Prague International Marathon
photo: (czechtourism.com)
The Prague International Marathon, (abbreviated as PIM) is a marathon founded in 1995. It is regularly organised through the streets of Prague, in several laps. In spite of its short history, the race is ranked among the most prestigious marathon races in the world, and in 2010 the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) awarded PIM with the golden seal designed for the 17 best-quality city marathons.
In the course of the previous years, activities of the
Prague Marathon developed into a race series organised from spring to autumn. The atmosphere of the Prague Marathon has attracted many leading world champions to the Czech Republic, such as Haile Gebrselassie, Stefano Baldini, Paul Tergat, Moses Tanui and Antonio Pinto, as well as thousands of visitors. In 2010, over 50 thousand sportspeople from all corners of the planet took part in the races under the PIM series, of which 8,000 were marathon runners. In 2011, some 8,700 participants are expected.
At present, the Prague International Marathon includes the so-called ½ Marathon, also called the
Hervis ½ Marathon Prague, organised at the turn of March/April. In the first part of May, the series continues with the Prague Marathon Weekend, whose most important race is the
Volkswagen Marathon Prague. It is the main marathon race in the series. The last race of the season comes in September and is called the X1 Prague Grand Prix X1. It is a short course run for men (10 km) and for women (5 km). There are three main races and also the
Junior Marathon – We Run For Europe (which is held in April).
Recently, other cities in the Czech Republic have joined the race series. They have organised their own races under the auspices of the Prague International Marathon.
The schedule for races in Prague and other cities in the Czech Republic can be found
here.
Author:
Petra Hubálková
Source: http://www.praguemarathon.com/
Added:
26.04.2011