Kantorek king for the first time – WHAT HAPPENED AT THE MARATHON IN KOŠICE 60 YEARS AGO

We’re opening the archives so that in our series we can bring readers closer to events at marathon in Košice, always progressively in years which are exactly a multiple of ten years in the past from today.

In 1958 a rising star of the home marathon event came to Košice.

Then 28-year-old Pavel Kantorek already had two previous starts in Košice behind him, as well as the Olympics in Melbourne and a fourth place in Fukuoka, Japan, from 1957.

It’s difficult to say how he planned his starts that autumn; the truth, however, is that only two weeks before the Košice Marathon he triumphed in a marathon in Leipzig, Germany, and later in December set off on a journey for another marathon in distant Japan.

He was evidently well prepared, however, because from the entire field of runners in Košice on 12 October 1958, only German Lothar Beckert, the fifth-place finisher at the 1958 European Championships in Stockholm, was able to stay with him to the final metres.

Even today he recalls their barnstorming finish directly on the stadium track, where they both wrestled with fatigue and cramps. Pavel became another homegrown winner from Czechoslovakia after long 24 years.

That’s how Pavel Kantorek recorded the first of his three victories at the Kosice Marathon. Later won here also in 1962 and 1964.

RESULTS

Košice Peace Marathon – October 12, 1958

1. Pavel Kantorek  – Czechoslovakia 2:29:37,24
2. Lothar Beckert  – Germany             2:29:42,6
3. Paavo Kotila       – Finland                2:30:30,8

We’re happy if you find our brief glimpse into the past interesting.
Next, we’ll look at the events of 1968.

Brano Koniar
Race Director

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