Article author: František Párys

Interested judges of class II or higher can start registering for training for the specialization: refereeing gait, which will take place in Prague on March 14, 2026.

The instructor will be M. Lapka. You can register at: IS TIME.

Ludmila Pudilova, ČAS referees' committee

With the indoor athletics season slowly starting, the walking part of the athletics family has also made its first indoor starts.

Author of the article: Lucie Nekulová

RESULTS New Year's Hall 27.12.2025

RESULTS Liberec Region Championship all categories 17.01.2026

RESULTS Moravian and Silesian Championship 18.01.2026

Indoor competitions opened at the end of 2025 New Year's Eve Hall, which has been organized regularly for decades František Párys with AC Slovan LiberecThe lower participation of 27 walkers was most likely due to viral diseases that were rampant across the Czech Republic at the time (we highly recommend winter swimming and hardening to everyone, regularly going to a nearby river or pond definitely helps).

There was only one starter in the 2000m race, a young woman who arrived from Zittau, Germany. Margaret Heinzel and as a novice walker she showed a nice performance of 13:16.43. AC Rumburk, the organizer of the Zittau walker race, can be pleased that even in Zittau athletes are starting to dabble in walking.

The 3000m race was a joint start for male, female and female students. The representative clearly dominated. Ema Klimentová, who, after a successful performance in Dublin in December, set a new personal best of 13:03.65. In second place, almost a minute behind, she finished in just under 14 minutes. Elizabeth Frankl and the time of 13:59.51 also marks a new personal best for her.

The new Czech student record holder from Hodinovka from Duchcov crossed the finish line in third place. Jacob Weiss, who this time showed a solid 14:33.52. From 2026, this skilled competitor will move to the youth category.

The third woman to finish was with a time of 15:28.60. Johan Petříková, then 10 seconds back she improved her personal record Emma Mulačová from Beroun, who last year burst onto the Czech youth scene and immediately claimed the national medal and the youth national team jersey. It seems that she will continue her high-quality performances. Other youth athletes also performed very well, Hromádková and Štefáčková, both with performances just over 16 minutes. There will be something to watch in the youth and junior categories this year.

He dominated the 5000m race with another great performance Dan Mochal from Liberec. The time of 22:18.94 is his fourth best performance, a personal indoor record and, especially after the autumn break, a continuation of the excellent performances from the track season. He also presented a personal record Roman Hanyk in second place - 23:44.82. Then you can only give up before the master of Beroun walking By Jiří Kovanda (1946), who finished the 5000m in seventh place in 40:20.46.

The 2026 racing year officially kicked off last weekend.

On Saturday, January 17.1th, Liberec Region Championship, which is traditionally open to other competitors. She performed excellently in the 2000m walk Petra Pípalová from Veselí nad Lužnicí, who improved her performance from the Radotín Clock by hundredths and showed 12:56.35. Alenka Kalubová from Rumburk then she ran 14:01.27.

In the 3000m walk, the girls were particularly impressive. In her first indoor walk start, the junior presented herself excellently. Klara Součková from Ceske Budejovice, who tried walking for the first time in the fall, improved her performance from 20:10 to a quality 16:29.37 and ranked among the candidates for republic medals with a chance for the Czech title. Also only 13 years old Adéla Hůlková from Mlada Boleslav (coach Jaroslav Prückner) ran a very solid 18:40.50 and is also a candidate for one of the republican medals in her category. A number of novice walkers and new walker groups took part in the race, which is excellent news.

He dominated the 5000m Dan Mochal from Liberec another excellent time of 22:21.81. In his first indoor start, he significantly improved his indoor personal time Vojtěch Vejvančický of Rumburk - 22:50.83, which followed a significant improvement in the second half of 2025 and confirmed the position of the Czech junior number two. Stanislav Borisov then he took bronze with a performance of 23:11.75. In fourth place, 18 seconds back, he was able to tick off a quality time Martin Nedvidek, returning after a muscle injury he sustained during the Hodinovce in Radotín. Mark Rösler from Boleslavy, barely breaking the 25-minute mark and the finish line was seen again by George Kovanda, this time with a performance of sub 40 min - 39:19.32. Admirable.

Then on Sunday there was MMaS in the Ostrava hall, even the Moravian champion regularly allows competitors from other territorial units to start.

