Prague Half Marathon

March 24th 2007

Report by Dave Howells

For many, Prague is the place to visit on a stag do, but actually it’s an old historic city with a wealth of beautiful buildings and lap-top dancing clubs, where many computer firms send their employees on courses.

The half marathon race runs through the city centre and along the river so all runners have sight of all the main interesting buildings and see exactly where the lap-top clubs are for later.

Several of us came to Prague in 2005 and enjoyed it so much that we decided to come back, because we had found out where those laptop clubs were… and even persuaded a few more to come along and run as well...

The course had changed since 2005 but still was pretty flat. The start is on the historic Charles Bridge, which is cleared of tourists for the start. The organisers set up pacemakers carrying different coloured balloons to allow runners to track their times accordingly. The finish is a bit of a bun-fight though with fruit and drinks on offer if you can find the queue.

Race conditions were good – it was cool, dampish and a nice breeze which contrasted markedly with the bright sunshine and 26 degree temperature of 2005.The route stretches around the city, through the centre, down the river and then back into the city for the finish at the Rudolfinium.

First home was Adrian Howarth followed by Lucy Elcomb, Julia Hill, Dave Howells followed by Richard and Val. Brown and finally Dave Petrie.

This is a fast flat course and so good times were recorded but I couldn,t catch any of the Ethiopians, who were all on the plane home by the time I finished. Adrian continues to maintain his excellent form but Lucy, motivated by her life coach and personal trainer, Tris, took over 5 minutes off her previous best time. Julia ran well as this was only her second half marathon – she passed me by the beer station with about 5 kilometres to go. Val Rich and I all came in under 1.50 which was a big improvement for me, proving that some drugs do work. Dave Petrie completed the race quicker than last time and didn,t have to walk around town like John Wayne for the rest of the trip.

Results:

Name	Time
Adrian Howarth	1.33.03
Lucy Elcomb	1.43.38
Julia Hill	1.46.08
Dave Howells	1.48.53
Val Brown	1.49.03
Richard Brown	1.49.03
Dave Petrie	1.58.49