Prague Grand Prix 2012
Following three second place finishes from this year’s half marathon RunCzech.com running circuit, the young Kenyan runner, Henry Kiplagat finally won. During the Mattoni Prague Grand Prix, he got away from all pursuers in the Metro 10kK Race, including the world record holder in the marathon, Patrick Makau and crossed the finish line with a very good time of 27:51. Tadelech Bekele from Ethiopia won the adidas Women’s Race 5km with a time of 15:48.
Although no records were broken in the race, tens of thousands of spectators created a thrilling atmosphere along the track leading up to the lit up night Prague center. “A great race, I enjoyed it”, said not only the 19 year old winner, Kiplagat. “I had no strategy, I just ran, ran fast and this is how it turned out. Finally I was alone in the front”, he said.
At about the half way mark of the race, he shook off the second runner, Adugnu Tekele, from Ethiopia. In the end, Kiprop Limo, the younger brother of the record holder of the race from last year, then passed Tekele also. The record holder of last year’s race couldn’t arrive because he was nominated for the Kenyan world championship in the half marathon.
Yet, Patrick Makau was not smiling, he finished tenth. From the beginning you could see that the pace was too fast for him. “I felt tired and also the cobblestones were not good for me. I was careful at every step, I didn’t want to get injured,” he admitted. “However, it was very good speed training for the Frankfurt Marathon in October. And the atmosphere? Was unique,” he thanked the organizers.
The three-some of Czech favorites still had to run the team Czech championships in Tábor in the morning. The youngest of them, 22 year old Jiří Homoláč, dealt with this difficult double battle the best. “I am a long distance runner, the longer, the better,” he smiled. “It was a good run, although the time isn’t all that great. This pace from the training is good for me, I value the win.” The Olympian, Jan Kreisinger, finished 21 seconds behind him. The Czech champion for the 10km run, Milan Kocourek, finished another 20 seconds behind.
Tadelech Bekele from Ethiopia, a traditional participant of the RunCzech.com running circuit won the women’s race. “Although I usually run longer races, I am happy that I was able to do it, even though I wasn’t the favorite to win.” The fourth place finisher Polish Olympian, Karolina Jarzynská, was the best European.
Petra Kamínková, a veteran, won the never ending battle of the best Czech women long distance runners, eight seconds ahead of the Olympian, Sekyrová. “We are friends, but competitors on the track. I am happy that it turned out this way for me. The start was slower, but then I kept an eye out for it,” she said.
A list of well known faces appeared among the six thousand runners. The fifth beach volleyball duo from the Olympic Games in London, Kristýna Kolocová and Markéta Sluková, finished one right after the other. “My legs hurt,” Kolocová said. “We are not used to such distances,” added Sluková with a smile. The badminton player, Petr Koukal also ran, as well as the Judo fighter, Jaromír Ježek, former politicians, Jaromír Schling,
Vladimír Dlouhý and Kateřina Jacques, the well known physician, Jan Pirk, the priest, Pavel Čáp and others. The starter was the Olympic pentathlon winner, David Svoboda.
Results: Mattoni Prague Grand Prix 2012
Metro 10K Race: 1st Kiplagat 27:51, 2nd Kiprop Limo (both from Kenya) 28:19, 3rd Tekele (Ethiopia) 28:19, 4th Tuemay (Eritrea) 28:50, 5th Kibet (Uganda) 29:07, 6th Kirui (Kenya) 29:36, 7th Kozlowski (Poland) 29:50, 8th Oda (Japan) 29:59, 9th Ndiwa 30:04, 10th Makau (both from Kenya) 30:30, 11th Homoláč 30:38,… 13th Kreisinger 30:59, 14th Kocourek (all from the Czech Republic) 31:19.
adidas Women’s Race 5 km: 1st Bekele (Ethiopia) 15:48, 2nd Lisoreng (Kenya) 15:50, 3rd Nyakisi (Uganda) 16:01, 4th Jarzynska (Poland) 16:07, 5th Wooton (Great Britain) 16:25, 6th Ciolek (Poland) 16:33, 7th Kamínková 16:59, 8th Sekyrová (both from the Czech Republic) 17:07.
Hilton Cloud 9 sky bar and Lounge Barmen’s Race: 1st Café Louvre 2:24:25
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