The 3000m race was clearly dominated by women. Over time 15:06.25 Polish teenager Hanna Chodur shone, which the Pilsen woman was 6 seconds behind in her new personal record Michaela Rihova (formerly Baklíková). She also got under 16 minutes Nelly Bugarova in third place. Among juniors, Frýdecká won Eliška Kokořová (16:40.40), her teammate also finished just under 17 minutes Hanka Petrushkova. However, she had to bow down to the excellent veteran By Ivana Vranková, this W50 competitor performed 16:55.91.

It is gratifying that even in Moravia we can see new names and new teams across women's categories. A former national team player is doing a commendable coaching job in Brno Tereza Ďurďiaková and introduces walking to new faces.

There were fewer competitors among the men. He won. Alexander Malysa - 23:25.04 in the new indoor OR, when he came 4 seconds closer to the outdoor maximum from 2017! Frýdecký Vojta Novak took silver in 23:43.57, beating Hraník by just 2 seconds Rostů KolářHe finished in fourth place. Jaromir Hloch, whose performance of 24:18.13 indicates that Jarda has finally recovered from his injury from Olomouc 2025 and is evidently starting to train and compete again in full force. We wish you good health.

As you can see, the indoor season is in full swing and right at the beginning we are witnessing a number of excellent performances, personal bests and, above all, numerous starts across categories.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to name every starter... There will obviously be something to watch at the indoor championships! And we wish all newcomers that their enthusiasm for walking lasts. It is a demanding but beautiful discipline.

The 13th annual Prague Walking Hour will take place on Saturday, October 17, 2026, again at the OLYMPIA RADOTÍN Sports Center in Prague.

DATE: 17th OCTOBER 2026  

VENUE: SC ATLETIKA PRAGUE RADOTIN, ADDRESS: Ke Zděři 1741/21 Prague 5 - Radotín, www.atletikaradotin.cz , TARTAN TRACK 400 m

REGISTRATION / APPLICATIONS: https://www.sportt.cz/register/1501

PRIZE MONEY: later

Proposal for an indoor meeting with a 3.000m walk in Sant Gallen, January 18, 2026

Below you can download the regulations for the indoor athletics meeting on Sunday, January 18th with a 3.000m walk for all categories including MASTERS.

The 3.000m race walk is OPEN for all categories including MASTERS.

Applications by email to:This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need to have Javascript enabled. , no later than Thursday, January 8, 2026

Time limit: 25:00min

The schedule is preliminary, the final one will be published on Tuesday, January 13, 26 here:https://www.lc-bruehl.ch/events/stadtwerk-hallenmeeting

Entry fee: 16,- CHF on site

PROVISIONS / DESCRIPTION

TIME PROGRAM / SCHEDULE

The traditional New Year's Eve walkers' hall will take place in the athletics hall in Jablonec nad Nisou on Saturday, December 27, 2025. 

The organizer AC Slovan Liberec is looking forward to your participation.

The program includes a 5.000m walk for men, a 3.000m walk for women and boys and a 2.000m walk for younger boys.

The main men's 5.000m walk race will start at 13:15 p.m., with the other walking races starting at 13:50 p.m. and 14:10 p.m.  

Come say goodbye to the year 2025 in Jablonec nad Nisou!

PROVISIONS / DESCRIPTION

In 2026, the league walk will also take place on the track in Radotín and on the new circuit in Kladno!!! 

Author: Lucie Nekulová (Still managing league walking competitions)

In the summer months, farmers usually fight for grain, while in the fall, athletes fight for a place in the competition. And it's never an easy fight. This year was no different.

How is it all prepared? First, international competitions are set. The dates of the national championships are set according to them and the league adapts to them. When the dates of the track rounds are set, it is time to find a free weekend for walking races. The schedule is created by the competition department and approved by the Competition Commission. Unfortunately, walking was dropped from this list after this year's elections, when Mr. Veverka defended the leadership of the Competition Commission. The walking schedule was entrusted to the Competition Department, which manages the league competitions, last year and this year. A bureaucratic mess, as it should be in any good organization.

For 2026, the walking schedule is greatly influenced by the date of the event World Team Walking Championships in Brazil. That will be 12.4. 2026 and so the term Poděbrady and Dudince change. Dudince will be held unconventionally already 7.3.2026, i.e. 2-3 weeks earlier and the organizers themselves admit that the chance of snow is considerable. The Poděbrady plant then chose the date of May 8, 2026. And everything else depends on that.

