Czech runners shined bright at the Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon. Vích and Hrochová celebrate second place
Czech runners achieved great results at Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon. Damián Vích and Tereza Hrochová finished second overall. The victory was celebrated by Ukrainian Valeriia Zinenko and German Sebastian Hendel. Hendel is also the overall winner of the EuroHeroes 2023 series. Almost 2500 runners took part in the popular race, while both dm family runs were enjoyed by almost 1700 other participants, mainly families. "I believe that everyone enjoyed the 13th edition of the Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon despite the unusually warm weather. Thank you all for the great atmosphere and I am looking forward to the next time," said Carlo Capalbo, President of the RunCzech Organizing Committee.
Saturday's running feast started at 10 am, the programme kicked off with the dm family mile, and at one o'clock the SPOLCHEMIE Czech Cup in paracycling under the auspices of the Czech Cycling Union, in the handbike and tricycle categories. At three o'clock the main event started.
The flat track in Ústí nad Labem promised fast times but the unexpected sunny weather was against it. German runner Sebastian Hendel (1:05:16) coped best with the difficult conditions. “I was hoping for a much better time, but the conditions were really tough, so I'm happy to be at the finish and to celebrate the win. The great atmosphere around the track helped me to do that," said Hendel.
Damián Vích finished his half marathon debut 54 seconds behind Hendel in 1:06:10 to the delight of the Czech fans. "I was dying a lot in the second half of the race. It was difficult in this heat, from the fourteenth kilometer on it was a fight for life for everyone," described the young representative of the RunCzech Racing team. "But I am extremely satisfied and I am very happy. I beat a lot of great runners, the time was not quite 100%, but I did my best in this weather." The third man overall was Latvian Dmitrijs Serjogins (1:06:26). Jiří Homoláč was the second Czech at the finish line (1:09:37), Ondřej Fejfar finished third (1:10:17).
The Ukrainian Valeriia Zinenko dominated women with a time of 1:13:43. "I am happy that I managed to win. Every step was very hard for me. I fought with myself, I don't even know how I finished," said the champion. Tereza Hrochová (1:13:49) was chasing her all the way to the finish line. “I tried to overtake Valeriia, one moment it looked like she could barely lift her legs, but then she sped up and it was impossible. I'm very happy with my placing," said Hrochová. The third woman in the overall ranking was Aleksandra Lisowska from Poland (1:15:18). Tereza Jagošová (1:21:59) completed the Czech podium behind Hrochová, while Silvie Valová (1:23:05) took the bronze.
Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon was the final race of the EuroHeroes 2023, a series which aims to support and develop the talents of European athletics. German Sebastian Hendel became the king of the prestigious running series, which includes the results from the Mattoni Half Marathons in Karlovy Vary, České Budějovice, Olomouc, and Ústí nad Labem, while Tereza Hrochová was the best among women, which is a great success for the versatile Czech runner. Both winners received the award from Marek Vasić, the director of the European Athletics Association, at the awards ceremony held in the Větruše hotel.
