Mattoni Olomouc Half Maraton offered its EuroHeroes ideal weather. Hendel and Verbruggen won
The oldest regional half marathon of the RunCzech series in Olomouc ran its thirteenth edition, this year again as part of the EuroHeroes series, supporting European runners. The winners Sebastian Hendel from Germany (1:03:55) and Tokyo Olympic marathon participant Hanne Verbruggen from Belgium (1:12:44) received the biggest applause in a really great field of elite athletes. The best Czech runners were Patrik Vebr (1:08:17), ninth overall, and Tereza Hrochova (1:13:33), second overall.
A total of 6,600 runners from 25 countries and 45 nationalities took part in the dm family mile and then the half marathon in the historic centre of the Haná metropolis. The weather was almost perfect, the sun could not heat up the temperature to more than 20 degrees, and the wind calmed down in the evening.
Hendel had already won the half marathon in Ústí last year and was now the main favorite. He soon broke away from the leading group of six and went on to another Czech victory. "I am very satisfied and happy. I'm back to training now after the Vienna Marathon a few weeks ago and I didn't know how I would feel. But it looked good from the beginning. The finish was just between me and David and I had to work hard," he said. "Olomouc is a very beautiful city and I enjoyed it, even though the route was tough."
The second place went to Swedish champion and also World and European champion David Nilsson (1:04:07). "I couldn't keep up his (Sebastian's) pace at the end, but I'm not dissatisfied," said the man who has already competed in the Prague Half Marathon and is now going to use a few days to visit the Czech Republic with his girlfriend. The third place went to Dutch Olympian Khalid Choukoud (1:04:27), already a regular participant of RunCzech races, last time third in České Budějovice Half two weeks ago.
In the women's field, Hanne Verbruggen of Belgium, who has already set her limit for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, confirmed her assumptions. Viktoriia Kaluzhina (1:13:35) held on to her for about six kilometres, but she finally couldn't resist the pressure of Tereza Hrochova (1:13:33) in the finish on the Upper Square. "I was very sick in March and this was my first half marathon," said the Ukrainian runner, who now lives and trains in Poznan, Poland. Tereza Hrochova, on the other hand, was thrilled. "The result was beyond my expectations. It's a week after the World Mountain Running Championships and I wanted to run my legs up that hill because I have the European Cup in a week. But the way the race was going, I wanted to try and keep it up with the girls and I did. It was warm, plus the cobbles and kerbs, but I'm very happy, the great spectators helped me get through the crunches," she said.
Patrik Vebr confirmed his position as this year's Czech leader in the half marathon, he had already won in Prague and Karlovy Vary. He was not very happy with his time although he beat Vit Pavlista, Czech marathon champion. As in any of the previous years, Olomouc running legend Petra Kamínková, 42 times Czech champion in various distances, was not missing. "It was very nice again, although the times are not what they used to be," she evaluated.