The competition department traditionally arranges a race in Olomouc, where there is a problem with the park's occupancy and the date they find is practically unchanged. So if you take Poděbrady, Olomouc and then the rest, there is not much to look for. You take what is left with the understanding that there should be an effort to take reasonable breaks. This year, the director also came up with shortening the courses, because in the youth categories, World Athletics shortened the courses and we need to adapt to that. After all, a whole lot of young athletes start in league competitions. Moreover, last year, the top league athletes mostly praised themselves that there was a change and not just tens all the time. SK gave the green light to it.

Both traditional organizers and newcomers have signed up to host the races, and the schedule brings some surprises. So what will it look like this year?

1, Olomouc 18.4. 2026 - 1st round of the I. and II. leagues, 10 km course for both groups of men and women:

A traditional race with a traditional distance. The 10 km will allow athletes who will miss the limit for the Czech Championships to try it in Smetana Park. Throughout the schedule, there was an effort to give identical distances for all groups, which is easier organizationally and allows for competition and pushing your own limits across categories.

2, Prague - Radotín, 25.4. - 2nd round of the I. and II. leagues, 5000 m for both men and women groups:

There was a commotion over the date of this round. So much so that the SK date was returned for revision, because you can't have league rounds on consecutive weekends (the SK's position is a bit surprising, the chairman is the same and in 2023 the schedule passed him by, where 4 competitions were crammed into 30 days, including two championships...who did that back then?) And so it was changed to 1.5. 2026.. But the competition management protested there again. If we are accommodating the national team and the youth, we should also respect the interests of veteran athletes. And they will be competing in Italy at the non-stadia European Championships on this date. Fortunately, this opinion gained support Libor Dingy from the Competition Department and that

took it upon himself to return the date a week earlier. Although the league rounds will be right after each other, there is nothing else to do if Olomouc cannot be moved. And in the end it passed. We are not throwing Masters athletes overboard, after 10 km in Olomouc, only 5,000 m will be covered. Those who will not be in Italy can then enjoy the extended weekend and train towards Poděbrady. Libor, dWhoa!

The organizer is a newcomer. 3 applicants were interested in this date and it was decided to test the newcomer against the usual Nové Město - SC RadotínAnyone who has been to Pepa Smola's Hodinovce in Prague will already know the new stadium. Accessibility is excellent by car and train.

5,000m for both groups will allow young walkers to compete for places in the junior team for Poděbrady. The limit for the Junior World Championships will probably be high, but what if...? And the masters athletes will have their last hard training before the European Championships.

3, Poděbrady, 8.5. half marathon, 1st round of the extra league M/F:

This time, only a half marathon can be held in Poděbrady, and it will be run by elite walkers.

Unfortunately, we cannot use the shorter distance this time, last year was exceptional. The Poděbrady race also includes the Czech Half Marathon Walking Championship, and many league competitors will start there.

4, Kladno - 23.5., 10 km walk, 2nd round of the extra league,  3rd round of I. and II. league, 10 km course identical for both groups M/F:

Another newcomer among the organizers. There were more interested parties for this round as well, and the effort to try out new organizers gave Kladno preference over the traditional circuit in Satalice. The circuit for pedestrians found Vitek Hlavac and the race will be held in the park surrounding the Kladno athletics stadium. Competitors can look forward to a flat asphalt circuit with one 180° turn. At this point, the track is 8 m wide, so the curve will be wide enough.

The Kladno circuit looks very interesting and although I will personally miss Satalice in the league (I find the circuit there fun), Kladno will probably be better suited to quality times. The race can be used as the last chance to qualify for the Czech U20 Championship in June or the June youth inter-country race in Poland. 

5, Brno - 15.08., 5 km walk, 4th round of I. and II. league, 5 km course, a lot for both groups M/F:

There were many question marks surrounding the Brno circuit. The old circuit was ending for economic reasons, the rent in the BVV area can be defined by the words of the song "Rocket to Mars", and the people of Brno were looking for a new circuit.

The circuit will be approximately 900m long and the race will be part of the Sports Festival in Brno. Given the length of the circuit and the warm summer weather, a 5 km course was chosen. Let's see what the people of Brno, led by an active walker, will do for us. Tomas Vojtíšek surprises.

