History

Home / Useful / About us / History / History

Sabastian Kimaru SAWE set the new event record at the Prague Half Marathon with the time of 0:58:24. With 15,500 entries it is the biggest running event in Central Europe.

Return of EuroHeroes series which was a success for Czech runner Tereza Hrochova. New concept of family runs – family mile to attract even more people and families to run. Alexander Mutiso with the time of 2:05:09 set the new event record of Prague International Marathon.

Restart after pandemic in full strength. A new innovative concept, The Battle of the Teams, was introduced at the Prague International Marathon.

We managed to organize 5 regional races and 2 new virtual projects were launched; Mattoni Run&Plog and Virtual JMC, Pryč ze židle, Get Up and Run.

When COVID forced us to cancel all races, we launched a new half marathon only for the best elite runners in the World “Ready for the Restart”. Peres Jepchirchir has triumphed with a time of 1:05:34. This is a new world record in women race only.

Runczech reached a record in partecipants: 95 129 runners. Volkswagen Prague Marathon celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Eva Vrabcová Nývltová won the Prague Half Marathon among Czech women. With the time 1:11:01 she broke the record that had endured for 24-years. RunCzech kicked off EuroHeroes project, designed to support European Athletics and search for new local heroes like Zátopek. Liberec Nature Run had its first edition.

Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei, a member of the RunCzech Racing team, broke the world half marathon record as well as the 10km, 15km and 20km marks at the Prague Half Marathon on the way to winning the race in 1:04:52. Jepkosgei continued Prague stellar performance in September at the Prague Grand Prix where she bettered her 10 km world record to 29:43. A total of 9 event records and 4 Czech records were broken at RunCzech events in 2017.

Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei, a member of the RunCzech Racing team, broke the world half marathon record as well as the 10km, 15km and 20km marks at the Prague Half Marathon on the way to winning the race in 1:04:52. Jepkosgei continued Prague stellar performance in September at the Prague Grand Prix where she bettered her 10 km world record to 29:43. A total of 9 event records and 4 Czech records were broken at RunCzech events in 2017.

Eva Vrabcová finished the Prague Marathon in 2:30:10 and beat the Czech record previously held by Alena Peterková since 2000 by 58 seconds. Her performance secured Vrabcová a  spot for the Rio Olympics. The RunCzech team starts to work on two races in Italy – Napoli City Half Marathon and Sorrento Positano.

The Half Marathons in Olomouc and Ústí nad Labem are awarded the IAAF Road Race Gold Label.

The Prague Marathon celebrates its 20 year anniversary; the race is at full capacity by the beginning of the year. Prague completes its collection of Gold Labels as the Prague Grand Prix is also awarded the IAAF Road Race Gold Label.

A  brand new RunCzech headquarters called the Running Mall is opened in Prague’s Letná district. RunCzech Running League expands to include the Karlovy Vary Half Marathon.

With a  time of 58:47 at the Prague Half Marathon, Atsedu Tsegay becomes the fourth fastest man ever. With the introduction of another Half Marathon, this time in České Budějovice, a new brand is created called RunCzech comprising all the races in the Czech Republic.

After Olomouc, Ústí nad Labem is added as a  second Half Marathon outside of Prague. The first Gold PIM Kings, who ran all 15 editions of Prague Marathon, are announced.

We host our first race outside of Prague – the Half Marathon in Olomouc. The Prague Marathon is awarded the IAAF Road Race Gold Label.

The Prague Half Marathon is the first of our races to receive the IAAF Road Race Gold Label.

The Men’s 10K Race, as a part of the Grand Prix, is awarded the IAAF Road Race Silver Label.

The Marathon Sport Expo with over 30 000 visitors becomes the largest sports fair in the country.

The number of participants in the Prague Marathon is exceeded by the number of Half Marathon runners for the first time.

The biggest star of the Grand Prix is Stefano Baldini, the gold medal at the Athens Olympics.

Róbert Štefko’s third place win in the Prague Marathon in 2:12:33 secures him a nomination to the Olympic games in Athens.

The Prague Marathon is started by Václav Klaus, the President of the Czech Republic. The Grand Prix is now open to all runners.

The first in-line skate race takes place the evening before the marathon and is attended by 530 skaters.

The running legend Haile Gebrselassie wins the Grand Prix. The new women’s marathon record is set by Maura Viceconte from Italy (2:26:33)

A year after breaking a world record in 2:06:05, Brazilian elite marathon runner Ronaldo Da Costa heads to Prague where he is outrun by Kenyan Simon Chemoiywo.

An Half Marathon is added to the full Marathon and the Grand Prix. The debut of the Marathon Music Festival sets the atmosphere for the race day.

The course moves from Zbraslav to the city center and for the first time, the Prague Marathon crosses the Charles Bridge.

The Junior Marathon students‘ relay kicks off for the first time, with the support of the European Commission. The gold 10 km is renamed, The Grand Prix. The number of marathon participants doubles to 1 848 runners.

A new race is added to the marathon – the Gold 10 km for elite runners.

There were 985 runners, who took part in the first edition of the Prague Marathon in 1995, but it was not only that. There were two other distances people could take part in – 9.2 km and 4.8 km. The capacity for these runs was increased several times, and in total over 15 000 people (children and adults) participated in the first event.

Like so many things in the Czech Republic, the idea of staging an international marathon in Prague came over a pint of beer (pivo). It was a fine autumn Saturday in November 1994, and Carlo Capalbo was sitting in a small bar with his friends and fellow Italians Francesco Alzati, Maria Vittoria Mastrostefano and Gelindo Bordin, winner of the marathon at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. They decide to ask the famous Emil Zátopek who won three gold medals holder from the Summer Olympics in Helsinki in 1952, for his support and advice.