On May 8, the runners will try a completely new concept of the race. For the first time in the history, the Volkswagen Prague Marathon will introduce the Battle of the Teams for ALL RUNNERS. The final results will be announced with the last runner who crosses the finish line at the after-party in hotel Hilton Prague. Key points are earned using the points system of the RunCzech running league, which is based on existing world athletics tables. Each of the six teams will have four elite professionals and the rest will be joined by thousands of enthusiasts. “The system we have devised is groundbreaking and attracts the attention of the athletic world. We have changed the royal individual race into a team sport and the race time of each participant will be important, “said Carlo Capalbo, director of RunCzech.
All runners who have registered for the Volkswagen Prague Marathon have the opportunity to participate in the Battle of the Teams. They can sign up for one of the six teams completely free of charge, via an email that comes to their email address, which they used to register for the marathon. “The race will not end after the best runner finishes. We will then monitor the performance of each marathon participant. We also plan to do interviews with them from the track or after the finish. Everyone can contribute their time to the victory of their team and the amount for charity, “explains the revolutionary concept Carlo Capalbo.
So how it will be counted? Each of the six teams will have four elite athletes who can receive bonus points for running the race in their personal record time. There will also be so-called bench runners in the team, who will run in parallel with the four elite runners, and their time will only count if one of the first four runners does not finish. In total, four results from the elite group count and the fifth result is decided by all runners – the individual times are averaged and divided by the number of all participants.
Each participant is scored on the basis of the RunCzech running league system. It is a self-produced system that takes into account gender, age and occupation. Therefore, the runner who places as high as possible in the individual categories will bring the most points for his team. For example, when someone dominates the category of men under 40 and will be the fastest in terms of administrative staff, bankers or firefighters. “Every performance is awarded with the points from the RunCzech running league, which is based on existing World Athletics scoring tables. This will give the race a completely different dynamic, “added Carlo Capalbo about the Battle of the Teams.
The first team is Team Volkswagen, led by Zuzana Hejnová, then Team ČEZ Group with Barbora Strýcová, Team Mattoni with captain Jiří Prskavec, Team Birell with Jiří Ježek, Team Adidas Runners with captain Barbora Votíková and the last team is Team Generali Česká pojišťovna with Michal Šlesinger. Each of the teams will support one of the charities, including the Baldies, Pink Bubble, Nadace Partnerství, Cesta za snem, Jahoda, or the Leontinka Foundation.