The 2026 season will be truly different and will certainly bring a whole range of great sporting experiences. Moravia won 2 league rounds, Czech Republic has 2 rounds in Prague and the surrounding area. In the extra league, both rounds are concentrated in the Prague area. Good accessibility for everyone is also important. We will see how the shortening of the routes will prove to be successful and whether the newcomers will hold up organizationally.

Now all that's left to do is to accumulate training kilometers, hone your technique, and in the case of female drivers, monitor developments in the rules. That's also necessary. For example, from November 1, 2025, it will be possible to start long distance races while walking. clamped pants. So, for example, if it's freezing in Brno 😜, if you wear tight elastics so that the work of your knees is clearly visible, it will work.

Everyone just has to prepare in their own way. I look forward to seeing you in the 2026 season.

The MUDr. Petr Brandejský Walking Cup was exciting until the very end! Very exciting finale of the International Walking Cup of MUDr. Petr Brandejský 

Author of the article: František Párys - coordinator of the PB memorial

RESULTS MEN

RESULTS WOMEN

Only the Prague Hour Race, held in the very pleasant surroundings of the Radotín stadium, definitively determined the overall ranking of the 3rd annual Dr. Petr Brandejský Memorial. The decision on who would occupy the podium was actually made in the last discipline.

In the women's category, the junior Noemi Maják and the veteran Lenka Borovičková fought for the championship throughout this year. Noemi set a personal best in the 5,000 m in Radotín, but Lenka immediately countered with an excellent performance in the hour race, and so the overall victory in this year's MPB belongs to her. By only 3 points! After two second places in previous years, Lenka thus achieved a well-deserved championship. The fight for the bronze medal was equally exciting. With Martina Netolická absent, everything was in Tereza Pittnerová's favor, but everyone was surprised by Adéla Hůlková, who had an exceptionally successful end to the season and took 3rd place with a total of 300 points. In the final elite hour race, the great German veteran Brit Schröter was still attacking her position, but it was not enough for the younger student from Mladá Boleslav.

Among the men, Martin Nedvídek clearly dominated this year, but in the end it was not entirely easy here either. During the hour race, Martin suffered from muscle problems in the last quarter of an hour, so among other things, the need to gain at least some points in Radotín led him to finish the race with self-denial. Another Rumburk athlete – Vojta Vejvančický – could jump onto the silver podium at the final announcement, who was in exceptional form especially in the second part of this year's season. In Radotín, he presented it with a beautiful personal best at 5,000 m. There was also a fierce fight for 3rd place in the overall standings among the men. He won by just one point ahead of Pepa Kalát, a frequent participant of our races, Mirosław Luniewski from Poland.

Finally, it is fitting to thank everyone who participated in this year's memorial. The management of the Crystal Bohemia Poděbrady Glassworks, which once again presented the winners with beautiful cups, Petr Kratochvíl for arranging this sponsorship at the glassworks, Miriam Stewartová, who is in charge of the final editing of the prizes, Jan Rein for the posters and diplomas, Udo Schaeffer for the lightning-fast update of the scoring tables in connection with the introduction of the walking marathon and half marathon, Míl Lapka for financial support and others, whom I may have forgotten, God forbid.

The 3rd year of the competition, a proper tribute to the memory of our walking "Mr. Doctor", is over and it is time to think about how to continue this developing tradition. Participation has increased somewhat (this year 172 men and 163 women participated), so it is logical to consider the possibility of announcing more than the first three overall rankings. I have also noted suggestions for changing the scoring, e.g. the 5 best races out of a total of 7, etc. I look forward to all your opinions and ideas, as well as offers of cooperation in organizing the 4th year of the Dr. Petr Brandejský Memorial.

Author of the article: Lucie Nekulová / Author of the photo: Jan Nekula

RESULTS

Lusatian Race Walking in Zittau took place on Saturday, October 25.10, 2025 on new tracks. The race was organized thanks to the support of the project Interreg in a unique Czech-German cooperation of clubs O-SEE Zittau and AC Rumburk was held for the fourth time. The organizers and competitors closely followed the truly terrible forecast, but in the end everything turned out much better. Even though in some parts of the course it was so windy that the assistants could not manage to deliver hot tea to the judges. The race was attended by 200 walkers from 22 countries of the world! The Czech Republic Championship was held, the Hungarians also had a championship race, and the Central German Short Distance Championship was held in Zittau again. The Liberec region was then holding its championship, and the ČAS manager Tomáš Krištof came to present the medals. Traditional finisher headbands from the Rein brothers' pen and it was great to see how many athletes competed with previous editions on their heads.

