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

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

marathon held in the city of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

in the

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

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 me ...

, 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, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

, 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 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.

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 Alena Vinnitskaya ( uk, Альона Ві́нницька ''Alona Vinnytska'';Her artist name is the Russian version of her name (russian: Алёна Винницкая ''Alena Vinnitskaya'') born Olha Viktorivna Vinnytska ( uk, О́льга В ...

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 Lonah Korlima Chemtai Salpeter ( he, לונה צ'מטאי-סלפטר, , born 12 December 1988) is a Kenyan-Israeli runner. She won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. At the European Athletics Championsh ...

has the women's course best of 2:19:45 hours.Prague International Marathon
Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2012-05-13. In 2019, El Mahjoub Dazza crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified in 2020 by the

Athletics Integrity Unit The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) was founded by the International Association of Athletics Federations in April 2017 to combat doping in the sport of athletics. The unit functions fully independently from the IAAF. It is currently led by head B ...

for using a prohibited substance, as determined by abnormalities in his athlete biological passport.https://web.archive.org/web/20210728164723if_/https://www.athleticsintegrity.org/downloads/pdfs/disciplinary-process/en/CAS-EMD.pdf

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.https://web.archive.org/web/20210724123015if_/https://www.runczech.com/file/edee/en/media/press-release/pr-the-battle-of-the-teams-en.pdf

Multiple wins

By country

Notes

References

;List of winners
Prague International Marathon
Association of Road Racing Statisticians. 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) events in the Czech Republic