A champion looking to defend his crown against a deep field of challengers, a women’s race featuring eight under-the-radar sub-2:30 marathoners, and a final chance for runners to achieve the Olympic qualification standard are among the top storylines in the 22nd edition of the Volkswagen Prague Marathon on May 8.

Watch the Prague Marathon LIVE on FloTrack.

Since it’s inception in 1995, the Volkswagen Prague Marathon has developed into one of the world’s highest quality marathons and is the jewel in the Run Czech Running League, which includes seven IAAF Gold Label Road Races, the most for any country in the world. With a turnout of 985 runners in its first edition, organizers will once again have a capacity field of 10,600 entries for this year’s race, with bib numbers selling out last year after the opening of registration.

“The Volkswagen Prague Marathon is an unbelievable success story,” said race founder Carlo Capalbo, president of the organizing committee and newly appointed chairman of the IAAF Road Running Commission. “I have to thank all those who made it happen. In total RunCzech has now had over 845,700 runners within 22 years. We can be really proud of this.”

Headlining the men’s field will be Kenya’s Felix Kipchirchir Kandie, who overcame a soar throat and sluggish early pace to earn an 18-second victory over 2014 champion Evans Chebet in 2:08:32 during last year’s race. Kandie went on to improve his PR to 2:07:07 in the Valencia Marathon last fall. The 29-year-old comes into this race having tested his fitness with a sixth-place finish in 60:04 in last month’s Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon.


But if the Czech capital is to once again be turned into “Kandie Land,” he will have to stave off a number of contenders keen to take the title. Leading that charge will be 2010 Prague Marathon champion Eliud Kiptanui, who showed he is still among the leading marathoners in the world last fall, running a personal-best 2:05:21 in Berlin, a time slightly faster than his Prague course record of 2:05:39.

Other runners who have tasted victory in Prague and will be seeking to dethrone Kandie include Kenyans Peter Kirui, the 2014 Prague Half Marathon champion, Patrick Terer, winner of the 2014 Prague Marathon (2:08:07), and Daniel Wanjiru, who has won the last two editions of the Prague Half.

All totaled, the men’s field will feature 11 runners with PRs under 2:08, so if the weather cooperates, a fast winning time could be in the making.



On the women’s side, the field includes a group of contenders capable of producing eye-opening finishes that could disrupt the presumed East African Olympic selection process. Topping that list are Ethiopians Biruktayit Degefa Eshetu and Marta Lema.

The 25-year-old Eshetu should be quite familiar to American road racing aficionados having finished in the top four at the Chevron Houston Marathon each of the last three years, performances that include a PR 2:23:51 for third in 2015 and a victory in 2:26:07 in January’s race.

Meanwhile, the 26-year-old Lema enters the race on a hot streak having run personal bests in a runner-up finish in January’s Xiamen Marathon (2:24:32) and a fourth-place effort in last month’s Ostia Half Marathon (67:58).

Standing in their way, of course, will be a group of archrivals from Kenya. Purity Rionoripo is at the head of that group, having run a PR 2:25:09 in Lisbon last year. Right behind figures to be Lucy Karimi, who clocked a personal-best 2:27:08 in Dubai in January and tested her fitness well in last month’s Prague Half Marathon with a PB 68:43.

Other runners not to be discounted include Kenyans Beatrice Jepkemboi Toroitich (2:27:41 PR) and Elizabeth Chepkanan Rumokol (2:29:32 PR) and Olena Shurkhno of Ukraine (2:29:26 PR).

With the qualification window for the Rio Olympics closing on July 11, the race figures to be make-or-break for many athletes with aspirations of competing at the Games this summer. As such, the race will feature competitors from Brazil, Mongolia, India, Israel, Finland, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Italy, Croatia, South Africa, Great Britain, Germany, Eritrea, Portugal, Ireland, and the Netherlands looking to achieve the Rio standards of 2:19 for men and 2:45 for women.

Headlining that collection of international Olympic hopefuls will be Brazil’s Marilson Dos Santos. At age 38, competing in his home Olympics would be a fitting end to a competitive racing career that has see him twice triumph at the New York City Marathon. This will be just his third marathon since competing at the 2012 London Olympics.

