Blessed with sunny weather, ten thousand runners, four thousand family mini-marathon participants along with tens of thousands of fans were able to make the most of the fantastic atmosphere at one of the most beautiful races in the world. Prague City Mayor Andrea Krnáčová and Minister for Regional Development Karla Šlechtová were put in charge of opening the wonderful running spectacle where a whole host of emotionally-charged stories play out related joy of running, pushing limits, helping each other out and sharing positive energy.

The fastest runner to emerge from the race was Kenyan talent Felix Kandie who triumphed with a time of 2:08:32. In the women’s race, the glory went to Kenyan runner Yebrgual Melese with a time of 2:23:49.

The race also played host to a competition for the Czech National Championship marathon title. First past the proverbial post was Vít Pavlišta who managed to shave a considerable slice off last year’s performance of 2:17:51, a time which also earned him a personal best. Of the women with a time of 2:51:01, Ostrava native, the architect Šárka Macháčková scooped up the national title.

Also taking part in the race was a whole host of interesting personalities such as the boxer Lukáš Konečný who ran his first marathon in 3:29:36. Others included World Champion in the 800 metres, Ludmila Formanová (3:31:19) and lifesaving Doctors Without Borders hero who completed the course in four hours.

In addition to the above, the Volkswagen Prague Marathon also hosted the final round of the Junior Marathon. The first team to make it past the finish line was the team from the Jilemnice Grammar School (2:32:16). The oldest race participant was eighty-one year old Jiří Přidal from Pardubice. Meanwhile Petr Hrček celebrated his 454^th marathon here in Prague.

We would like to congratulate all the runners and fans whose fantastic support helped make it a fantastic experience for all those competing. There to enhance the atmosphere further were dozens of bands who played throughout to entertain fans and inject fresh energy into the veins of runners. Special thanks, however, go to the almost two thousand runners who ran to support not-for-profit organisations or who purchased their start number via not-for-profit organisations thus contributing to their charitable work.

Remind yourselves of all the race experiences on the links below:

• OFFICIAL PHOTO GALLERY
• PHOTO GALLERY ON FACEBOOK
• ČESKÉ TELEVIZE REPORT
• ČESKÉ TELEVIZE LIVE BROADCAST
• ON-LINE STREAM AT THE FINISH LINE

We hope you recuperate quickly from the race and look forward to seeing you at the next RunCzech Running League events. The last few remaining start numbers for the Mattoni Karlovy Vary Half Marathon and both half marathons taking place in České Budějovice and Olomouc are still up for grabs!

In the meantime you are warmly invited to come along to the Running Mall (our running and conference centre) where you can purchase running gear, train, pick up all kinds of advice from professional trainers related to running and healthy living, or even hold an energetic meeting with members of your work team!

Thank you for running with us!

Your RunCzech Team