Mattoni Running Festival Olomouc Delights the Entire City Once Again. Italian Daniele D’Onofrio defeated last year's Olomouc champion and EuroHeroes winner, German Sebastian Hendel
The Mattoni Running Festival Olomouc once again brought an amazing atmosphere and thrilling competition in the heart of Moravia, in the UNESCO heritage city. The king of the main event, the traditional Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon, Daniele D’Onofrio took the crown with the time of 1:04:56. Among the women, Nóra Szabó fought Tereza Hrochová and won with the time of 01:12:44. A new event, the Šantovka 5 k run, was introduced and won by Slovakian René Valent in the men's category with the time of 16:22, and Eva Vrabcová Nývltová in women’s with 18:13. A total of 8,700 runners from 51 countries took part in the sport festival. "From the first year, we have felt tremendous support from the city and local residents. The atmosphere was incredible once again," said Carlo Capalbo, president of the organizing committee of RunCzech.
The two main squares in the heart of Olomouc were full of energy from Saturday morning. The Mattoni Running Festival Olomouc offered an experience for the entire family. At 9 AM, the new Šantovka 5k Run started. dm family mile and dm bambini run followed in the afternoon with over 2750 runners.
At 7 PM, the traditional Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon , the race with the World Athletics Road Race label, began. The highlight of the day, started by the city's mayor Miroslav Žbánek, showcased the best European athletes. Nearly 5400 runners participated.
The fastest among them was Daniele D’Onofrio of Italy, with 01:04:56, Sebastian Hendel of Germany finished second, and Valentin Witz of France took third place. "I'm happy, I had to run fast to catch Italy's football match in the evening," said D'Onofrio, laughing at the finish line and immediately went to watch Italy's opening duel at Euro.
Last year's winner, Sebastian Hendel, and the EuroHeroes series overall winner, didn't manage to take over Olomouc Half again just two weeks after his victory in České Budějovice. Hendel was the first of the three in the leading men's group fighting with Daniele D’Onofrio and Valentine Witz. Hendel was trying to shake his opponents off setting the tempo, when Daniele overtook the lead at the 18th kilometer for an incredible last three kilometers.
Hendel finished nine seconds behind 1:05:05. "It was a hard race, I couldn't move my legs any faster at the end when Daniele started to escaping our group," described Hendel. Witz of France finished third in 1:05:16.
After the second place in Karlovy Vary, Nóra Szabó won in her second EuroHeroes appearance with the time of 1:12:44. The wonderful atmosphere was praised by the top female runner. "I am still surprised, I can't believe it, I didn't expect it. I was feeling a bit tired after the European Championships in Rome, so I'm really happy that I made it. I really thank my coach for believing in me," said a happy Hungarian Szabó at the finish line. Second place Tereza Hrochova followed Szabó, missing the first place by 14 seconds. Third place was secured by Ukrainian Maryna Nemchenko, the winner from České Budějovice Half Marathon two weeks prior, with the time of 01:13:19.
The Mattoni Running Festival Olomouc was once again part of the EuroHeroes project, a project that aims to identify, develop, and promote local sporting heroes, and motivate the public to exercise. Olomouc hosted the third race of this year's series. Next and final EuroHeroes race will be held in Ústí nad Labem on 22 September where the final winner will be decided.
Results men
Results women
