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Košice Peace Marathon

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Košice Peace Marathon
DateOctober
LocationKošice, Slovakia
Event typeRoad
DistanceMarathon
Primary sponsorU.S. Steel Košice, Volvo Cars
Established1924 (100 years ago) (1924)
Course recordsMen's: 2:06:55 (2023)
Kenya Philemon Rono
Women's: 2:21:08 (2024)
Kenya Rebecca Tanui
Official siteOfficial website
Participants2,062 male and 402 female finishers (2024)

The Košice Peace Marathon (Slovak: Medzinárodný maratón mieru) is an annual road marathon held in Košice, Slovakia, since 1924. It is the oldest continuously running in the world, having been run every year since 1941. It is the oldest marathon in Europe and the third-oldest in the world (after the Boston Marathon, first held in 1897, and the Yonkers Marathon, first held in 1907). However, Boston and Yonkers have been continuous only since 2021.[1] The marathon generally takes place each year on the first Sunday in October. The course is relatively flat and consists of two loops, mostly within the city center.

The marathon is an AIMS-certified race.[2] It is also categorized as a Silver Label Road Race by World Athletics,[3] and was certified as a 5-Star Quality Road Race by European Athletics Running for All in 2015.[4]

History

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The Košice Peace Marathon, first held in 1924, is the oldest marathon in Europe and the third oldest in the world. Inspired by the 1924 Paris Olympics, Košice sports enthusiast Vojtech ( born Braun) Bukovský organized the inaugural race, which began beneath the ruins of Turňa Castle. The marathon quickly gained international prestige, attracting prominent athletes like 1931 winner Juan Carlos Zabala, who went on to win the 1932 Olympic marathon. Known for its adherence to the official marathon distance of 42.195km, even in its early years, the race has hosted numerous world-class runners and witnessed historic performances, including Abebe Bikila's victory in 1961. The Košice Peace Marathon has endured through war and societal change, adapting its course and expanding to include women in 1980.[5]

In 2016, the marathon received IAAF Bronze Label Road Race status,[6] and in 2018, it received IAAF Silver Label Road Race status.[7]

Course

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External image
image icon Course map of full marathon in 2020[8]

The course is flat, completely asphalted and traffic free, two laps in the historic city center.

The cumulative elevation gain is 74 m (243 ft).[8]

Winners

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Runners at the 2006 edition
Memorial of the Košice Peace Marathon at the Marathon Square in Košice, Slovakia

The course records are 2:21:08 for women (set by Rebecca Tanui in 2024) and 2:06:55 hours for men (set by Philemon Rono in 2023).

Note: winners are listed below for five of the seven war years (1938–44), five war winners are listed at official homepage too, although the history provided by the Košice Peace Marathon states: "The Slovakian Marathon suffered a cleft seven years wide. To some extent this was patched up with five marathons organized under the Hungarian flag during the Horthy occupation of Košice – without a single foreign runner..."[9] Its status as the oldest marathon in Europe, and second-oldest in the world, remains undiminished by this break.

Key:    Course record (in bold)

