Kbelská 10 - tisková zpráva

Kbelská 10 - press release

March 1, 2024

Palestra Kbelská ten has almost sold out even the increased capacity. There are a few numbers left for Saturday

The northeastern outskirts of Prague will again race with the wind. The Kbel brewery may become the starting point of the whole program (for the organizers) and the well-deserved finish (for the participants). It is located nearby (start and finish). The organizers have introduced the latest news there. Participants can moisten their throats and strengthen their stomachs after Saturday's run.

"The number of runners will surely exceed last year's numbers," says Tomáš Mirovský, the race director, who was the fourth largest single event in the Czech Republic last year. The capacity of the starting numbers has been increased by 200 places to 1,500, and less than two days before the starting gun goes off there are just over a hundred left. Yesterday the presentation ran at Decathlon in Letňany, on Friday it continues at Decathlon in Černý Most (2-8pm) and the last numbers will be available (maybe) on site before the start.

The number of academics who will go on to fight for championship titles here has even broken the record already. More than a hundred from 17 colleges across the country are going to participate. "That's probably what pleases us the most, because we are still actually a student race," Mirovsky said. Second-year students at Palestra, a private College of Physical Education and Sport, even have the race on their curriculum and, along with faculty and staff, make up the vast majority of the organizing team.

The running race from Kbel through Satalice and Vinoř will take place for the thirty-eighth time. It was founded by local athletes and one of them, Václav Řápek, is still cheering for it even after Palestra took over the direction nineteen years ago. The participation record was set in 2016 by a total of 1949 runners. This year a slightly modified circuit was set out with a new section along the game preserve and then in Vinoř. The traditional finish behind the tunnel in the central park remains. The Kbelska 10 is the proclaimed opener of the domestic season, although the award-winning Rohálovska 10 in Prusinovice in Moravia was also run last weekend.

"I am very happy that we have such a race here, which adds to the fame of our district. I will definitely come to see and encourage not only the fast runners, but whole families with children," said Ivana Šestáková, deputy mayor of Prague-Kbely. And would she even run herself? "Well, I'm more of a walker. But I'd be quite brave for the ninety-minute limit even at my pace," she smiled.

In addition to the top runners and hundreds of hobbyists, there will be interesting faces to see. Veronika Šípová, a USK league basketball player, will be running, and Lukáš Trefil, a member of the London 2012 Olympic bronze four-man team, will be presenting awards. And Jiri Magal, a bronze medalist from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic cross-country relay team - all three Palestra students - will kick off the kids' races.

In addition to the run itself, there will be a rich accompanying programme. A local piper will play at the handover of the 6+4 km relay in Vinoř. In the central park in Kbely, a Palestra wellness day will be held throughout the day, which may attract not only the participants but also non-runners to other educational, diagnostic and sporting activities. Mikuláš Karlík, the Czech national biathlon athlete, also a student of the University of Technical and Vocational Education and Sports, will also appear in the nutrition counselling room. The army is planning a helicopter flyover from the nearby airport.

And who will run for the new unique trophies in the shape of "Gordian knots" from the Ajeto glassworks, where the trophies for the Tour de France winners are born? At least come/run to see.