This year, the Mattoni Running Festival Olomouc is scheduled for Saturday, June 13, and around 12,000 runners will head to the historic city center. The event is held under the patronage of the Governor of the Olomouc Region, Ladislav Okleštěk, and the Mayor of the city, Miroslava Ferancová. Holding the prestigious World Athletics Road Race Label, all participants can look forward to world-class organization, technical facilities, and race atmosphere.
All competitive categories—namely the Mattoni Half Marathon Olomouc, the relays, and the Šantovka 5k Run—are at their maximum capacity for this year. A total of 9,000 runners will participate in the half marathon, relays, and the 5k, with another 3,000 expected in the non-competitive runs. A large portion of the competitors will come directly from the Olomouc Region, accounting for more than 35% of all registered runners. At the same time, the historic beauty of Olomouc attracts runners from various corners of the world, and we register runners of 62 nationalities on the start list. The most heavily represented countries traditionally include Slovakia, Poland, and Germany, though a significant number of participants will also arrive from Great Britain, France, or the USA, among others.
Among the well-known personalities on the half marathon start list, we find, for example, two-time ice hockey champion and former NHL player Václav Varaďa. He is very much looking forward to his first half marathon: “I already have several running races under my belt, but they were distances between five and twelve kilometers. I chose the half marathon precisely because it represents a new challenge. In sports, I have been used to pushing my limits my whole life, and this is another opportunity to do something outside of my comfort zone.”
The Mattoni Half Marathon Olomouc is the penultimate stop of this year’s EuroHeroes series, and elite European runners will arrive to fight for final standings and valuable points, led by local star Tereza Hrochová, as well as the winners of the races in České Budějovice and Karlovy Vary, Jorge Blanco and Carolina Robles from Spain. On paper, the fastest man on the start list is Jan Lukas Becker, who in the spa town was second only to the race winner Damián Vích. It will be interesting to see if the 11-year-old European race record will be broken. Currently, it is held by Polat Arikan from Turkey with a time of 1:02:12. Three runners have a faster personal best, just as two female runners have already run faster than 1:09:51, which is the still-standing European race record set by Spain’s Trihas Gebre in 2018.
The Czech race record of 1:05:50 could be challenged by RunCzech Racing Team member Patrik Vebr, who declared after the Mattoni Half Marathon České Budějovice that he is capable of attacking the 64-minute mark, while Tereza Hrochová could rewrite the records once again among the women. Among the female favorites, besides the already mentioned Hrochová and Robles, are last year’s defending overall EuroHeroes winner Nóra Szabó from Hungary and Hanne Mjøen Maridal from Norway. In addition to Patrik Vebr, the new female addition to the roster, Bára Stýblová, will run for the RunCzech Racing Team. Czech glass trophies from the Ajeto workshop await the winners.
The center of the action is located on Horní náměstí (Upper Square), which is famous for its impressive architecture. While waiting in the starting corridor, runners can admire, for instance, the Olomouc astronomical clock on the northern side of the town hall, which is one of the few heliocentric astronomical clock designs in the world. The race day program will kick off at 15:30 with the Šantovka 5k Run, which includes the Palacký University Rector’s Cup Run, followed by the dm family mile and the dm bambini run. The highlight of the program, the start of the Mattoni Half Marathon Olomouc—which also includes the relay and 2-person team race—is scheduled for 19:00. A live musical accompanying program is also prepared. The race is also part of the RunCzech Halfs project, which aims to complete all five races within 36 months.
This year’s edition will once again provide charitable support to the organization Trend vozíčkářů Olomouc, whose goal 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. On Friday, June 12, and Saturday, June 13, interested visitors can attend the Moravian Sport Expo at the Flora Exhibition Grounds, where more than 40 Olomouc sports clubs will present themselves. On Friday morning, 1,200 children from Olomouc schools will try out various sports. The same venue will host a morning meeting with elite athletes on Friday, an afternoon Shake-out Run, and an all-day wheelchair relay. The sports expo is the second largest event of its kind in the country and offers a great opportunity for networking with personalities and other lovers of this beautiful sport.
As is tradition, the Emergency Medical Service (ZZS) of the Olomouc Region will have the runners’ backs, with several ambulances, medical points, bicycle patrols with AED defibrillators on-site, and, since the beginning of the year, a group of doctors in running shoes called Running Doctors. Given the likely summer temperatures, in addition to seven refreshment stations (one every 2.5 km), refreshing spots including a water spraying truck will also be prepared for the runners. More than 4 tons of fruit, over 35,000 liters of Mattoni water, and nearly another 4,000 liters of ionic drinks have been allocated for the runners’ comfort and refreshment.
Program Mattoni Running Festival Olomouc 2026:
Friday, June 12th
- 9:00 – 19:00 Running Expo (Výstaviště Flora)
- 11:45 – Meeting with elite athletes (Výstaviště Flora)
- 17:00 – Shake-out run with elite athletes (Výstaviště Flora)
- 9:00 – 21:00 Wheelchair relay (Výstaviště Flora – Rudolfova alej)
Saturday, June 13th
- 9:30 – 17:00 Running Expo (Výstaviště, pavilon H, Husova tř. 523)
- 15:30 – Šantovka 5k Run
- 17:00 – dm family mile
- 18:00 – dm bambini run
- 19:00 – Mattoni Half Marathon Olomouc
