The Prague Post Online: Tempo: A unique marathon beverage

October 12th, 2008

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A unique marathon beverage

May 14th, 2008 issue

Prague marathon winner Ken Mburu Mungara ate oranges and drank water when he finished on Old Town Square Sunday morning, shunning the nonalcoholic Staropramen beer thrust into his hand by organizers when he crossed the finish line.

But others in a corresponding “beer marathon” drank their hearts out with (alcoholic) beers from the sponsor.

Mungara won with a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, 6 seconds, beating his Kenyan countryman Eliah Sang by a little more than a minute to take home a prize pot of 16,000 euros ($24,960/402,560 Kč).

“The conditions were quite good, but it was too hot,” Mungara said after the race.

Prague’s signature cobblestones along parts of the route also slowed down the racers, Sang said.

A thermometer near the course showed it was 24 degrees Celsius in the sun. The warm, breezy weather kept the runners from breaking any records, even though there were big cash incentives to do so, said Jana Moberly, coordinator for the 50 or so elite foreign athletes in town.

Anyone managing to break the 2 hour, 10 minute mark (faster than all but three of the top athletes’ personal best records) would have received 5,000 euros; organizers set aside 50,000 euros for anyone managing to break a time of 2 hours, 6 minutes.

“Our course is fast because it’s not too hilly,” Moberly said. “But, in May in recent years, we have had 8 degrees, and all the way up to 30 degrees.”

More than 5,000 runners took part in the 14th annual, Volkswagen-sponsored event, serenaded by numerous bands along the route and an enthusiastic crowd. They ran along the banks of the Vltava River, from the neighborhood of Modřany to Holešovice, through Karlín.

Czech national champion Robert Štefko said he was satisfied with his time after training lightly for the race, finishing at 2 hours, 23 minutes, 53 seconds.

But female Czech champion Ivana Martincová, seemed disappointed with her time of 2 hours, 53 minutes, almost 10 minutes off her personal best of 2 hours and 44 minutes. Her voice cracked at a press conference afterward, as she said it was her worst time in three years.

Alternative events

While there was also an inline skate race course, a family “mini-marathon” of 4.2 kilometers, an “eco-walk” of 2 kilometers and other fun stuff (paintball, anyone?) the new marketing event we liked best was the beer marathon, which had just 17 entries.

It seemed like such a great idea, too — anyone could participate in the “buy one drink, get a free beer” deal at 11 participating restaurants and bars around town, which included our Karlín favorite Gate Restaurant (Sokolovská 31, Prague 8); two Modrá zahrada pizza locations (Pařížská 14 and Národní 37, both in Prague 1); and two Potrefená husa locations (Bílkova 5 and Platnéřská 9).

Some folks filled out more than one entry form, apparently, since they picked up more than one prize.

Winner Miroslav Bouška received 5,000 Kč for getting at least six different beer marathon stamps on his entry form from participating locations.

Alena Mášová kissed her prize — a 5-liter keg of Staropramen given out to winners No. 2 through No. 11. She was cheered mightily by her compatriots in the bar, most of whom also received 5-liter kegs.

Sounds like a great exercise regimen. Pivo, anyone?

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