:32:24
9 2003  Willy Kipkirui (KEN) 2:11:56   (KEN) 2:31:10
10 2004   (KEN) 2:12:15  Leila Aman (ETH) 2:31:48
11 2005   (KEN) 2:10:42  Salina Kosgei (KEN) 2:28:42
12 2006  Mubarak Hassan Shami (QAT) 2:11:11  Alina Ivanova (RUS) 2:29:20
13 2007  Hélder Ornelas (POR) 2:11:49  Nailiya Yulamanova (RUS) 2:33:10
14 2008  Kenneth Mungara (KEN) 2:11:06  Nailiya Yulamanova (RUS) 2:31:43
15 2009  Patrick Ivuti (KEN) 2:07:48  Olga Glok (RUS) 2:28:27
16 2010  Eliud Kiptanui (KEN) 2:05:39  Helena Kirop (KEN) 2:25:29
17 2011  Benson Barus (KEN) 2:07:07  Lydia Cheromei (KEN) 2:22:34
18 2012  Deressa Chimsa (ETH) 2:06:25  Agnes Kiprop (KEN) 2:25:40
19 2013  Nicholas Kemboi (QAT) 2:08:51  Caroline Rotich (KEN) 2:27:00
20 2014   (KEN) 2:08:07  Firehiwot Dado (ETH) 2:23:34
21 2015   (KEN) 2:08:32  Yebrgual Melese (ETH) 2:23:49
22 2016  Lawrence Cherono (KEN) 2:07:24   (KEN) 2:24:46
23 2017  Gebretsadik Abraha (ETH) 2:08:47  Valary Aiyabei (KEN) 2:21:57
24 2018  Galen Rupp (USA) 2:06:07   (KEN) 2:24:19
25 2019  Dawit Wolde (ETH)[c] 2:06:18  Lonah Chemtai Salpeter (ISR) 2:19:46 [16]
2020 cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic [9]

Battle of the Teams[]

Battle of the Teams is an elite-only event inaugurated in 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic.[17][18]

Ed. Year Men's winner Time[b] Women's winner Time[b] Rf.
1 2021   (KEN) 2:10:16  Purity Rionoripo (KEN) 2:20:14 [18]

Multiple wins[]

Athlete Wins Category Years
 Alena Vinnitskaya (BLR) 3 Women's 1996, 1997, 1998
 Alina Ivanova (RUS) 2 Women's 2000, 2006
 Nailiya Yulamanova (RUS) 2 Women's 2007, 2008

By country[]

Country Total Men's Women's
 Kenya 27 17 10
 Ethiopia 6 3 3
 Russia 6 0 6
 Belarus 3 0 3
 Italy 2 0 2
 Qatar 2 2 0
 Moldova 1 0 1
 Tanzania 1 1 0
 Portugal 1 1 0
 United States 1 1 0
 Bahrain 1 1 0
 Israel 1 0 1

Notes[]

  1. ^ It had initially been postponed before being cancelled.[8]
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d h:m:s
  3. ^ crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified for using a prohibited substance.[13][15]

References[]

  1. ^ "Results | RunCzech".
  2. ^ "Prague International Marathon - IAAF Gold Label for Volkswagen Prague Marathon!". www.praguemarathon.com. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
  3. ^ "Volkswagen Prague Marathon in Prague, Czech Republic, NA: Details at Runner's World.com". runnersworld.com. Archived from the original on 2010-04-28. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "25 years of #PragueMarathon | RunCzech". Archived from the original on 2021-07-25.
  5. ^ "Prague Half Marathon to Take Place in September".
  6. ^ "Emil Zátopek Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.c…".
  7. ^ "Defending Champion Felix Kandie to Headline Prague Marathon - FloTrack".
  8. ^ www.fg.cz, 2013, FG Forrest, a s. "Volkswagen Prague Marathon 2020 is postponed | RunCzech". runczech.com.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b "Open letter | RunCzech".
  10. ^ "FAQ | RunCzech".
  11. ^ "Prague International Marathon - Prague International Marathon receives the Prestigious IAAF Gold Label for its Hervis Prague Half Marathon". www.praguemarathon.com. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  12. ^ Prague International Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2012-05-13.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Moroccan marathon runner handed four-year doping ban".
  14. ^ "Appeal Decisions | Athletics Integrity Unit".
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b https://web.archive.org/web/20210728164723if_/https://www.athleticsintegrity.org/downloads/pdfs/disciplinary-process/en/CAS-EMD.pdf
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b "Results | RunCzech".
  17. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20210724123015if_/https://www.runczech.com/file/edee/en/media/press-release/pr-the-battle-of-the-teams-en.pdf
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b "Prague Marathon: Battle of the Teams | AIMS | Race news".
List of winners

External links[]

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