The Prague Half Marathon is an annual

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ru ...

event which takes place in Spring on the city streets 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 ...

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 ...

, first held in 1999. It is managed by the same organisation that holds the

Prague Marathon The Prague Marathon (also known as Prague International 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 G ...

in May. The race has a loop course, starting and ending in

Jan Palach Square Jan Palach Square () is a town square in the Old Town of Prague. It is located on right bank of the Vltava River next to the former Jewish Quarter. Buildings and structures The western side of the square is adjacent to the Vltava River. The Má ...

near the

Rudolfinum The Rudolfinum is a building in Prague, Czech Republic. It is designed in the neo-Renaissance style and is situated on Jan Palach Square on the bank of the river Vltava. Since its opening in 1885, it has been associated with music and art. C ...

, and largely follows the

Vltava The Vltava ( , ; ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe River. It runs southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice, and Prague. It is com ...

river. The competition has enjoyed an increasing level of participation, with around 6500 participants in 2009 and almost 8500 runners taking part in the 2010 event. The Prague Half Marathon holds

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

Gold Label Road Race status.

Joyciline Jepkosgei Joyciline Jepkosgei (born 8 December 1993) is a Kenyan female long-distance runner who competes over distances from 10,000 metres to the marathon. She is the former half marathon world record holder in contests with mixed-gender fields with he ...

set the

half marathon world record The world record in the half marathon has been officially recognized since 1 January 2004 by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics. A total of five men's world records and six women's world records have bee ...

at the time during this race with a time of 1:04:52 in 2017.

History

The half marathon was first held in 1999. In 2006, a corporate team half marathon

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switc ...

event was added to the day's programme of events – each company being represented by four runners each covering equal legs of 5.27 km. Around 100 teams and 50 business and institutions were present for the first race.

Atsedu Tsegay Atsedu Tsegay Tesfay (born 17 December 1991) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner. In 2012, he won Prague Half Marathon in a time of 58:47 — the best half marathon performance of the year and an Ethiopian record. His first major in ...

holds the men's course record of 58:47 minutes (set in 2012), while

's mark of 64:52 minutes (set in 2017) is the best achieved by a woman in the Prague race and a world record at the time. Both of these times are the fastest ever run in the Czech Republic for the half marathon. The 2020 edition of the race was cancelled due to the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

, with all registrants given the option of transferring their entry to 2021 or 2022.

Prague 21.1 km

After cancelling the 2020 race, organizer RunCzech announced on that they were hosting an "invitation-only half marathon featuring 35

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distance runners" in

Letná Park Letná Park () is a large park on Letná hill, built on a plateau above steep embankments along the Vltava River in Prague, Czech Republic. Letná's elevation and location afford commanding views of the Prague Old Town (''Staré Město''). "Le ...

on . Named "Prague 21.1 km", the race would consist of about 16.5 laps of an oval of length on flat terrain in the park, with the men and women competing separately. On the day of the race, Kenyan

Peres Jepchirchir Peres Jepchirchir (born 27 September 1993) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who competes mainly in road running competitions. She won the gold medal in the women's marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Jepchirchir was the champion a ...

broke the women-only half marathon world record with a time of 1:05:34. The world record held for only 42 days, as Jepchirchir broke it again herself at the

2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships The 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, originally scheduled for 29 March 2020 in Gdynia, Poland, was postponed until 17 October 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. On , the mass participation race was cancelled, while the elite ...

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, with a time of 1:05:16.

Course

The Prague Half Marathon has a looped course format which has its race start and end point on

near the

. The course follows the

river southwards and then makes an east-to-west loop passing Folimanka park. It crosses to the west side of the Vltava, heading over Palacky Bridge, and after heading south along Strakonická road it doubles back to follow the river north, before crossing

Legion Bridge Legion Bridge (Czech: Most Legií) is a historic bridge over the Vltava in Prague, Czech Republic, named after the Czechoslovak Legion The Czechoslovak Legion ( Czech: ''Československé legie''; Slovak: ''Československé légie'') were vo ...

to reach the halfway point. The course traces a large loop into the northern part of the city centre before returning to the Rudolfinum for the finish point.Mapa Hervis 1/2Maraton Praha
Prague International Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-04-03.

Winners

Joyciline Jepkosgei beim Zieleinlauf in Prag

Prague Half Marathon

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

n athletes have been dominant – all but four of the men's winners come from the

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

n country, which has also provided over half the female race winners.

Daniel Wanjiru Daniel Kinyua Wanjiru (born 26 May 1992) is a former Kenyan long-distance runner. He won both the 2016 Amsterdam Marathon and the 2017 London Marathon. His personal best time for the marathon is 2:05:21, set in Amsterdam in 2016. Wanjiru serv ...

has topped the men's podium on two occasions, and both Jana Klimešová and

Rose Kosgei Rose Jerotich Kosgei (born 22 August 1981) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in half marathon and marathon races. She initially started out as a 1500 metres runner and placed fourth in the event at the World Junior Championships in A ...

have taken back-to-back wins in the women's event. Key: Course record (in bold)

Prague 21.1 km

By country

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{European half marathons Half marathons Sport in Prague Athletics competitions in the Czech Republic Recurring sporting events established in 1999 1999 establishments in the Czech Republic Annual events in the Czech Republic Spring (season) in the Czech Republic