The race was started with a joint start for children and youth at 1 / 2 / 3km. 18 hopeful runners lined up at the start of the kilometer, which was dominated by the Slovak Riečanová Nelka in an excellent time of 4:46 and beat her teammate Matthew Kucera by 6 seconds. 23 children set off for the 2 km start and the race was dominated by the guys from Germany. Romello Kroll (10:54) beat in the end by 3 seconds Simon Bauer, the best girl in the overall standings took bronze Clara Weihart (11:16), who beat the finishing Slovak woman in her personal best performance by just one second Simona Holecová. The third place among the girls was won by the team from Mladá Boleslav Adele Hulkova in a significant personal best of 11:35.

There were 18 competitors in the top three as well. The race was dominated by Michal Bencik with a time of 14:42, he took silver Latvian Grandãls and the Slovak fighter finished third Veisenpacher (16:02). The Slovak woman also dominated the girls' race Nela Ščíbranova in a personal best of 15:16. A minute back was the German Neither Schenk and the bronze medal went to the competitor from Frýdek-Místek Veronika Zvonkova (17: 02).

And then came the marathon and half marathon, new distances in the walking repertoire. 43 men and women decided to try the half marathon distance. The start-finish line flew along the course with a commanding Mexican Roberto Vásquez Guiot - 1:25:26. The Mexican walkers completely dominated the podium as they ran for bronze Porcayo Villareal Isaac in 1:29:23 and defended the bronze Brandon Perez in front of the finishing and badly attacking American Nick Christie.

An Italian woman reigned supreme among women Giulia Gabriele, bronze medalist from this year's U23 European Championships, who mastered the course with a time of 1:38:16. 54 seconds behind, she finished the race fourth from this year's U20 European Championships Mina Stankovic. The talented Serbian competitor managed to improve the national record for 20km thanks to the official split time and was therefore doubly happy at the finish line. The Greek beauty crossed the finish line in third place Christina Papadopoulou, this year's participant in the World Championships in Tokyo (1:39:57).

26 athletes decided to run the premiere marathon. The defending gold medalists from last year, the Polish athletes, were also at the start. Ben Hlima and Katarzyna Zdiebło. Hlima went ahead from the start and quickly built up a lead. But the long course, the more demanding conditions, when it was really windy at times, all of this took away his strength at every step. And so the race started to become extremely interesting. For a while he led Italian Agrusti, then he was in charge German Karl Junghannß, he/she/it asked for the floor Hungarian Helebrandt, it was back and forth. Ben Hlima really fought, but his legs still remembered the Tokyo double and in the end it was fourth place - 3:07:51. With gradually increasing performance, he finally worked his way to the front of the race permanently Citrus and was the first to cross the finish line. It was held by none other than the Olympic champions. They had come to watch the race. Antonella Palmisano and Maria Perez. Both of them first helped at the refreshment stand, then took on the role of hostesses and welcomed the Italian at the finish line. He hung the silver medal around his neck Němec Karl Junghannß in 3:04:51 and the Hungarian champion won bronze Matthew Helebrandt - 3:07:26. The competitors were very competitive for the bronze and it was not at all certain how many actually reached the finish line.

The women were clear from the first meters. They set off bravely, with a smile and commitment Katarzyna Zdzieblo for another Zittau victory. She also went in last year's Zittau headband and then carefully hid this year's at the finish. The Polish woman was really excellent, a concentrated quality performance, when she never even got above the 5min/km mark, to cross the finish line in 3:24:19. An amazing lady who showed last year in Zittau that she had solved two years of technical problems and this year showed a flawless performance. She rose to second place on merit Magaly Bonilla, the sixth woman from this year's Dudince, who came from Ecuador for a time of 3:34:11. And she ran really beautifully, one of those competitors who is beautiful to look at. The third place was taken by another Polish woman, Agnieszka Ellward (3:37:03) and the Poles have already announced that the next Polish Marathon Championship will be in Zittau 2026!

