For Immediate Release
Contact: Diana Rybachenko
Tel: +420 224 91 92 09
Fax: +420 224 92 33 55
Hassan Mubarek Shami of Qatar tops all runners in Grand Finale
of Prague Marathon Weekend
Prague Marathon Weekend began at 3 p.m., Saturday May 13 with more than
9,000 runners answering the starting gun for two Fun Runs. The first, an 8
km Caddy City Run, hosted 3,800 runners. And a 4 km Golf Plus Family Run
drew 5,300 participants.
Two Algida In-line events (15 km and 5 km) were also run on Saturday, with
1,022 skaters taking part.
The runners and skaters took off to the beat of the monstrous Marathon
Music Festival, featuring several very enthusiastic Brazilian style drum
bands, dancers, jugglers and acrobats. The musical epicenter of the event
was the 11-hour main stage performance, featuring top Czech bands, playing
Ska, Latin music, and good, loud straight ahead rock 'n roll.
The classic Marathon took place on May 14. And began in near-perfect
conditions with cool temperatures, under a few clouds that dissipated by
the time the starting gun sounded at 9.a.m.
Four-thousand, eighty-two runners from more than 70 nations participated.
And Czech President Vaclav Klaus presided over the start
First place went to Hassan Mubarek Shami of Qatar, finishing in 2:11:11.
This despite (or perhaps because of) a dog that had broken from its owner,
who was watching the race, and that chased Shami for some distance. A pair
of Kenyans took second and third. David Kemboi Kiyeng clocked in at
2:11:42, and Joseph Kiprotich Ngeny finished at 2:13:57.
The first woman to cross was Alina Ivanova of Russia, finishing in 2:29:20.
She was followed by 2006 Prague Half Marathon winner Caroline Chepkorir
Kwambai of Kenya (2:31:08) and Caroline Kilel Cheptonui (2:31:10).
The Czech men had a very strong showing. The first three Czech men to
finish were Pavel Faschingbauer who finished 5th overall with a time
(2:17:13), Pavel Novak (2:18:21) finished 8th overall, and Jan Blaha (
2:24:56) finished 12th overall.
Among Czech women, Ivana Martincova finished first, and 56th overall, with
a time of 2:51"50. She was trailed by her countrywomen, Radka Churanova
who finished with a time of 3:01:03. And Anna Bacova at 3:06:42.
The Prague Marathon is also the scene of the finals for the Go Junior
Marathon Championship, a relay event featuring 10-person teams from 14
different Czech cities, plus two visiting teams from Serbia. In the end,
teams from Jicin (2:33:58), Ceske Budejovice (2:34:32) and Pardubice
(2:34:33) took first, second and third respectively.
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