Another stellar elite field set for the Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon the final RunCzech race of 2014
Following hard on the heels of last Saturday's very successful Birell Prague Grand Prix the Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon will try to live up to the high standards set by the other events of the RunCzech Running League 2014.
Many of the talented international competitors who lit up night time Prague with their performances last week will remain in the Czech Republic for the half marathon in Ústí nad Labem taking place on Sunday, September 14, to compete with history's fourth fastest half marathoner.
As the fastest half marathoner in Czech history, Atsedu Tsegay of Ethiopia will return to attempt another world class performance in the nation where he clocked 58:47 at half marathon in Prague in 2012. Two other runners with personal bests under one hour, Simon Cheprot (59:20) and Azmeraw Bekele (59:39), along with three other men who have run under 1:01 will challenge Tsegay. Nicholas Bor, a member of RunCzech Racing, is also poised to challenge for the podium after his sterling 27:38 10 km performance on Saturday. All of these men will be looking to break the course record of 1:00:38 set by Philemon Limo of Kenya last year.
The women's field will be led by several performers who already have excellent credentials in the Czech Republic. Firehiwot Dado the 2011 New York City Marathon champion who won the Volkswagen Prague Marathon earlier this year and Correti Jepkoech who just last Saturday set a new personal best for 10 km in Prague with 31:05 will want to build upon their RunCzech success. Helah Kiprop whose 1:07:19 PB makes her the fastest half marathoner in the field and another Kenyan, Flomena Chepchirchir, who has clocked 1:08:06 for the half marathon and 2:23:00 for the full marathon should also be in the mix for the podium places and a new course record (1:09:07) bonus.
Milan Kocourek and Jiří Homoláč along with top local women Petra Kamínková and Ivana Sekyrová will lead the Czech runners battling for national bragging rights and the Czech Athletes prize money.
The IAAF Silver Label race, the Mattoni Ústí and Labem Half Marathon is one of the seven races of the RunCzech Running League. Although Ústí will mark the end of the 2014 RunCzech series registration is already open for the RunCzech Running League events 2015.
More information at www.runczech.com. You can watch the race live on www.seznam.cz on Sunday, 14 September from 11:45 CEST.
