Running News Daily

Strong European Field for Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half-Marathon, celebrating its tenth edition on Saturday

This weekend's Mattoni Ústí Half-Marathon in the north of the Czech Republic near the German border will feature a strong European elite field, organizers announced today. The race celebrates its tenth edition on Saturday.

The women's field includes Eva Vrabcová Nývltová, the 2018 European Championships bronze medalist in the marathon, who is coming back to competition after giving birth to a baby girl, Adela, in 2019.

Unlike many road races which were postponed this year, the Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half-Marathon is being held on its normal date. Last year's race had 2351 finishers, but this year should have fewer finishers due to COVID restrictions. The course records are Men, 59:14, by Kenya's Barselius Kipyego in 2017 and 1:07:17 by Peres Jepchirchir, also from Kenya, in 2015.

The elite start lists are as follows.

MEN -Said El Otmani (ITA) 1:01:31 (Verbania, 2019) Alejandro Jimenez (ESP) 1:03:05 (Valencia, 2019) Jirí Homolác (CZE) 1:03:23 (Prague, 2017) Alberto Sanchez Pinilla (ESP) 1:03:39 (Puerto de Sagunto, 2020) Bohdan-Ivan Horodyskyi (UKR) 1:04:43 (Kovel, 2019) Vít Pavlišta (CZE) 1:05:09 (Prague, 2016) Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse (FRA) 1:05:22 (Lille, 2019) Robert Míc (CZE) 1:07:23 (Ústí nad Labem, 2017) Azeddine Habz (FRA) debut Jakub Zemaník (CZE) debut Sebastian Hendel (GER) pacemaker for women’s race

WOMEN -Fatma Maraoui (ITA) 1:10:08 (Cremona, 2011) Eva Vrabcová Nývltová (CZE) 1:11:01 (Prague, 2018) Ekaterina Korneenko (BLR) 1:12:45 (Poznan, 2019) Marcela Joglová (CZE) 1:13:46 (Kostenice, 2020) Kristina Hendel (GER) 1:14:02 (Berlín, 2019) Ivana Sekyrová (CZE) 1:14:06 (Pardubice, 2013) Cecilia Mobuchon (FRA) 1:14:16 (Sevilla, 2020) Nuria Lugueros Diaz (ESP) 1:15:11 (Madrid, 2019) Tereza Hrochová (CZE) 1:15:59 (Kostenice, 2020) Barbora Jíšová (CZE) 1:18:51 (Prague, 2018) Tereza Jagošová (CZE) 1:25:08 (Olomouc, 2018)

(09/18/2020) Views: 1,559 ⚡AMP

RunCzech is getting ready for its first half marathon this year in Ústí nad Labem

RunCzech is aligning its activities in accordance with the incoming regulations and we are constantly working on the 10th edition of the Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon, which will happen on Saturday, 19th of September. 

The race program will include the dm Family Run, the Spolchemie Czech Handbike Championship, and of course the spotlight will be aimed at the main race. Race organisers from all around the world had big ambitions for this year. However, most of the races got cancelled and organisers had to look for other solutions.

Some are organizing races for elite runners only. Others are experimenting with virtual runs or coming up with interesting online challenges. Instead, the Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon will be held in full shape - participation will consist of both amateurs and Pro runners from the Czech Republic and other European countries. 

RunCzech had to reschedule its races to Autumn, and the Prague races had been cancelled for this year completely. This has motivated the organizing committee to incredible actions. At the beginning of September, the World Record for the women-only half marathon was broken and the male runners contributed to achieve the 5th best time of all times in men’s half marathon.

Now it seems that RunCzech could be one of the few, if not the only organizer in the World that will be able to organize mass participation events as we know them. Everything will be, of course, aligned with the recommendations of the local hygiene station, that is in daily cooperation with the RunCzech team.

A safety protocol has been created, which enables us to host the race, summarizing and communicating to runners all necessary rules. Among other things, it mainly covers the regulations regarding the risk of spreading the virus, the specific hygienic requirements, and the cooperation with healthcare providers.

In agreement with the director of the Hygiene Station of the Ústí region, Dr. Lenka Šimůnková, the representatives of the city and the region and following the Ministry of Health's special regulations, RunCzech prepared the following instructions:

Time of start is changed so that there is larger difference between the races

dm Family Run at 11AM (and possible start in waves)

Handbike race at 1PM (25 participants maximum)

Half Marathon at 3PM (start in waves - first 1000 people at 3PM, next wave starts minutes later)

Technical area will be divided in two sectors monitoring the right amount of people and making sure the two groups never meet before or after the race.

Only healthy runners will participate controlled by runners’ declarations and by preventively measuring their temperature.

Runners will be allowed in the starting corridor for a minimum amount of time. Corridors have been enlarged to secure 2 meters distance between runners.

Runners will be requested to wear masks before and after the race, including in the technical area. The technical area is adjusted to secure a fast way out without any possible delays. 

Technical adjustments:

Significant increase of disinfection stations and information signs around the technical and start/finish area.

