Europe had its running heroes once. Emil Zátopek, Sebastian Coe, Paula Radcliffe, Stefano Baldini. And it will again. With EuroHeroes.
A unique project that seeks, supports and develops the talents of European athletics.
Professional athletes compete in EuroHeroes competitions, earn points and fight for the EuroHero title. However, the EuroHeroes initiative is not only about supporting elite runners, but also about promoting exercise and a healthy lifestyle to the general public.
EuroHeroes is an initiative of RunCzech (in cooperation with European Athletics) that aims to identify, develop, and promote local sporting heroes, and motivate the public to exercise. The project had its zero version in 2018 with two RunCzech races and fully started in 2019, when we dedicated four of our World Athletics Gold Label races – the Mattoni Half Marathons in Karlovy Vary, České Budějovice, Olomouc and Ústí nad Labem – to promote European Athletics. The elite field of these races are limited to European athletes.
The first full edition of the project in 2019 welcomed 117 participating pro-athletes and the winners were Daria Mykhailova (UKR) and Yassine Rachik (ITA). The EuroHeroes was awarded by the European Athletics as the Best Running Project of 2019.
Due to unforeseen reasons, the series was interrupted in 2020 – 2022.
In 2023, the EuroHeroes series made a triumphant return with four half marathons bearing the World Athletics Road Race Label.
In 2024, the EuroHeroes races will take place in the same cities welcoming high quality field of European running stars.
The battle for victory was dramatic until the last half marathon in Ústí nad Labem, after which the Tereza Hrochová (CZE) and Sebastian Hendel (GER) became the winners. The gala award ceremony took place in the Větruše chateau, where the Running Unit Director of European Athletics, Marko Vasic presented the awards and titles of EuroHeroes 2023.
„Tonight we are here to celebrate a new generation of European heroes, Teresa and Sebastian. Thank you both and all other runners for bringing this sport to the masses and motivating more people to run.“ said Vasic.
Europe had its running heroes once. Emil Zátopek, Sebastian Coe, Paula Radcliffe, Stefano Baldini. And it will again. With EuroHeroes.