Ed. Year Men's winner Time[a] Women's winner Time[a] Rf.
1 1924  Karol Halla (TCH) 3:01:35 not held
2 1925  Pál Király (HUN) 2:41:55
3 1926  Paul Hempel (GER) 2:57:02
4 1927  József Galambos (HUN) 2:48:25.2
5 1928  József Galambos (HUN) 2:55:45
6 1929  Paul Hempel (GER) 2:51:31
7 1930  Istvàn Zelenka (HUN) 2:50:59
8 1931  Juan Carlos Zabala (ARG) 2:33:19
9 1932  József Galambos (HUN) 2:43:15
10 1933  József Galambos (HUN) 2:37:54
11 1934  Josef Šulc (TCH) 2:41:26.3
12 1935  Artūrs Motmillers (LAT) 2:44:58
13 1936  György Balaban (AUT) 2:41:08
14 1937  Désiré Leriche (FRA) 2:43:41.7
15 1938 not held due to World War II
16 1939  József Kiss (HUN) 2:47:47.6
17 1940 not held due to World War II
18 1941  József Gyimesi (HUN) 2:56:17.8
19 1942  József Kiss (HUN) 3:02:27
20 1943  Géza Kiss (HUN) 2:50:14.0
21 1944  Rezsö Kövári (HUN) 2:58:49
22 1945  Antonín Špiroch (TCH) 2:47:21.8
23 1946  Mikko Hietanen (FIN) 2:35:02.4
24 1947  Charles Heirendt (LUX) 2:36:06.0
25 1948  Gösta Leandersson (SWE) 2:34:46.4
26 1949  Martti Urpalainen (FIN) 2:33:45.6
27 1950  Gösta Leandersson (SWE) 2:31:20.2
28 1951  Jaroslav Štrupp (TCH) 2:41:07.8
29 1952  Erkki Puolakka (FIN) 2:29:10
30 1953  Walter Bednář (TCH) 2:53:33
31 1954  Erkki Puolakka (FIN) 2:27:21
32 1955  Evert Nyberg (SWE) 2:25:40
33 1956  Thomas Nilsson (SWE) 2:22:05.4
34 1957  Ivan Filin (URS) 2:23:57.8
35 1958  Pavel Kantorek (TCH) 2:29:37.2
36 1959  Sergei Popov (URS) 2:17:45.2
37 1960  Samuel Hardicker (GBR) 2:26:46.8
38 1961  Abebe Bikila (ETH) 2:20:12.0
39 1962  Pavel Kantorek (TCH) 2:28:29.8
40 1963  Leonard Edelen (USA) 2:15:09.6
41 1964  Pavel Kantorek (TCH) 2:25:55.4
42 1965  Aurèle Vandendriessche (BEL) 2:23:47
43 1966  Gyula Tóth (HUN) 2:19:11.2
44 1967  Nedo Farčić (YUG) 2:20:53.8
45 1968  Václav Chudomel (TCH) 2:26:28.4
46 1969  Demissie Wolde (ETH) 2:15:37
47 1970  Mikhail Gorelov (URS) 2:16:26.2
48 1971  Gyula Tóth (HUN) 2:21:43.6
49 1972  John Farrington (AUS) 2:17:34.4
50 1973  Vladimir Moseyev (URS) 2:19:01.2
51 1974  Keith Angus (GBR) 2:20:10
52 1975  Choe Chang-sop (PRK) 2:15:47.8
53 1976  Takeshi So (JPN) 2:18:42.4
54 1977  Go Chun-son (PRK) 2:15:19.4
55 1978  Go Chun-son (PRK) 2:13:34.5
56 1979  Jouni Kortelainen (FIN) 2:15:12
57 1980  Aleksey Lyagushev (URS) 2:15:25  Šárka Balcarová (TCH) 2:50:15
58 1981  Hans-Joachim Truppel (GER) 2:16:58  Christa Vahlensieck (GER) 2:37:46
59 1982  György Sinkó (HUN) 2:18:48  Gillian Burley (GBR) 2:43:26
60 1983  František Višnický (TCH) 2:16:52  Raisa Sadreydinova (URS) 2:34:41
61 1984  Lee Dong-myong (PRK) 2:18:59  Christa Vahlensieck (GER) 2:36:56
62 1985  Valentin Starikov (URS) 2:17:13  Lutsia Belyayeva (URS) 2:38:19
63 1986  František Višnický (TCH) 2:18:43  Christa Vahlensieck (GER) 2:41:08
64 1987  Jörg Peter (GER) 2:14:59  Christa Vahlensieck (GER) 2:38:40
65 1988  Michael Heilmann (GER) 2:17:52  Christa Vahlensieck (GER) 2:39:03
66 1989  Karel David (TCH) 2:18:39  Alena Peterková (TCH) 2:31:28
67 1990  Nikolaj Kolesnikov (URS) 2:20:28  Carol McLatchie (USA) 2:46:00
68 1991  Vlastimil Bukovjan (TCH) 2:18:21  Marika Starowská (TCH) 2:46:00
69 1992  Wieslaw Palczyński (POL) 2:16:24  Dana Hajná (TCH) 2:43:27
70 1993  Wieslaw Palczyński (POL) 2:14:11  Elena Plastinina (UKR) 2:42:11
71 1994  Petr Pipa (SVK) 2:15:03  Ľudmila Melicherová (SVK) 2:40:27
72 1995  Marnix Goegebeur (BEL) 2:13:57  Gouzel Tazetdinova (RUS) 2:43:03
73 1996  Marnix Goegebeur (BEL) 2:17:41  Gouzel Tazetdinova (RUS) 2:44:28
74 1997  My Tahar Echchadli (MAR) 2:16:22  Wioletta Uryga (POL) 2:38:56
75 1998  Andrzej Krzyścin (POL) 2:14:29  Wioletta Uryga (POL) 2:46:23
76 1999  Róbert Štefko (SVK) 2:14:10  Katarína Jedináková (SVK) 2:55:39
77 2000  Ernest Kipyego (KEN) 2:14:35  Ivana Martincová (CZE) 2:46:17
78 2001  David Kariuki (KEN) 2:13:27  Galina Zhulyeva (UKR) 2:36:55
79 2002  David Kariuki (KEN) 2:12:40  Tadelesh Birra (ETH) 2:36:49
80 2003  Grigoriy Andreyev (RUS) 2:13:24  Alena Mazouka (BLR) 2:39:23
81 2004  Adam Dobrzyński (POL) 2:12:35  Rika Tabashi (JPN) 2:33:52
82 2005  David Maiyo (KEN) 2:16:07  Edyta Lewandowska (POL) 2:37:48
83 2006  Edwin Kiptum (KEN) 2:12:53  Natallia Kravets-Kulesh (BLR) 2:36:47
84 2007  William Biama (KEN) 2:09:53  Natallia Kravets-Kulesh (BLR) 2:34:50
85 2008  Dejene Yirdaw (ETH) 2:10:51  Selina Chelimo (KEN) 2:34:23
86 2009  Jacob Chesire (KEN) 2:10:59  Olena Burkovska (UKR) 2:30:50
87 2010  Gilbert Chepkwony (KEN) 2:08:33  Almaz Alemu (ETH) 2:36:35
88 2011  Elijah Kemboi (KEN) 2:11:15  Maryna Damantsevich (BLR) 2:33:53
89 2012  Lawrence Kimaiyo (KEN) 2:07:01  Hellen Mugo (KEN) 2:29:59
90 2013  Patrick Korir (KEN) 2:09:36  Ashete Bekere (ETH) 2:27:44
91 2014  Gilbert Chepkwony (KEN) 2:08:26  Lydia Jerotich (KEN) 2:28:48
92 2015  Samuel Kosgei (KEN) 2:07:07  Melka Mulu (ETH) 2:35:33
93 2016  David Kiyeng (KEN) 2:08:57  Chaltu Waka (ETH) 2:32:19
94 2017  Reuben Kerio (KEN) 2:08:12  Sheila Jerotich (KEN) 2:27:34
95 2018  Raymond Choge (KEN) 2:08:11  Milliam Ebongon (KEN) 2:27:16
96 2019  Hillary Kipsambu (KEN) 2:09:33  Kumeshi Sichala (ETH) 2:26:01
97 2020  Marek Hladík (SVK) 2:26:08  Petra Pastorová (CZE) 2:52:11 [10]
98 2021  Reuben Kerio (KEN) 2:07:18  Ayuntu Tadesse (ETH) 2:24:35 [11]
99 2022  Reuben Kerio (KEN) 2:07:16  Margaret Agai (KEN) 2:24:04 [12]
100 2023  Philemon Rono (KEN) 2:06:55  Jackline Cherono (KEN) 2:24:43 [13]
101 2024  Denis Chirchir (KEN) 2:07:50  Rebecca Tanui (KEN) 2:21:08 [14]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b h:m:s

