The 29th Prague International Marathon took place on Sunday 5 May, a race which witnessed the overwhelming victory of the Ethiopian Lemi Berhanu Hayle, breaking away at 25 km and continuing alone until reaching the finish line in 2:08:44. “I’m very happy. I wanted to win here and everything went well, despite there being some strong headwinds. I felt very good from the start, it was a beautiful race, Prague is beautiful and the fans cheered us along the entire route. I would love to come back here again“said the winner.
Behind him the Kenyan Kipkemoi Kiprono in 2:10:28, a handful of seconds over his compatriot Joshua Kipkemboi Kogo who completed the podium thanks to a time of 2:10:51.
The women’s podium
In the women’s race the Ethiopian Bedatu Hirpa Badane she reigned supreme, finishing in 2:23:41, surprisingly surprising even the biggest favourites. Place of honor for the Kenyan Dorcas Jepchirchir Tuitoek in 2:24:50, followed by the Ethiopian Loving Shewarge Alene who, at 37 years old, finished his effort in 2:27:32, just a few minutes away from his personal best, despite the unfavorable weather conditions.
“The race confirmed its excellent technical level” – the comment of Carlo Capalbopresident of the RunCzech organizing committee whose events have been awarded with the best athletics coats of arms – “We never get tired of seeing the joy on the faces of the runners and we can’t wait for the 30th year.“.
The popular race
In total they took to the streets of Prague more than 8,000 participants, half of which come from abroad. Runners were also able to compete for Battle of the Teams, the times of elite athletes are added to the amateur runners. This year there were four competing teams: Mattoni, whose captain was the Olympic champion Ji?í Prskavec, Prague Airport with captain Ji?í Ježek, Volkswagen Financial Services with captain Eva Vrabcová Nývltová and Turkish Airlines with captain Ji?í Homolá?, all associated with a charity. The results will be calculated and communicated shortly.
As always, the route was accompanied by a huge audience, but this year the participants were also encouraged by 23 musical groups as part of the Marathon Music Festival, which RunCzech organizes in collaboration with the United Islands festival in Prague.
