The excitement continues with the Birell 10K Race on September 7th, marking the 27th edition of this renowned event. RunCzech, the organizer, has promised surprises that will be revealed only at the last moment, adding to the anticipation. Men’s elite filed has three mans who already reached under 27 minutes and three more whose PB’s are slightly above so the race is expected to be thrilling and fast. Women’s race will feature a stellar lineup of elite women runners from around the globe, starring Kenya’s Diana Chepkorir (29:56), who will try to break 30 minutes also in Prague.
Kenyan Geoffrey Koech holds the current best time for the 10km race in Prague with 27:02 from 2019. He will try to beat Rodrigue Kwizera from Burundi, whose personal best is 26:56. Ethiopia’s Tadese Worku, last year’s winner, who has the same personal best, should also be seen leading the race. Hot on their heels will be Birhanu Yemataw Balewa of Bahrain, whose best is just a second off the pace. Of the Europeans, the big favourite is Italian runner and silver medalist in the European Athletics Championships 2024 in Rome, Pietro Riva. His best time is 27:50, a second slower than his Italian teammate Illias Aquani. Also worth mentioning is Germany’s Sebastian Hendel, winner of the EuroHeroes 2023 series and a regular participant in regional RunCzech half marathons. Hendel is in full preparation for the 2024 Berlin Marathon, and he and his wife Kristina Hendel are looking to push their bests in Prague.
Apart from Chepkorir, female favourites are Christine Njoki Nalimo, who began her running journey in high school and has grown into a formidable athlete, and Miriam Chebet, who recently made an impressive debut in half marathons. On the European front, Britain’s Samantha Harrison, the fifth fastest all-time British athlete over 10K, will be looking to make a strong comeback after overcoming injury challenges. The field also includes Hungary’s Lili Anna Vindics-Tóth, a Youth Olympics bronze medalist and European Cross Country silver medalist, who will make the race even more thrilling. These athletes will be pushing their limits in pursuit of breaking the race record set by Joyciline Jepkosgei in 2017, when she became the first woman to break the 30-minute barrier, clocking a then-world record time of 29:43.
In Czech pro filed we are looking forward to the duel of Martin Zajic and Patrik Vebr, both members of RunCzech Racing Team. Zajíc improved his best to 29:17 this year and is thus the favourite to win. The ageless Jirka Homoláč will play the role of the women’s pacemaker and will try to push them to a new race record. Of the Czech women, Tereza Hrochová (33:43) is the biggest favourite, followed by Silvie Valová, who would certainly like to stand on the podium alongside her boyfriend Martin Zajíc.
Rodrigue Kwizera: “I think I might try to run my PB, this hot weather will not be problem for me, in Spain it is really hot, I am used to it.”
Diana Chepkorir: “I am very happy to run in Prague for the first time. I will try to be as fast as I can to beat 30 minutes and make my new PB.”
Pietro Riva: “I will try to run very fast, to hang on with the leading group. I had a really good consistent training in Livigno but I cannot go 2:40 from the start to exhaust myself completely. I really like road running and am looking forward to see the crowd in Prague.”
Martin Zajíc: “I hope I will get lucky here because it the past years something always happened during this race but running home is always nice. But I had good trainings last two months so I believe in the best race possible, I also tried to train during evenings to get used to the heat.”
Inside Track Live Stream
A new highlight of this year’s event is the live stream by World Athletics’ Inside Track project. Inside Track offers exclusive, front-row, access-all-areas coverage for everything athletics, providing fans the perfect platform to watch and cheer for their idols. The Birell Grand Prix broadcast will be conducted in collaboration with Pulse.tv, RunCzech’s live-streaming service for all their races. Available for both elite and recreational runners, the stream can be accessed via the RunCzech app or the Pulse.tv website, bringing the event closer to a global audience.
Birell Grand Prix Prague 2024 looks very promising and attracts also many hobby runners – adidas Women’s Run 5K was sold out more than a week ago and Birell 10K Race announced full capacity just two days before the race. Runners can enjoy fast course track alongside Vltava River in the beautiful Prague and hopefully witness amazing running performace and new race records.
PulseTV stream with the Czech commentary by Eva Vrabcová Nývltová
Inside Track Live Stream by World Athletics with Tim Hutchings commentary
Event Guide
