Prague Half Marathon

The Prague Half Marathon (known as the Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon for sponsorship reasons) 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.[1] The race has a loop course, starting and ending in Jan Palach Square near the Rudolfinum, and largely follows the Vltava river.[2] 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.[3][4]

Prague Half Marathon
Crossing the Vltava river via Mánes Bridge, 2010
DateLate March/Early April
LocationPrague, Czech Republic
Event typeRoad
DistanceHalf marathon
Primary sponsorSportisimo
Established1999 (1999)
Course recordsMen's: 58:47 (2007)
Atsedu Tsegay
Women's: 1:04:52 (2017)
Joyciline Jepkosgei
Official sitePrague Half Marathon
Participants10,529 (2019)
2013 winner Zersenay Tadese crossing the Čech Bridge with four other runners, minutes before the finish
The Rudolfinum auditorium, location of the race start and finish

The Prague Half Marathon holds World Athletics Gold Label Road Race status.[5] Joyciline Jepkosgei set the half marathon world record at the time during this race with a time of 1:04:52 in 2017.[lower-alpha 1]

History

The half marathon was first held in 1999.[6]

In 2006, a corporate team half marathon relay 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.[7]

Atsedu Tsegay holds the men's course record of 58:47 minutes (set in 2012), while Joyciline Jepkosgei'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.[lower-alpha 1] Both of these times are the fastest ever run in the Czech Republic for the half marathon.[10][11]

The 2020 edition of the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, with all registrants given the option of transferring their entry to 2021 or 2022.[lower-alpha 2][13][14]

Prague 21.1 km

After cancelling the 2020 race, organizer RunCzech announced on 1 September 2020 that they were hosting an "invitation-only half marathon featuring 35 [elite] distance runners" in Letná Park on 5 September 2020.[15][16] Named "Prague 21.1 km", the race would consist of about 16.5 laps of an oval of length 1,280 m (4,200 ft) on flat terrain in the park, with the men and women competing separately.[16][17]

On the day of the race, Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir broke the women-only half marathon world record with a time of 1:05:34.[18][lower-alpha 3] The world record held for only 42 days, as Jepchirchir broke it again herself at the 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland, with a time of 1:05:16.[21]

Course
External image
Course map of half marathon in 2019[22]

The Prague Half Marathon has a looped course format which has its race start and end point on Jan Palach Square near the Rudolfinum. The course follows the Vltava 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 Legií Bridge 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.[23]

Winners
Joyciline Jepkosgei seconds away from breaking the world record in 2017
Kenyan Lydia Cheromei (pictured here at the Amsterdam Marathon in 2008) set a course record in 2011

Prague Half Marathon

Kenyan athletes have been dominant – all but four of the men's winners come from the East African country, which has also provided over half the female race winners. Daniel Wanjiru has topped the men's podium on two occasions, and both Jana Klimešová and Rose Kosgei have taken back-to-back wins in the women's event.

Key:    Course record (in bold)

Ed. Year Men's winner Time[lower-alpha 4] Women's winner Time[lower-alpha 4] Rf.
11999  Ali Mabrouk El Zaidi (LBA) 1:04:48  Jana Klimešová (CZE) 1:15:39
22000  Isaac Kiprono (KEN) 1:03:28  Jana Klimešová (CZE) 1:14:17
32001  Anthony Korir (KEN) 1:02:09  Florence Barsosio (KEN) 1:12:51
42002  Willy Kipkirui (KEN) 1:02:15  Gloria Marconi (ITA) 1:12:06
52003  Fred Kiprop (KEN) 1:02:47  Helena Javornik (SLO) 1:11:03
62004  Joseph Kiprotich (KEN) 1:01:46  Catherine Kirui (KEN) 1:10:38
72005  Silas Kirui (KEN) 1:01:07  Susan Kirui (KEN) 1:12:49
82006  Stephen Kibiwott (KEN) 1:01:15  Caroline Kwambai (KEN) 1:10:08
92007  Patrick Ivuti (KEN) 1:01:00  Liliya Shobukhova (RUS) 1:11:14
102008  Elijah Karanja (KEN) 1:02:08  Asha Gigi (ETH) 1:12:00
112009  Nicholas Koech (KEN) 1:00:07  Rose Kosgei (KEN) 1:09:03
122010  Joel Kemboi (KEN) 1:00:09  Rose Kosgei (KEN) 1:09:57
132011  Philemon Limo (KEN) 59:30  Lydia Cheromei (KEN) 1:07:33
142012  Atsedu Tsegay (ETH) 58:47  Joyce Chepkirui (KEN) 1:07:03
152013  Zersenay Tadese (ERI) 1:00:10  Gladys Cherono (KEN) 1:06:48
162014  Peter Kirui (KEN) 59:22  Joyce Chepkirui (KEN) 1:06:18
172015  Daniel Wanjiru (KEN) 59:51  Worknesh Degefa (ETH) 1:07:14
182016  Daniel Wanjiru (KEN) 59:20  Violah Jepchumba (KEN) 1:05:51
192017  Tamirat Tola (ETH) 59:36  Joyciline Jepkosgei (KEN) 1:04:52
202018  Benard Kimeli (KEN) 59:47  Joan Chelimo (KEN) 1:05:04
212019  Benard Kimeli (KEN) 59:05  Caroline Kipkirui (KEN) 1:05:41
2020cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic[13]

