The popularity of the Mattoni Running Festival in České Budějovice is growing. This is confirmed by participation numbers, which are nearing 7,000 this year. Over 4,500 runners have signed up for the competitive races, marking a year-on-year increase of more than one-third. “There’s been huge interest in Saturday’s Mattoni Running Festival. We had to close registration for all competitive races early because we reached capacity limits,” said Carlo Capalbo, the Chairman of the RunCzech organizing committee.
The exact number of registered runners in competitive events stands at 4,521. This includes the Vodafone 5K Run, the Rector’s Cup 5K Run, and the evening Mattoni Half Marathon, which also features relay races for four-person teams and pairs. For comparison, last year’s registration in České Budějovice was 3,272, and in the busy 2019 edition it was 3,442. In the early evening on Saturday, the event will also host the non-competitive dm family mile and dm bambini run on Přemysl Otakar II Square.
The 13th edition of the Mattoni Half Marathon České Budějovice once again proudly holds the World Athletics Road Race Label and the European Athletics certificate. It serves as the second of four races in the EuroHeroes series. The course will see an elite field exclusively composed of European distance runners, featuring 16 men and 14 women from eleven countries. The strong starting list includes last year’s EuroHeroes champions and defending winners in České Budějovice. Two-time German champion Sebastian Hendel will be aiming for a third EuroHeroes title, kicking off this season in South Bohemia. The women’s champion, Ukrainian Maryna Nemchenko, holds the European race record for the České Budějovice race (1:11:26). The fastest runners on Saturday evening will receive trophies crafted by the renowned Ajeto glassworks, which also produces awards for Tour de France champions and the ATP Finals.
Among the half marathon starters are football Euro Championship double medalist and English Premier League winner Karel Poborský, influencer and runner Sabrina Múčková, famous hairdresser and cosmetics expert Tomas Arsov, and fitness trainer and influencer Zbyněk Vlček.
The starting field is composed of 58% men and 42% women. The largest number of foreign runners come, as usual, from neighboring countries — Slovakia, Austria, and Germany — with the largest non-European group being Indian participants. The Mattoni Half Marathon České Budějovice will feature runners from 58 nationalities.
The Mattoni Running Festival organizers work closely with the South Bohemian Region Emergency Medical Service. During the event, one medical crew will be stationed directly on the square, another will be available for the 5K run, and four ambulances will be positioned along the half marathon route. “There will also be nine first aid stations staffed with trained medical personnel along the course. Since runners pass each point twice, medical coverage will effectively be available every one and a half kilometers,” explained Capalbo. Four bicycle patrols equipped with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) will also be active, and two additional defibrillators will be located in the guest zone near the start/finish area and in the technical zone near the changing rooms.
Organizers are paying close attention to the weather forecast, which predicts temperatures around 25 degrees Celsius on Saturday evening. Six refreshment and cooling stations will be set up along the half marathon route, with an additional station at the finish. Each station will offer Mattoni water, and refreshment stations will also provide isotonic drinks, bananas, oranges, salt, and sugar. All stations will be connected to hydrants to ensure water supply in case bottled water runs out. Runners can also cool down under water sprays at each station, supported by a watering vehicle. “We will inform runners on how to behave in warm weather via the RunCzech website, social media, and newsletters,” Capalbo added.
REFRESHMENTS FOR HALF MARATHON RUNNERS:
- 15,000 liters of Mattoni water
- 4,500 liters of Vilgain isotonic drink
In cooperation with its partner HEDVEA, RunCzech is introducing the first online health card for runners in the Czech Republic. This simple system contains important health information that can save lives in case of problems during the race. For the Generali Prague Half Marathon in April, about half of all runners purchased the health card together with their race registration.
The RunCzech running series also supports good causes. The main charity partner of the 2025 Mattoni Half Marathon České Budějovice is the Society for Early Care, which helps families with disabled children manage difficult situations and live full lives.
One of the key concerns of the Mattoni Running Festival organizer is to maintain smooth and calm traffic conditions in the city during the event, and to inform the citizens of České Budějovice adequately about related restrictions and road closures. “We try to minimize traffic disruptions and therefore work intensively with city administration and police forces,” assured Jiří Nečásek. All important traffic information for Saturday, May 31, will be available on the organizer’s website RunCzech.com, which also provides a free hotline for traffic updates.
The main race of the running festival in České Budějovice will, as with previous events this year, be broadcast live with Czech and English commentary. Czech Television will also air a highlights program on ČT Sport.
Mattoni Running Festival Races in České Budějovice 2025:
SATURDAY, May 31
- 15:00 Vodafone 5K Run
- 15:00 Rector’s Cup 5K Run
- 17:00 dm family mile (1,609 m)
- 17:45 dm bambini run (100 m, 150 m, and 200 m distances)
- 19:00 2Run 10 + 11 km
- 19:00 Half Marathon Relay (3×5 km + 1×6.0975 km)
- 19:00 Mattoni Half Marathon České Budějovice (main race, 21.095 km)