With the goal of reaching the Olympics in mind, there will also be intense local interest focused on Czech runners, especially Eva Vrabcova, a three-time Winter Olympian in cross-country skiing who will be making her marathon debut in a bid to become the 133rd athlete ever to compete in the Summer and Winter Olympics. The 30-year-old finished 10th in a personal-best 71:06 in last month’s Prague Half Marathon.

On the men’s side, Jan Kreisinger, Jiri Homolac, Vit Pavlista and Petr Pechek will all be in pursuit of the Czech Athletic Federation’s qualifying standard of 2:15.

This year’s Volkswagen Prague Marathon will also serve as the launch pad for a number of new initiatives.

Among them will be the Yellow Ribbon Run, featuring relays comprised of former prisoners, prison service representatives and corporate directors. Each will wear t-shirts decorated with a yellow ribbon to draw attention to the difficulties former prisoners encounter in seeking employment following their release. This will be the very first in-race anti-prejudice endeavor of its kind in Europe.

Also for the first time, runners around the globe will be able to participate on race day from wherever they are through the Prague Digital Marathon. Runners can download the Run Social app for their mobile phones, create profiles and avatars, and interact with other runners either on the course or on their treadmills.

The Prague Marathon will be cooperating for the first time with the Doctors Without Borders charity. The race will see 50 runners, five relays, and one team competing. Among them will be Zdenek Müller, who did the bulk of his training in Syria during a two-month service mission, and Tomas Sebek, a head trauma surgeon who competes barefooted and once completed a marathon with pneumonia.

Elite Men

Name	Country	Marathon PR
Felix Kipchirchir Kandie	KEN	2:07:07
Eliud Kiptanui	KEN	2:05:21
Eric Ndiema	KEN	2:06:07
Gilbert Kipruto Kirwa	KEN	2:06:14
Peter Cheruiyot Kirui	KEN	2:06:31
Samuel Kiplimo Kosgei	KEN	2:06:53
Seboka Dibaba	ETH	2:06:17
Marilson Dos Santos	BRA	2:06:34
Patrick Kipyegon Terer	KEN	2:08:07
Daniel Kinyua Wanjiru	KEN	2:08:18
Yared Asmerom	ERI	2:07:27
Bekana Daba	ETH	2:07:04
Beraki Beyene	ERI	2:08:27
Nobert Kipkoech Kigen	KEN	2:09:25
Lawrence Cherono	KEN	2:09:39
Solomon Kirwa Yego	KEN	Debut
Fikre Assefa	ETH	2:10:01
Samson Kitoo Bungei	KEN	2:08:36
Joseph Ngeny	KEN	2:09:27
Paulo Roberto Paula	BRA	2:10:23
Yohannes Ghebregergish	ERI	Debut
Damiao Anselmo De Souza	BRA	2:14:14
Jiri Homolac	CZE	2:16:55
Jan Kreisinger	CZE	2:16:26
Vít Pavlišta	CZE	2:17:51
Petr Pechek	CZE	2:18:28
Pavel Dymak	CZE	2:43:51

Elite Women

Name	Country	Marathon PR
Biruktayit Eshetu	ETH	2:23:51
Marta Lema	ETH	2:24:32
Purity Cherotich Rionoripo	KEN	2:25:09
Rael Kguriatukei	KEN	2:25:23
Lucy Karimi	KEN	2:27:08
Afera Godfay	ETH	2:32:44
Risper Chebet	KEN	Debut
Hiwot Gebrekidan	ETH	2:34:45
Beatrice Jepkemboi Toroitich	KEN	2:27:41
Olena Shurkhno	UKR	2:23:32
Elizabeth Chepkanan Frumokol	KEN	2:29:32
Eva Vrabcova	CZE	Debut
Hirut Tibebu	ETH	2:30:00
Christine Kalmer	RSA	2:33:43
Dehininet Demsew	ETH	2:35:00
Cruz Nonata Da Silva	BRA	2:32:47
Kavita Raut	IND	2:38:38
Simona Santini	ITA	2:43:41
Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh	MGL	Debut
Barbara Belusic	CRO	2:49:09
Viktoriia Poliudina	KRG	2:49:38
Radka Churanova	CZE	2:45:00
Azaunt Taka	ISR	2:50:38
Monika Preibischova	CZE	Debut
Dagmar Rychnovska	CZE	Debut