The Prague International Marathon revolutionised the world of road running. For the third time, the Battle of the Teams was open to every participant and a total of five teams contested for top honours. Skupina CEZ dominated after all the points were added up. The performances of both pro athletes and All Runners decided who would be the winner. The second place went to the Prague Airport team and the third place to Generali Česká pojišt’ovna, followed by the Mattoni and Rohlik.cz. “This year, we had more than twice as many people interested in participating in the Battle of the Teams, which we are really pleased about. Everyone can experience the magic of team sport during the Prague International Marathon,” said Carlo Capalbo, President of the RunCzech organising committee.
The announcement of the Battle of the Teams winner preceded a welcome speech by the Japanese Ambassador, Mr Hideo Suzuki and the presentation of the Friendship Cup trophy, symbolising cooperation between the Osaka Marathon and the Prague International Marathon. Many Japanese athletes participated in the marathon; three finished in the top 8. Osaka Marathon officials also awarded the Friendship Cup to the best Czech athletes.
The Skupina CEZ team has won twice this year. First, the Kenyan Alexander Mutiso won the Prague International Marathon in its colours, improving the course record with a time of 2:05:09. After adding up all the points, the whole team, consisting of four professional athletes and All runners, could celebrate. The captain was Kateřina Neumannová, the Olympic champion in cross-country skiing.
“It’s a very unique project, and I like the team dimension. I won’t run a marathon, but I’d like to run a 10k race soon. So it inspired me,” said Neumanova. Its other members were Jiří Homoláč, Yuma Hattori from Japan and Pamela Rotich from Kenya. They all helped the Veronika Kašáková Foundation, which focuses on young people from orphanages.
