On Saturday, over 13,000 elite and recreational runners from more than 60 countries gathered at Olomouc’s Horní náměstí (Upper Square) for the 16th Half Marathon and accompanying runs of the Mattoni Running Festival. The event, which carries the prestigious World Athletics Road Race Label, featured both competitive and non-competitive runs, the Moravia Sport Expo, and Friday’s Shake-out Run. In the weekend’s main race, a European race record fell by Spain’s Carolina Robles with a time of 1:09:30. The men’s field was ruled by her compatriot, Jorge Blanco.
The two-day program of the Mattoni Running Festival kicked off on Friday morning at the Olomouc Flora Exhibition Grounds with the opening of the Moravia Sport Expo, one of the largest events of its kind in the Czech Republic. In addition to exhibitors, more than fourty Olomouc sports clubs presented themselves at the expo.
Visitors enjoyed a rich program for children and parents, a Friday morning meeting with elite athletes, an afternoon Shake-out Run, and an all-day wheelchair relay under the auspices of the Trend vozíčkářů Olomouc association, which RunCzech supported for charity. The goal of this activity is to aid the comprehensive integration of severely physically disabled citizens and to create conditions for promoting an equal and equivalent status for people with physical and combined disabilities in society.
Saturday’s program shifted the focus to Horní náměstí and the start of the afternoon Šantovka 5k Run. Roughly 1,200 runners registered for it; although it was lightly drizzling during their warm-up, the weather eventually cleared up, allowing the runners to hit the streets of Olomouc undisturbed. Dmytro Donenko handled the course best with a time of 15:56, followed by the newest member of the RunCzech Racing Team, Bára Stýblová, who crossed the finish line in 16:37. The Mattoni Running Festival Olomouc also featured a 5k race for the Palacký University Rector’s Cup.
Afterward, spectators and around 3,000 of the youngest runners, along with their parents, enjoyed the dm family mile and the dm bambini run, which was started by the Governor of the Olomouc Region, Ladislav Okleštěk. Family runs are an integral part of RunCzech events, allowing even the youngest to share the joy of movement and experience the atmosphere of a top-tier race alongside their parents or grandparents.
The main attention of fans and media turned to 19:00 and the start of the 16th edition of the Mattoni Half Marathon Olomouc. The highly competitive race, which featured 30 elite runners from 10 European countries, was dominated by Spain’s runners, Jorge Blanco and Carolina Robles, who broke away from their pursuers to claim well-deserved and dominant victories.
Blanco finished in a time of 1:03:08, securing a valuable double after his victory in České Budějovice, which propelled him to the current first place in this year’s EuroHeroes series standings. Just like 14 days ago, his closest pursuer was Mykola Mevsha from Ukraine, who was 25 seconds slower, while the bronze position went to Germany’s Jona Bodirsky.
The Spanish female athlete dominantly cruised to her second victory out of the two races she entered, smashing the European race record by a full 21 seconds with a time of 1:09:30. The previous record was set by another representative of Spain, Trihas Gebre, in 2018. “I felt great support from the spectators along the course, who chanted my name and drove me forward. The race itself was very demanding; I had a bit of an issue with the later start hour, but I am very satisfied with the final time,” admitted the current leader of the EuroHeroes series after crossing the finish line.
The second woman to finish was Czech representative Tereza Hrochová, while third place went to Norwegian runner Hanne Mjøen Maridal.
The prestigious World Athletics Road Race Label guarantees a great experience and world-class organization. However, the atmosphere itself was created by the spectators, who showed just how loud they could be even before the starting pistol was fired by Mayor Miroslava Ferancová, escalating their cheering intensity throughout the evening. In addition to the fans, live music along the course and the participation of well-known personalities contributed to the pleasant race environment.
For example, the successful hockey coach and two-time world champion Václav Varaďa completed the Mattoni Half Marathon Olomouc, managing his first half marathon in a time of 1:48:49. After the race, he praised both the event and his final time, stating that he would like to repeat the half marathon. Following up on his participation in the Generali Half Marathon Prague, skateboarder and influencer David Luu finished the course in under 90 minutes for the second time. Willy Cao, known primarily from the world of combat sports, and former minister Marian Jurečka also took part.
The weather may have also come as a surprise to many participants. After previous rainy days, the sun cleared up over the Haná metropolis during the afternoon, and the temperature rose to a pleasant 22 degrees. This required increased attention from medical services, specifically the Emergency Medical Service (ZZS) of the Olomouc Region and the AGEL Center for Sports and Preventive Medicine, whom we thank for their cooperation.
The ZZS of the Olomouc Region, through its spokesperson Lucie Mikisková, stated that the most common reason for treatment was nausea due to exhaustion or a lack of magnesium and other minerals or sugars, which was subsequently confirmed by Mgr. Gabriela Holíková, head of AGEL. At the same time, runners had access to nearly 4.5 tons of bananas and oranges, sugar, salt, over 35,000 liters of Mattoni (the official water of the RunCzech running series), and nearly another 4,000 liters of ionic drinks across 7 refreshment stations along the course.
Another crucial element for safety and rapid assistance directly on the course was the Running Doctors, who have already covered 6 races since the beginning of the year. The project leader, MUDr. Dagmar Heroldová, stated before the race that she is very satisfied with the project’s performance in the first half of the year: “The presence of doctors on the course has a particularly positive psychological effect on the runners, making them feel safe. Of course, they don’t carry full equipment in their backpacks, but they know how to help directly on the course, where the nearest medical stations are, and how to act in case of health complications.”
The Mattoni Half Marathon Olomouc offered another opportunity to earn a unique medal for completing all five races within the RunCzech Halfs series. Another 128 runners joined the hall of fame, bringing the total number of award holders past 400. The next opportunity to start, expand, or complete the series will be the Mattoni Half Marathon Ústí nad Labem, which will take place after the summer break on September 19.
