The Prague Marathon (also known as Prague International Marathon) is an annual

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

held in the city of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

each May. It was founded in 1995 and has grown to become a significant event, being awarded IAAF Gold Label status. Prague's marathon course has been voted one of the most beautiful in the world.

History

The inaugural marathon was held in 1995 with the support of

Emil Zátopek Emil Zátopek (; 19 September 1922 – 21 November 2000) was a Czech long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final ...

, a Czech runner who had won the marathon at the 1952 Summer Olympics despite never having run a marathon before. For its inaugural year, the marathon itself had 985 participants, while runners in two additional races, measuring , made up the rest of the roughly 15,000 participants in total. The 2020 edition of the race was cancelled due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, with all registrants given the option of transferring their entry to 2021 or 2022 or transferring their entry to another runner. Similarly, the 2021 in-person edition was also cancelled due to the pandemic, with all registrants given the option of transferring their entry to 2022 or exchanging it for a shop voucher.

Other races

The Prague Marathon event takes place over a full weekend and comprises several events, including the Prague International Marathon, the ČT 2Run, the DM Family Mile and the DM Bambini Run. The

Prague Half Marathon The Prague Half Marathon is an annual half marathon road running event which takes place in Spring on the city streets of Prague, Czech Republic, first held in 1999. It is managed by the same organisation that holds the Prague Marathon in May ...

, which is also awarded IAAF Gold Label status, is held each March or April.

Winners

Since its inception in 1995, the men's race has been dominated by East African runners, with Kenyan athletes winning 18 titles alone. Angola-born Portuguese runner

Hélder Ornelas Hélder Mendes Abreu Ornelas (born 6 May 1974 in Nova Lisboa, Angola) is a Portuguese long-distance runner. He finished eighth in the long race at the 2001 World Cross Country Championships, fifteenth in the marathon at the 2006 European Athlet ...

became the first and so far only European men's winner in 2007. Kenyan

Alexander Mutiso Alexander Mutiso Munyao (born 10 September 1996) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in road running. His personal best of 57:59 in the half marathon set at the 2020 Valencia Half Marathon is the fourth fastest time ever. He also w ...

is the men's record holder with 2:05:09 hours. The winners of the women's race have been mainly Kenyan and Ethiopian.

Alena Vinnitskaya Alena Vinnitskaya ( ''Alona Vinnytska'';Her artist name is the Russian version of her name ( ''Alena Vinnitskaya'') born Olha Viktorivna Vinnytska () on 27 December 1974, Kyiv, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union – in present-day Ukra ...

of Belarus is the most successful women's athlete, with three straight wins from 1996 to 1998. Israeli

Lonah Chemtai Salpeter Lonah Korlima Chemtai Salpeter (, , born 12 December 1988) is an Israeli Olympic runner. Born in Kenya, she represents Israel internationally. She won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. At the European A ...

has the women's course best of 2:19:46 hours.Prague International Marathon

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

. Retrieved on 2012-05-13. In 2019, Moroccan runner

El Mahjoub Dazza EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified in 2020 by the

Athletics Integrity Unit The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) is a Monaco-based organization founded by World Athletics in April 2017 to combat doping and address other forms of ethical misconduct in the sport of athletics. It operates independently from World Athletics ...

for using a prohibited substance, as determined by abnormalities in his

athlete biological passport An athlete biological passport is an individual electronic record for professional athletes, in which profiles of biological markers of doping and results of doping tests are collated over a period of time. Doping violations can be detected by n ...

. Ethiopian runner

Dawit Wolde Dawit Wolde (born 19 May 1991) is an Ethiopian middle-distance runner who specialises in the 1500 metres. A medallist at the World Youth Championships and the African Junior Athletics Championships, he has represented Ethiopia at the African Cham ...

was named the winner after Dazza's disqualification. Key: : Course record (in bold) : Czech Republic championship race

Marathon

Battle of the Teams

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

Multiple wins

By country

Notes

References

;List of winners
Prague International Marathon

. Retrieved on 2012-05-13.

External links

praguemarathon.com
{{Authority control Marathons in the Czech Republic Sport in Prague Athletics competitions in the Czech Republic Recurring sporting events established in 1995 1995 establishments in the Czech Republic Annual events in the Czech Republic Spring (season) in the Czech Republic