A very unconventional race. The planes were replaced by runners at Prague Airport. How did they run on the runway?
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Both the marathon and the half marathon in the streets of Prague fell victim to anti-coronavirus measures this year, so the organizers at least took advantage of the weaker traffic at the airport and dusted off the earlier idea of racing in the area where planes usually take off. And they made the event special with a relay of the best Czech runners.
The four-member teams were formed by elite Czech militia Kristiina Mäki and Diana Mezuliáníková. However, due to her pregnancy, Mäki moved to the role of a non-running captain. “I still train quite normally, but racing is something else for the body. “I was even more nervous like this when I couldn’t do anything about it,” she said.
Diana Mezuliáníková on the runway of the Runway Run race at Václav Havel Airport in Prague.
Michal Kamaryt, ČTK
Two kilometers and two five-hundred-meter sections were always run against each other by a man and a woman, and Jan Friš from the blue team of Mezuliáníková already gained a decisive lead in the beginning. As a finisher, she ran for the victory, which was not deprived of even by the tightening Filip Sasínek, Mäki’s partner.
The famous Vondrová: three records a day!
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“Peripherally, I saw him almost burying his legs behind his head to pull me, fortunately the team gave me a sufficient lead,” she thanked Lada Vondrová and Filip Šnejdra alongside Friš.
Instead of the starting pistol, which is not allowed in the airport area, the runners sent a horn to the track, the spectators of the race were made by the participants of other runs for the public and planes drove a short distance from the finish. “It was interesting, you usually find yourself here with your suitcases at most when you get on a plane,” said Mäki.
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The winning team of the Runway Run race, the relay race, at Václav Havel Airport in Prague. Top left Jan Friš, Jakub Hofta and Filip Šnejdr, bottom left Lada Vondrová, Diana Mezuliáníková and Anna Šimková.
Michal Kamaryt, ČTK
“I hope that similar relays will be run on the track or in the city streets. Running ten times a season is a matchmaker, I enjoyed this, “praised Sasínek, who was joined in the team next to Maslák by young runners Barbora Malíková and Pavla Štoudková.
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