The Mattoni Half Marathon Karlovy Vary will offer a strong clash of the European elite right at the start of the EuroHeroes series. On Saturday, May 16, last year’s winner Damián Vích, the current EuroHeroes champion Khalid Choukoud, and several runners with personal bests well under the 64-minute mark will take to the start line. A similarly strong field will be featured in the women’s race, including the fastest woman on the start list, Meritxell Soler, last year’s defending winner and reigning EuroHeroes champion Nóra Szabó, as well as Czech runners Michaela Čepová and Eva Vrabcová Nývltová.
It is the balanced nature of the starting field that may provide this year’s edition with its greatest spark. The opening race of the new EuroHeroes season will combine the defense of last year’s titles, the rising generation of European runners, and significant Czech participation. On the course through the historic center of the spa town, it will not only be about victory, but also about the first points for the series and performances that could be among the main stories of the evening.
Among men, attention turns to Vích against strong European competition
The greatest attention from domestic fans will naturally be directed toward Damián Vích. The member of the RunCzech Racing Team provided one of the strongest Czech moments of the race a year ago when he won in Karlovy Vary with a time of 1:04:23, setting a new Czech race record. Vích decided the race in the final stages when he broke away from the lead group and turned the last kilometers into a solo attack for victory. This year, he returns not only as the defending champion but also as a runner who has since pushed his half marathon personal best to 1:02:52 in Berlin.
However, defending the title will not be easy. The fastest man on the start list based on this year’s performances is the German Jan Lukas Becker, who improved his personal record to 1:01:20 in Barcelona. He is one of the most prominent new faces of the EuroHeroes series and should be one of the main rivals for the Czech champion. Also looking very strong is the Italian Nikolas Loss, born in 2001, who ran 1:02:28 in Gentbrugge this year. Only sixteen seconds slower in terms of personal best is the Swede Emil Millán de la Oliva, who appeared in Olomouc last year and arrives in Karlovy Vary with a time of 1:02:44 from Warsaw.
Khalid Choukoud could also significantly impact the battle for the top positions. Although the Dutch long-distance runner has a personal best of 1:01:53 dating back to 2013, his experience remains a major weapon. He already managed to win in Karlovy Vary in 2024, dominated the overall EuroHeroes standings last year, and in the 2025 season, he also claimed victory in České Budějovice. In a race that can be tactically demanding and where runners must work with the profile and environment of the course in addition to the pace, his experience could be decisive.
Strong continuity with last year’s edition is also provided by the return of Paavo De Leng. The Dutchman finished second behind Vích in Karlovy Vary in 2025 and is coming off a personal best of 1:04:56 in Berlin this year. Also at the start will be the experienced Spaniard Artur Bossy with a personal record of 1:03:23, the young Dutchman Carsten Kok, and the Greek long-distance runner Panagiotis Karaiskos. Beside Vích, the Czech line-up will be completed by Jiří Homoláč, Ondřej Fejfar, Karel Splítek, and Štěpán Maaz.
The women’s field promises a Spanish duel, the return of Szabó, and strong Czech names
The women’s race also promises a very high-quality field. The fastest woman on the start list is the Spaniard Meritxell Soler, who ran 1:09:30 in Berlin this year. She returns to Karlovy Vary after a second-place finish last year, when she finished behind Nóra Szabó despite a fall at the beginning of the race. Furthermore, in the 2025 season, she finished second in the overall EuroHeroes standings, won in Olomouc, and was one of the most prominent faces of the entire series.
Her biggest rival should be her compatriot Caroline Robles. The Spanish representative has a personal best of 1:09:38 from Barcelona and has repeatedly shown on both the track and the road that she can compete at an international level. The wider circle of favorites includes Britain’s Natasha Wilson, who ran 1:09:54 in Prague this year, joining the other runners on the start list with a performance under the 70-minute barrier.
The return of Nóra Szabó will have a special charge. The Hungarian runner won in Karlovy Vary last year with a time of 1:11:00, subsequently dominated the overall EuroHeroes standings, and thus enters this year’s edition as the defending Karlovy Vary winner and the reigning overall champion of the series. In Karlovy Vary a year ago, she handled a large part of the race alone and confirmed that even on a course that can be unpredictable, she can run very consistently.
However, other strong European competition will not be missing at the start. The experienced Portuguese Monica Silva has a personal best of 1:11:37 from Valencia, and the Spaniard Cristina Silva adds another fast time of 1:13:20. The depth of the starting field may be important for the women’s race, as more than one runner could take care of the pace from the start.
From a Czech perspective, it will be interesting to watch Michaela Čepová and Eva Vrabcová Nývltová in particular. Čepová pushed her personal record to 1:13:07 in Prague this year and is one of the most prominent domestic names of the new generation. Vrabcová Nývltová, on the other hand, is one of the greatest personalities of Czech long-distance running in recent years. In Karlovy Vary, she holds the best domestic women’s performance for the race, valued at 1:11:54 from 2018, and this year she returns to the spa town not only as a coach of Friday’s shakeout run but also as a competitor.
The first step of EuroHeroes 2026
The Karlovy Vary half marathon will be the first installment of this year’s EuroHeroes series. Last year, the series culminated in the triumph of Khalid Choukoud among men and Nóra Szabó among women, with the two best performances converted according to scoring tables counting toward the standings. Karlovy Vary can thus immediately indicate at the start who will be among the main candidates for the overall victory in the 2026 season.
The race starts on Saturday, May 16, at 18:00 at the Hotel Thermal. Whether it is a matter of times, victories, Czech records, or the first points for EuroHeroes, this year’s elite starting field promises one of the most interesting Karlovy Vary battles of recent years. On a course that combines sporting performance with the backdrop of a UNESCO-listed city, it will once again be shown why Karlovy Vary holds such an exceptional place in the RunCzech calendar.
EuroHeroes is a project that RunCzech introduced in 2018 in cooperation with the European Athletics Association, seeking to find, support, and develop the talents of European athletics. The goal is to find new sporting heroes for the European audience. With this step, RunCzech wants to strengthen the existing projects of the European Athletics Association and develop them even further. The 2026 season is the sixth edition of the project.
