Prague marathon superior to NY marathon? / Je prazsky maraton lepsi nez ten v NY?

PS: This article was written before the Boston  marathon bombing happened. My prayers go to all of the people involved in it :(.

Radio Praha did a very nice article on the history of the Prague marathon. I do NOT run marathons myself (I think such tortures belong to places like hell :)) but my doctor keeps talking about it so I figured I may as well get educated in this arena.

The person behind this whole thing is an Italian businessman Carlo Capalbo who has been living in Prague for over 20 years. His friend, an Olympic gold medalist and a winner of the Boston and New York marathons, came to visit him in Prague and gave him the idea to start a marathon here. Carlo explains: “In order to do a marathon you need a background, and Prague is a fantastic background. You should have a sporting tradition, and this country has a great legacy from Emil Zatopek…I called Mr. Zatopek and together we went to see the mayor. Or course, the people ad the administration were completely shocked, because they did not know what a marathon was. For them, a marathon was 100 people sweating and running through the fields.”

Some people still wonder if running marathon on hundred year old cobbler stones is the best idea but Carlo still argues that starting and ending the marathon on the Old Town Square – one of the most beautiful places in the world – is the most important asset.

This year’s Prague marathon will place in mid May so – if you are one of those crazy people –  you still have time to pack your bags and go 🙂

CZ: Radio Praha ma moc pekny clanek o tom, jak vlastne vzniknl maraton v Praze. Zacatky byly pry krusne, Cesi ani poradne nevedeli, co maraton je, byrokracie panu Carlu Capalbovi  kladla klacky pod nohy, ale nakonec se mu to povedlo. Tento rok se na nej chysta desitek tisicu lidi a bude pristi mesic, takze mate cas si jeste koupit letenky a pekne si zabehat :).