Usage of safety gloves for transporting refreshments or giving out medals.

Regular disinfection of sanitary equipment (toilets).

Cancellation of foam sponges for refreshment.

Refreshment points served without any physical contact.

No fruits at refreshment stations. Only whole bananas served at the finish.

Sugar and salt served only in full and closed one-use packages.

Changing rooms will be placed outdoor.

Taping services - cancelled

Showers - cancelled

Massages - cancelled

After race party - cancelled

Good luck to everyone and stay safe.  

(09/16/2020) Views: 1,402 ⚡AMP

Green light for Czech races

Every day there is a new change in coronavirus restrictions and we are constantly looking for solutions on how to organize a safe event.

We set up a meeting with representatives of Liberec and Ústí nad Labem regions and their corresponding hygiene station last week. We can happily announce that we have received a green light for organizing the Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon (September 19) and the Mattoni Liberec Nature Run (October 4).

We can’t wait to see you at the starting line and then release you to the course. However, there will be some regulations that all of us have to follow for maintaining safe conditions:

Masks will be mandatory to wear during the pick-up of start numbers, in the technical area and in start and finish corridor

The start of the race will be operated in several stages (starts will be divided after few minutes) – There will not be any showers or taping zone in technical area (lockers and depository will remain, but the amount of people will be limited)

There was a modification in timings of racing day to avoid groupings of runners from various races (times were updated at our website)

There will be limitations of some products at refreshment stations

We will send you more specific steps and regulations by email just before the race. We would like to ask you to follow these instructions. We strongly believe that none of them will affect your joy after you cross the finish line. You still have a chance to participate in a top-class race, whether you choose to run through an industrial area or granite quarry. Thank you for understanding and we are looking forward to seeing you all.

If you are going to participate in later races (the Mattoni Half Marathons in Olomouc, Karlovy Vary and ÄŒeské BudÄ›jovice) please wait for more information. Meetings are being held in the following week.

(09/04/2020) Views: 1,386 ⚡AMP

Great Britain’s Jess Piasecki and Germany’s Hendrik Pfeiffer won the elite races at the Mattoni Usti nad Labem Half Marathon on Saturday

At the fifteenth kilometer mark Jess Piasecki and her Ukrainian rival Daria Mykhailova - who was contesting her third EuroHeroes Challenge race of the season - had broken away from the challengers and in the end victory went to Piasecki in 1:11:34, enhancing her personal best by two seconds. 

“The time is great, though I had wanted to do it a bit faster. I mainly concentrated on beating Daria. The finish was pretty tough. It was a good performance because I’m training for the Frankfurt marathon,” said Piasecki.

Mykhailova had to settle for second but she had more than good reason to be pleased with her efforts. Her time of 1:11:36 was nine seconds better than her personal best to date and it also meant she emerged as the overall winner of the EuroHeroes Challenge. 

Experiencing difficulties on the course, the anticipated series winner Lilia Fisikovici from Moldova only managed sixth place (1:14:06) and was thus toppled off her throne.

In the men’s race, Pfeiffer ran aggressively in the early stages despite the warm conditions on offer and ran a solo race, winning in 63:17 from Poland’s Marcin Chabowski (63:49) and Ukraine’s Roman Romanenko (63:51).

“I found the race really tough because it was so hot on the course. I ran really well during the first half, but the second half was a lot more up and down. By the tenth kilometer however I knew I was going for a personal best,” he said.

Not only did Pfeiffer break his lifetime best by 43 seconds, his time was also the fastest by a European in Usti nad Labem Half Marathon race history, bettering the mark of 64:06 held by Ukraine’s Dmytro Lashyn.

A total of 3539 runners took part in this year’s Usti nad Labem Half Marathon. A further 2556 parents and children also took part in the dm family run, with several dozen more competing in the Spolchemie Handbike Cup. 

The RunCzech race series in the Czech Republic will close with the Mattoni Liberec Nature Run, a trail race entering its second year which is held on 5 October. 

The European Athletics Quality Road Race standards act as an assurance for road runners throughout Europe. They distinguish between races that respect the standards and those that haven’t sought certification or assessment. They form the foundation of Running for All, a strong recognizable brand for running activities throughout Europe.

(09/23/2019) Views: 2,054 ⚡AMP

Sara Hall will headline the Mattoni Usti nad Labem Half Marathon on September 15

Sara Hall and Jared Ward will run the Mattoni Usti nad Labem Half Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label road race. The two Americans add to an increasing interest and participation from some of the finest U.S. distance runners in recent RunCzech events. At the 2017 Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon the organizers were proud to host the two time Olympic medalist, Galen Rupp and the very popular and talented Jordan Hasay, both of whom were preparing for the Boston Marathon. In Prague Hasay achieved a significant personal best of 1:07:55 which prepared her for a big marathon breakthrough in Boston 16 days later. Although Rupp ran a very respectable 1:01:59 he was disappointed that foot problems kept him from being more competitive. (09/04/2018) Views: 2,025 ⚡AMP