Founding father of Prague Worldwide Marathon Carlo Capalbo opens up about assembly in 1995 that modified every little thing
This weekend’s Prague Worldwide Marathon would be the twenty ninth version of the occasion and, courtesy of organisers RunCzech, has turn into one in all Europe’s fastest-growing street races.
It was based again in 1995 by Carlo Capalbo, alongside 1988 Olympic males’s marathon champion Gelindo Bordin and quadruple Olympic gold medallist Emil Zátopek.
Zátopek, nicknamed the “Czech Locomotive”, is likely one of the nation’s biggest ever athletes. He’s finest recognized for being the one individual in historical past to say three Olympic gold medals over the 5000m, 10,000m and the marathon in the identical Video games, at Helsinki 1952.
Extremely, Zátopek’s gold within the marathon got here in his first ever race over 26.2 miles.
The Czech athlete was additionally the primary runner in historical past to go sub-29 minutes within the 10,000m and went undefeated in his first 38 races over the space from 1948 by to 1954.
Emil Zátopek at Helsinki 1952 (Getty)
Zátopek’s legacy isn’t simply outlined by his athletics achievements although. The 8000-plus runners that can take to the streets on Sunday (Might 5) for the Prague Worldwide Marathon – beginning and ending across the Previous City Sq. – can thank Zátopek, Capalbo and Bordin for his or her imaginative and prescient again in 1995.
“You recognize, almost 30 years in the past I had this easy and delightful dream,” Capalbo tells AW. “A good friend of mine [Bordin] stated to me that we should always organise a marathon. So we went to see Mr Zátopek. That was the beginning of every little thing.
“After we went and met Mr Zátopek, we began off with a espresso and bábovka. On the finish we tasted some pretty brandy that Mr Zátopek had. After that, we’d devised the marathon however we would have liked to work out the place the folks would run.
“So Mr Zátopek determined to attract the course for the Prague Worldwide Marathon on a serviette. The remaining is historical past.”
Carlo Capalbo (RunCzech)
The elite winners within the inaugural yr of the occasion had been Ethiopian Turbo Tummo (2:12:44) and Ukrainian Svetlana Tkach (2:38:33).
Since then, the course information have plummeted and are at present held by Alexander Mutiso (2:05:09 – 2023) and Lonah Salpeter (2:19:46 – 2019), though sadly Zátopek didn’t dwell to see the latest races as he died in 2000 aged 78.
Prague is a traditionally fast meet and the truth that the IOC have prolonged the qualification interval for the Olympic marathon previous the April 30 date, to incorporate the Prague Worldwide Marathon, says rather a lot.
It means runners from a large number of continents have flocked to the Czech Republic to fulfill the usual.
Alexander Mutiso Munyao (London Marathon Occasions)
“The Prague Worldwide Marathon is a really prestigious occasion for each the IOC and World Athletics,” Capalbo says.
“There are such a lot of folks operating to get the usual. The Olympics is the head of sport and it’s a celebration.”
Capalbo can also be eager to emphasize of the significance of the plenty. He states that operating is way more than only one particular person and his mission is to create sports activities occasions to make “folks completely satisfied and wholesome”, plus making the game “extra watchable for most of the people”.
Prague Marathon and Half (RunCzech)
“This isn’t a traditional job and operating shouldn’t be a traditional sport,” he provides. “It’s a bit of bit particular. We needed to offer the notion that the winners of operating are those that end the race, not simply these first throughout the road. The marathon is a implausible commercial for the town and it’s nice for folks’s psychological well being.
“We’re a small nation within the Czech Republic and many individuals come from overseas to the marathon. It’s an ideal revenue for Prague. This generates happiness and love for an occasion which is a practice for us.”
There can even be the added ingredient of “Battle of the Groups”. Efficiently launched final yr, the concept is that each plenty and elites are cut up into groups. It implies that the putting of each runner issues.
The 4 athletes on stage are:
🇵🇹 Solange Jesus (2:27:30 PB)
🇺🇬 Abel Chebet (Official debut)
🇨🇿 Patrik Vebr (Official debut)
🇪🇹 Lemi Berhanu Hayle (2:04:33 PB + 2016 Boston Marathon winner)They’ll every characterize a staff in “Battle of the Groups” – the intention to convey the… pic.twitter.com/aVBr4f6hCx
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) Might 3, 2024
This yr, there can be 4 groups: Group Mattoni, Group Prague Airport, Group Turkish Airways and Group Volkswagen.
“There may be nonetheless the elephant within the room,” Capalbo says. “The plenty don’t know the identify of the winners. It’s why we’ve finished Battle of the Groups so the folks participating within the marathon can take a look at the names of the elite athletes.
“We need to get the folks near the elite athletes. In addition they want European legends like Paula Radcliffe, Sebastian Coe and Rosa Mota to look as much as. While you go to look at a soccer match you go loopy to your staff and that’s what I have to see in operating.”
The occasion is on Czech TV. Or watch the dwell stream to the occasion on the RunCzech Youtube channel.
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