Intense racing & unique team battle ensure a great day in Prague2520
Prague 30 May 2021
The inaugural edition of The Battle of the Teams in Prague early on Sunday morning, starting in glorious sunshine on the Charles Bridge, lived up to expectations, in every respect. Incorporated into the elite-only Prague Marathon, the competition produced fast racing, a team result in doubt till long after the winners had crossed the line (exactly what was hoped), and delightfully, provided two Czech elite ladies with a platform on which to gain Olympic qualifying times for Tokyo.
The Battle of the Teams concept, dreamed up by RunCzech founder Carlo Capalbo, involved four carefully balanced teams of eight athletes, but eventually there could be only one individual winner in the men’s and women’s races, and only one team could come out on top.
The Men’s race, a tactical and cautious affair, was won by Kenya’s Benson Kipruto in 2:10.16, his surge over the final 5km proving the key to defeating several high calibre opponents. The reluctance to push on didn’t result in fast times, but did provide a delicately balanced race with a result in doubt till the final stages. Kipruto’s winning margin over fellow Kenyan Dickson Chumba, was ten seconds by the time he crossed the finish line in the old City Square.
In contrast, Purity Rionoripo of Kenya, after an already quick first half, applied pressure at the front of the women’s race at 25km, breaking loose and building an unassailable lead. As the last of the thirteen 3km laps unfolded, she pulled further and further clear, surging to the line in 2:20.14, with Ethiopia’s Guteni Shone taking second in 2:21.46.
In many respects, Rionoripo’s win was the performance of the day, though her great run and points contribution to her Volkswagen team, could not stop rival Team Birell, from taking the team title. The scoring format, with six runners per team to count, saw times converted to points, but importantly ensured that the last finishers for each team, could change the team positions dramatically.
Eventually it was the two personal bests by team members, that ensured Team Birell’s comfortable winning margin, their squad’s times converting to 7,152 points, over Team Volkswagen’s 6,887. Team Mattoni were third with 6845, with Team Skupina CEZ on 6765.
From a Czech perspective, it was a special day too, with Eva Vrabcova Nyvltova (6th in 2:27.07) booking her ticket for the Tokyo Olympics. Moira Stewartova (9th in 2:29.28) achieved the Olympic qualifying time, but as fourth ranked Czech, just misses a Tokyo team slot. Eva Vrabcova Nyvltova was ecstatic, saying immediately after the race, „I’m back, I don’t know what to say. I didn’t expect this at all, so I’m very happy. I didn’t want to believe it was happening until I had finished. The marathon is terribly unpredictable and I was afraid that I would have to go to the toilet, because after giving birth last year, that is what happens sometimes! I have to thank the guys who ran with me, David Vaš and Pavel Šedík for pulling me along.“
RESULTS – BATTLE OF THE TEAMS
MEN
# | BIB | NAME | NAT | RESULT
1 | 35 | KIPRUTO BENSON | KEN | 2:10:16
2 | 25 | CHUMBA DICKSON | KEN | 2:10:26
3 | 45 | KIGEN NOBERT | KEN | 2:10:27
4 | 37 | KETER KENNETH | KEN | 2:10:29
5 | 13 | ANBESA LENCHO | ETH | 2:10:50
6 | 15 | ATANAW KINDE | ETH | 2:11:00
7 | 27 | ZELALEM MENGISTU | ETH | 2:11:48
8 | 23 | ATNAFU YITAYAL | ETH | 2:11:58
9 | 32 | CANCHANYA WILY | PER | 2:12:33
10 | 47 | IBRAHIM ABDI | BRN | 2:12:52
WOMEN
# | BIB | NAME | NAT | RESULT
1 | 26 | RIONORIPO PURITY | KEN | 2:20:14
2 | 36 | SHONE GUTENI | ETH | 2:21:46
3 | 16 | AIYABEI VALARY | KEN | 2:22:39
4 | 18 | LEMPUS BETTY | KEN | 2:24:15
5 | 14 | ABAYECHEW TIGIST | ETH | 2:26:12
6 | 11 | VRABCOVÁ NÝVLTOVÁ EVA | CZE | 2:27:07
7 | 48 | MULISA ABERU | ETH | 2:28:02
8 | 38 | BELETE MESERET | ETH | 2:28:31
9 | 31 | STEWARTOVÁ MOIRA | CZE | 2:29:28
10 | 42 | IWADE REIA | JPN | 2:32:33
RESULTS – CZECH CHAMPIONSHIP
MEN
# | BIB | NAME | NAT | RESULT
1 | 21 PAVLIŠTA VÍT | CZE | 2:18:28
2 | 41 HOMOLÁČ JIŘÍ | CZE | 2:19:08
3 | 120 KOHUT JAN | CZE | 2:21:13
4 | 124 PECHEK PETR | CZE | 2:23:23
5 | 135 VAŠ DAVID | CZE | 2:27:13
6 | 114 ŠEDÍK PAVEL | CZE | 2:27:38
7 | 127 JANOUŠEK MILAN | CZE | 2:28:33
8 | 102 KUBRIČAN PAVEL | CZE | 2:29:20
9 | 138 SÁDLO DOMINIK | CZE | 2:29:27
10 | 118 | NAVRÁTIL TOMÁŠ | CZE | 2:29:28
WOMEN
# | BIB | NAME | NAT | RESULT
1 | 11 | VRABCOVÁ NÝVLTOVÁ EVA | CZE | 2:27:07
2 | 31 | STEWARTOVÁ MOIRA | CZE | 2:29:28
3 | 131 | HORKÁ MAGDALENA | CZE | 2:42:30
4 | 105 | FILIPIOVÁ EVA | CZE | 2:48:32
5 | 113 | VIČAROVÁ HANA | CZE | 2:51:14
6 | 133 | JÍŠOVÁ BARBORA | CZE | 2:53:01
7 | 108 | CHUMLENOVÁ BARBORA | CZE | 2:57:30
8 | 134 | NOVÁKOVÁ BARBORA | CZE | 3:00:42
9 | 139 | KUBÍČKOVÁ TEREZA | CZE | 3:01:59
10 | 121 | KUBIČKOVÁ VERONIKA | CZE | 3:03:01
Michaela Šimeček
Prague International Marathon, spol. s r.o. / Tempo Team Prague s.r.o.
RunCzech organizes running events in cities across the Czech Republic and in Italy, with Napoli Running, and in Japan and China supported by local entities.
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