Vít Pavlišta has been dominating the RunCzech races outside Prague so far. After Karlovy Vary he also won the annual 10th Mattoni České Budějovice Half Marathon. He managed to deal best with the difficult conditions, as it was raining heavily just before the start. “I am glad that I confirmed my form from the last race. I didn’t mind the colder weather, the rain was refreshing,” Pavlišta said. On the other hand, Tereza Hrochová scored her first triumph this year and thanks to her performance she become the third fastest woman on the half-marathon course in the Czech Republic. “It is my best personal performance. But it was very difficult, at the beginning I ran with the boys, then alone,” Hrochová said. Apart from the race boasting a five-star European Athletics certificate, on Saturday the runners also had a chance to participate in the dm Family Run, the relay race or the 2Run. “In total, we brought almost four thousand people to run today. The atmosphere was great, so I believe that everyone had a great time,” RunCzech Project manager Igor Murko mentioned.
The Mattoni České Budějovice Half Marathon started traditionally at the square Přemysla Otakara II., accompanied by heavy rain and lightning at the horizon. However, the stormy weather had calmed down ten minutes later. As expected, Vít Pavlišta was the most successful athlete in the streets of the South Bohemian capital, with the winning time of 1:08:18. „As the torn up parts of the road got wet, it had become more challenging. Running shoes don´t really suit the road, it was a bit slippery,” said Pavlišta, who had been in lead of the race from the very beginning. He was followed by Ondřej Fejfar (time of 1:09:42) and Pavel Kubričan (1:11:58).
The fastest woman was Tereza Hrochová, while Eva Vrabcová Nývltová did not attend as she announced earlier this week. “I didn´t mind the rain, heat is worse for me. The cubes are always unpleasant, so the rain didn´t bother me that much,” Hrochová described. She triumphed with her best time on this course, 1:12:04. Markéta Gajdorušová crossed the finish line seven minutes later, followed by the third Petra Pastorová (1:19:21) who won the previous race in Karlovy Vary.
2500 runners participated in the annual Mattoni České Budějovice Half Marathon, among them, for example, Deputy Mayor Ivo Moravec who had participated already for the tenth time. The runners also had a chance to register for the 2Run, relay race or the popular dm family run, enjoyed by many families with children. The Deputy Minister of the South Bohemian Region Lucie Kozlová started this race: “I am very glad that through this event, we can motivate children to move, sports are important in life. We are happy to support this race.”
The popular Mattoni České Budějovice Half Marathon once again attracted many running enthusiasts and tourists from 36 countries to South Bohemia. “It is incredible that the Mattoni Half Marathon in České Budějovice took place for the tenth time already. I thank to the city representatives for the perfect cooperation and look forward to the next year,” said Carlo Capalbo, the President of the RunCzech Organizing Committee. The series of the races outside Prague is now moving to Moravia, in the east part of the Czech Republic. The Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon will take place on June 18th. It is still possible to register for this race on the RunCzech.com website.
