RunCzech re-opens Prague. Running festival at the airport.

Runners flowed into the check in, showed their passports, got their start numbers, passed the security and boarded through the gate D6. Then the airport shuttle busses took them to the runway, but instead of entering the plane, they lined up at the start of a 5km Runway Run.  2,674 runners in total, were lucky enough to secure their places in this sold out once-in-a-lifetime event. They were split into different categories to abide by the public and health safety regulations. Categories included an astonishing Sunset Run on Saturday evening, or a sunny Breakfast Run on Sunday morning, with many of them joining 3km dm Family Run distance. Basically, runners were running with planes taking-off or landing over their heads.  To spice up the excitement, RunCzech and the Czech Athletic Federation organized an Elite Run with a live broadcast on Czech National TV. Four Czech elite men and four women created mixed gender relays in an exhibition race of 500-1000-500-1000 meters on the runway. Afterward, Runners and their families continued to the Runway Park where they could see exhibited aircraft, closely examine airport special equipment, and spend the day with an entertaining and educational program for the whole family. The RunCzech organizing team, after recently being forced to cancel the Volkswagen Prague Marathon, was as equally excited as the runners. “As the World awakens from bearing scars of the pandemic, this event shows us that runners are eager to come back to their passion, which is manifesting signals of reopening. Our humble attempt is to demonstrate that the country is safe and competent, that the Czech Republic is running, which is a true physical verification of showing what a place can do and how it works. We simply hope to contribute to the Czech Republic’s post-pandemic recovery strategy,” summarizes Carlo Capalbo, the founder of RunCzech. Next, RunCzech has another surprise for a unique place to run, inside the historical cellars of the original Pilsen brewery on August 1.

posted Monday July 20th