The twenty-six-year-old distance runner Rodrigue Kwizera is at the peak of his athletic career. As one of the world’s top ten endurance runners, he comes to Prague in September as the absolute favorite. Furthermore, the East African Burundian-born athlete recently obtained Spanish citizenship, making the Prague 10k his first official international race competing under the Spanish flag.
He first represented his native country at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Kampala, placing 39th in the men’s race in March 2017. In the first half of 2019, he moved to Spain, and by October he was running the 10k at the World Athletics Championships in Doha. He firmly confirmed his world-class status at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, where he reached the final in the same event.
However, his career took off exponentially this year. At the Generali Prague Half Marathon in March, he defended his 2025 title, breaking both the national and race record with a time of 58:16—a record previously held by Sabastian Sawe, currently the fastest marathoner in the world. In May, he became a global sensation when he clocked the fastest 10k time in history in Madrid—26:01. Although the performance could not be ratified as an official world record due to the course’s elevation profile, Kwizera proved he has what it takes to dominate the discipline.
Whether the two-time champion of the prestigious World Athletics Cross Country Tour will fulfill this potential through the illuminated streets of the Czech capital will be revealed on September 5, 2026. The Birell 10K Night Race Prague will be his first opportunity to write his name into the history books. With an officially recognized personal best of 26:54, he is just 11 seconds off the current European record held by Frenchman Yann Schrub. If all goes well, it will be a major milestone not only for him, but also for Spain, which granted Kwizera citizenship this past May.
The Birell 10K Night Race Prague starts on September 5, 2026, at 19:30 at Náměstí Republiky in front of the Municipal House in Prague.