References

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  1. ^ Longest Running Road Races. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2012-04-25.
  2. ^ AIMS Race Calendar. AIMS. Retrieved on 2019-04-01.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". www.worldathletics.org. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ Triple joy for Pereira. European Athletic Association. Retrieved on 2015-10-05.
  5. ^ "100 years of the Košice Peace Marathon | Distance Running magazine 2023 Edition 2 | Running into history". aims-worldrunning.org. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  6. ^ Sebastian Coe has confirmed the status of the Košice Peace Marathon (in Slovak) . Retrieved on 2019-04-01.
  7. ^ IAAF Silver Label. Retrieved on 2019-14-02.
  8. ^ a b "Race Instructions". Archived from the original on 17 September 2020.
  9. ^ Vojmaratony (in Slovak)
  10. ^ Košice Peace Marathon 2020 kosicemarathon.com. 2020 Retrieved 8 October 2024
  11. ^ Košice Peace Marathon 2021 kosicemarathon.com. 2021 Retrieved 8 October 2024
  12. ^ Košice Peace Marathon worldathletics.org. 2022 Retrieved 6 October 2022
  13. ^ Košice Peace Marathon 2023 kosicemarathon.com. 2023 Retrieved 20 August 2024
  14. ^ Košice Peace Marathon 2024 worldathletics.org. 2024 Retrieved 8 October 2024
List of winners
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