After the 2-hour marathon race, so that they wouldn't be so alone on the course after finishing the half marathon, the marathoners were given company in the form of 5 and 10 km competitors. The crowd of more than 70 athletes of all ages was amazing. The 5 km race was dominated by Simon Batovsky (17) from Krupina, Slovakia, improved her personal best by almost a minute to 21:59. In the junior women's category, the Slovak Pernicka with a performance of 23:44 qualified for the U20 World Championships in Oregon next year and also for the U18 European Championships in Rieti. Pernicka is only 15 years old! Third place in the U18 category was taken by a Czech teenager, also 15 years old, Noemi Majak (27:04) and third in women was Frýdek Eliska Kokorova.

Big things were happening on the 10 km track. German junior Nick Joel Richardt Although he was a few seconds behind his personal best, the time of 41:23 still meant a great and confident victory for him. Another Slovak athlete improved his personal best by 2 minutes Jakub Batovsky and took third place overall Jakub Mažgút - 44:01. The representative of the organizing team did an amazing job. Junior Vojtěch Vejvančicky, who regularly meets the judges' targets in the Czech Republic, stood up to the international ones with a first place, not registering a single motion. With a very confident performance in the solo race, he finished with a negative split for a great personal record of 46:35 and claimed the junior national jersey for Poděbrady 2026. He cut more than a minute from the best Czech U20 performance of Dan Mochal from Liberec and took 7th place overall in the top ten. Bravo and big congratulations to the coach ReinAnother local fighter also did great. Stanislav Borisov from Kazakhstan, who wears the colors of AC Rumburk and surprised a lot with a time of 48:48. Stando, that's great! Even the Hradec Králové George Arnost was happy with his personal record, with a performance of 51:34 he managed to defeat the great Hungarian talent Ligeti.

The victory in the women's race was taken by a German woman. Mia Bandoli, who enjoyed a personal best and victory in the Central German Championship - 50:27. Another at the finish line, also a German athlete Mary Carries Carniel awarded 65 sec. She took the bronze to Erfurt Laura VöI asked.

Veterans also showed great performances and great fights, British fighter Steve Allen He fought hard in the last lap and overtook the Polish rider in the home straight. Mirek Luniewski (1:01:12 vs. 1:01:16).

And then there was the Czech Championship. The 0th edition of the Czech Half Marathon and Marathon Championships has been approved. When the organizers themselves found the condition of the ČAS Presidency that there must be at least 5 competitors in the category, it was clear that a problem was brewing. They were assured by TD Veverka that there would be no problem, competitors could register for both courses and then they would see each other. Despite the warning in the direction of the repre section, the condition did not change and so they waited with excitement to see what the applications would look like. Jarda Moravek, knowing the Czech conditions, preferred to register for the race directly via the organizer's website. She did the same Klimetová and Nedvídek. And they did well. 3 duplicate applications made a hell of a mess. What could have been handled with three phone calls in 15 minutes took almost 3 days despite the emergency. Yes, only on Wednesday did the organizers receive a decision on what would happen with the Czech Championships. They say everything is going well, only the women's half marathon is being cancelled. No, competitors really cannot do both courses when the penalty zone time and the start location are different... The organizational team was shuddering at the thought of defending the results list completely against the rules to World Athletics. One would have expected the ČAS technical delegate to know this. Fortunately, the head of the ČAS competition department knows the rules and so they waited for another decision. First, the half marathon was cancelled, competitors started registering for the race for their own and increased entry fees and another change was made. It's not a marathon like the Czech Championships, but a half marathon... This was exemplary Czech Schweinerei and the German colleagues were, to put it mildly, embarrassed. And those Czechs too...

So how did our athletes do? Among women, Ema Klimetová in time 1:43:03, which is an average of 4:53. She won 6th place overall and gained experience at a new distance. Elizabeth Frankl she ran 1:49.38 (avg. 5:11) and finished 12th among women.

Among the men, it was about medals. Well, not really, ČAS decided not to award medals. So the organizers gave out their own. The competitors deserved it. At first, the Czech group was led by a trio. The clear favorite Vítek Hlaváč, with him Lukáš Gdula a Albert Kukla. A couple followed them Nedvídek - Hanyk and then a fighter from Břeclava returning from injury Jarda Hawthorn, who felt the training deficit from the whole season a lot and Hradec Králové Rosta Kolar. