Leafing through the chronicles of the Košice marathon, we note that, indeed, only a few of its races were held with no international participation.

Aside from premiere race, this also happened during the Second World War and then again in 1968, when the country’s borders were closed to foreigners after the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops. Foreign runners were also absent twice more for other, rather technical reasons. One of them was in 1953, when extensive road repairs were being made on the route to Seňa. There was such uncertainty over the completion of these works that the organisers chose not to invite any foreign competition to Košice.

The somewhat average times of the marathon winners in 1953 could perhaps be attributed to this fact, though there were certainly other reasons. According to period sources, the warm weather could also be blamed. Without a doubt it played a part in up to a third of the runners being unable to finish the race.

In the end, Walter Bednář handled all these obstacles the best, but even he did not have it easy, and the influence of the weather is clear in his case, too. This is also evidenced by the fact that in one of his later starts he ran the same course more than 20 minutes faster than in is winning year.

This can be seen even more strikingly with Jozef Klarus. In 1953, they had to wait for more than 4 and a quarter hours for his arrival at the finish line; three years later, under much better conditions and perhaps better prepared, he appeared at the finish line after only 2 hours and 57 minutes.

Results

Košice Marathon,            October 18, 1953

1. Walter BEDNÁŘ           TCH/CZE   2:53:32,8

2. Jaroslav FIALA            TCH/CZE   3:00:24,6

3. Otto PUTEANY            TCH/CZE    3:01:22,6

Start in Kosice in 1924 – The only witnesses to the past were Turňa Castle, which had been eaten away by the ravages of time, and a large, lonely tree that stood below the castle. – Photo: Kosice Peace Marathon

The famous statue of the runner by the sculptor Arpad Racko in the middle of Kosice with all the winners on the pedestal – Photo: Horst Milde 

100. Kosice Peace Marathon on 1. October 2023

A BUSY FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR

 

The beginning of 2023 brings many running opportunities. / Photo: © 2023 Košice Marathon Club – Eugen Bernáth.

The entire first half of 2023 was marked by preparations for the jubilee marathon, but also the organising of other running events that make up the framework of the oldest marathon in Europe.

After fulfilling the winter challenges and the start of the Women Friendly Marathon programme, attention in April and May turned to three important races in close succession. The first was the Ultramarathon from Miskolc to Košice on Saturday, 22 April, followed by a large charity City Run on 11 May in support of the treatment of children’s oncology. Finally, there was Košice Peace Half Marathon on 14 May, which will test the readiness of runners and organisers for the peak of the season come autumn. Before that happens on Sunday, 1 October, we have one more important date to look forward to. On Saturday, 24 June, we are organising the women’s Velvet Run in the historic center of  the city.

Brano Koniar – race-director
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