Mattoni Karlovy Vary Half Marathon

Credit : RunCzech Is it going to rain? Is it going to be sunny? Both runners and the organizers were burbling among them. „It feels pleasant to finally get back to those typical questions before a race“, could be heard all around. Today, Saturday, June 26, RunCzech got its 2021 season going, this time with the opportunity to welcome over 1700 runners and families on the start line. The leading pack was composed of the best Czech athletes chasing fast times and award podium place, but the event was all about restarting running in the country – for all. The first to try the new race course were the participants of the dm Family Run, from babies in trolleys to seniors, running or walking through the best part of the city, between colonnades and springs, enjoying under the banner of ALL RUNNER ARE BEAUTIFUL. Credit : RunCzech „This was a great moment to get together with friends and other sportsmen, and remind ourselves how beautiful Karlovy Vary is“, said Petr Kulhanek, governor of the region and passionate runner. The Half Marathon kicked off in two waves, in compliance with the actual health regulations serviced by the organizers and the local authorities. The best man Vit Pavlista and the best woman Hana Homolkova finished in 1:07:18 and in 1:20:36 respectively, tagging along over a thousand hobby runners behind them. „It’s great to see streets filled with people. I admire the organizers for putting together such a sportive festival under difficult circumstances, and I thank our citizens and guests for respecting all the health and security precautions“, said the starter of the race, Petr Bursik, the deputy mayor of Karlovy Vary. A 15min TV report will be shown on the Czech National TV Sport on July 1 at 1:30pm. The atmosphere can be felt also on the RunCzech YouTube channel. What’s next? RunCzech is introducing a brand new race in its portfolio, the Generali Česká Red Run, taking place on Saturday, July 24, on a surprising course – the biathlon areal in Nove Mesto na Morave, where the IBU World Cup took place. Registrations are open on www.runczech.com.

Credit : RunCzech This year’s Mattoni Karlovy Vary Half Marathon (an IAAF Gold Label road race) will go down in history. In the event’s sixth year, the half marathon heralded its first ever European winners among both men and women. As predicted by the pundits, Eva Vrabcová-Nývltová took first place. “Until recently I could never have envisaged winning such a race. It’s an amazing feeling,” shared the Czech number one as she crossed the finish. When it came to the men, Ukrainian representative Roman Romanenko took the number one podium spot. As such the Karlovy Vary race has launched the EuroHeroes project – a new joint RunCzech and European Athletics initiative which aims to promote the development of athletics on the Old Continent. Number one Czech long-distance runner Eva Vrabcová-Nývltová, (who set a new Czech half marathon record of 1:11:01 at Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon 2018) was the hot favourite to win among women and proved the predictions were spot on from the very first metres. She left no room for her European rivals to get ahead and brought an end to the 18-year wait for the first Czech winner at RunCzech races – a feat last achieved by Jana Klimešová at the Prague half marathon back in 2000. Eva Vrabcová-Nývltová was clearly bursting with joy as she crossed the finish, despite spending most of the race alone. “I didn’t have any target finishing time in mind, but even so it was tough right from the start – I was running alone, there was a strong wind and I didn’t appreciate seeing all the guys run past me. Fortunately two men caught up with me at the tenth kilometre, and worked amazingly well with me, which helped me out a lot. I’m going to have to think of some kind of suitable reward,” the champion joked. In traditional RunCzech race style, she was also spurred on by the fantastic crowds lining the streets. “I had an amazing race and really loved the backdrop. I could really feel the support of those watching which is one of the reasons why I love RunCzech races so much,” Eva Vrabcová-Nývltová revealed, adding her enthusiasm for the EuroHeroes project. “It has allowed me to fulfil a dream of mine and hear the Czech national anthem at a RunCzech race. I’m also aware that the world is still out there and it’s a huge source of inspiration for me to keep on improving.” The Karlovy Vary race was also a good preparation for the European Championships in Berlin this August. Eva Vrabcová-Nývltová crossed the finish in 1:11:54, enhancing the Czech race record by more than five minutes. Ukrainian runner Olha Kotovská came in second place with a time of 1:16:16 followed by another Czech runner Kristýna Dvořáková (1:17:46) in third. The third Czech to cross the finish was Marcela Joglová (1:18:19). When it came to the top podium spots among the men, it was a battle between Ukraine and Spain. As the race progressed the fastest runner group gradually thinned out leaving Roman Romanenko and Houssame Bennabou at the helm. At the 14th kilometre, the Ukrainian Romanenko cranked up the pace, leaving Bennabou struggling to keep up. “I felt good and told myself I’d try to go for it. I believed I was capable of maintaining my pace right until the finish and am pleased I managed to do it,” the delighted runner revealed who still had some energy reserves at the finish to join in the celebration with the crowd. The Ukrainian athlete triumphed with a time of 1:03:58, with Houssame Bennabou finishing in 1:04:16. Ukrainian runner Serhiy Lebid finished third in 1:05:08. The clear favourite among the Czech men was Ondřej Fejfar. And just like Eva Vrabcová-Nývltová, he had no intention of disappointing fans. “I had a great race today, it was one of my best half marathons on record and I’m really pleased. I find the course magical here, as ever the atmosphere was amazing with people spurring me on to give more, I didn’t even notice the hills,” Fejfar revealed and clearly delighted with his Mattoni Karlovy Vary Half Marathon time of 1:07:45. Joining him on the podium were Jiří Petr (1:11:23) and Petr Kubričan (1:11:34). A total of 9 European nationalities were represented at the EuroHeroes project launched in the world famous spa Czech town. This year’s Mattoni Karlovy Vary Half Marathon saw almost 4000 runners taking part in the main race. The accompanying dm Family Run played host to over 2,700 participants. Results Men 1 Roman Romanenko UKR 1:03:58 2 Houssame Benabbou ESP 1:04:16 3 Serhiy Lebid UKR 1:05:08 4 Ricardo Serrano ESP 1:05:49 5 Ihor Olefirenko UKR 1:06:55 6 Oleksandr Sitkovskyi UKR 1:07:31 7 Ondřej Fejfar CZE 1:07:45 8 Rok Puhar SLO 1:08:19 9 Mitja Kreus SLO 1:10:29 10 Jiří Petr CZE 1:11:23 Women 1 Eva Vrabcová-Nývltová CZE 1:11:54 2 Olha Kotovska UKR 1:16:16 3 Kristýna Dvořáková CZE 1:17:46 4 Vaida Zusinaite LTU 1:18:03 5 Jenny Spink GBR 1:18:10 6 Marcela Joglová CZE 1:18:19 7 Neja Kršinar SLO 1:19:59 8 Petra Kamínková CZE 1:20:18 9 Ivana Sekyrová CZE 1:20:58 10 Neja Küffnerová CZE 1:22:06