Prague Half Marathon

Prague Half Marathon
Runners crossing Mánes Bridge in the centre of Prague in 2010
Date	Late March/Early April
Location	Prague, Czech Republic
Event type	Road
Distance	Half marathon
Established	1999
Official site	Prague Half Marathon

The Prague Half Marathon is an annual half marathon road running event which takes place in Spring on the city streets of Prague, Czech Republic. Known as the Hervis Prague Half Marathon for sponsorship reasons, it holds IAAF Gold Label Road Race status, making it the foremost race of its type in the country. It is managed by the same organisation that holds the Prague Marathon in May.

The Prague Half Marathon has a looped course format which has its race start and end point on Jan Palach Square near the Rudolfinum. The course follows the Vltava river southwards and then makes an east-to-west loop passing Folimanka park. It crosses to the west side of the Vltava, heading over Palacky Bridge, and after heading south along Strakonická road it doubles back to follow the river north, before crossing Legií Bridge to reach the halfway point. The course traces a large loop into the northern part of the city centre before returning to the Rudolfinum for the finish point.

The competition has enjoyed an increasing level of participation, with around 6500 participants in 2009 and almost 8500 runners taking part in the 2010 event. Since 2006, a corporate team half marathon relay event has also featured on the day's programme of events – each company being represented by four runners each covering equal legs of 5.27 km. Around 100 teams and 50 business and institutions were present for the first race.

In the elite level half marathon races, Kenyan athletes have been dominant – all but four of the men's winners come from the East African country, which has also provided over half the female race winners. Daniel Wanjiru has topped the men's podium on two occasions, and both Jana Klimešová and Rose Kosgei have taken back-to-back wins in the women's event.