Prague 21.1 km
Date Men's winner Time Women's winner Time Rf.
2020.09.05  Kibiwott Kandie (KEN) 58:38  Peres Jepchirchir (KEN) 1:05:34 Wo [24]

By country
Country Wins
 Kenya31
 Ethiopia4
 Czech Republic2
 Eritrea1
 Italy1
 Libya1
 Russia1
 Slovenia1

Notes
  1. Months later, Jepkosgei later broke her own record by one second at the Valencia Half Marathon.[8][9]
  2. It had initially been postponed before being cancelled.[12]
  3. The previous record was 1:06:11, set by Netsanet Gudeta at the 2018 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia, Spain.[18][19][20]
  4. h:m:s

References
  1. Butcher, Pat (2011-04-02). Limo and Cheromei shatter course records at Prague Half Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-04-03.
  2. https://www.runczech.com/file/edee/maps/hm_prague_2020-20200221-093325.jpg
  3. Course records fall in Prague - Prague Half Marathon report. IAAF (2009-03-28). Retrieved on 2011-04-03.
  4. Hervis Prague Half Marathon 2011. Prague International Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-04-03.
  5. https://www.worldathletics.org/competition/calendar/marathon-and-road-races
  6. https://www.runczech.com/en/useful/about-us/history/index.shtml
  7. Riedlová, Daniela (3 April 2006). "Kenyan men sweep, new women's record at Prague Half Marthon (sic)". IAAF. Archived from the original on 6 April 2006. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  8. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-athletics-halfmarathon/jepkosgei-breaks-own-half-marathon-world-record-in-valencia-idUSKBN1CR0LN
  9. https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/valencia-half-marathon-2017-joyciline-jepkosg
  10. Butcher, Pat (2012-03-31). Tsegay’s 58:47 shatters course record in ‘very windy’ Prague Archived 2012-07-05 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
  11. Mulkeen, Jon (2017-04-01). Jepkosgei breaks four world records at Prague Half Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2017-04-01.
  12. https://www.runczech.com/en/useful/for-the-media/news/the-22nd-sportisimo-prague-half-marathon-is-postponed-26642.shtml
  13. https://www.runczech.com/en/for-you/for-runners/cancellation-and-new-race-dates/information/index.shtml
  14. https://www.runczech.com/en/for-you/for-runners/cancellation-and-new-race-dates/option-of-transferring-registration/index.shtml
  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20200630141508/https://www.lidovky.cz/sport/ostatni-sporty/prazsky-maraton-se-nepobezi-ani-na-podzim-organizator-zavody-v-hlavnim-meste-zrusil.A200629_201056_ln-sport-ostatni_janl
  16. https://web.archive.org/web/20201206054422/https://www.runczech.com/en/useful/for-the-media/press-releases/2020/press-release-prague-21.1-km-ready-for-the-restart-27932.shtml
  17. https://web.archive.org/web/20201206052608/https://www.runczech.com/file/edee/2020/08/prague_21-1_media_guide_eng.pdf
  18. https://web.archive.org/web/20201106205105/https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/stories/news/detail/peres-jepchirchir-half-marathon-world-record-prague/
  19. https://web.archive.org/web/20201026182131/https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/gudeta-half-marathon-world-record-valencia
  20. https://web.archive.org/web/20201206045019/https://www.runczech.com/en/events/prague-21.1-km/index.shtml
  21. https://web.archive.org/web/20201024202909/https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sports/athletics/2001391288/why-jepchirchir-is-now-all-time-great-in-marathon
  22. https://web.archive.org/web/20190716013006/https://www.blesk.cz/clanek/regiony-praha-praha-servis/602327/bezci-vtrhnou-do-centra-prahy-jak-sobotni-pulmaraton-omezi-dopravu.html
  23. Mapa Hervis 1/2Maraton Praha. Prague International Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-04-03.
  24. https://web.archive.org/web/20201206072234if_/https://www.runczech.com/file/edee/2020/09/tz_restart_race_en.pdf
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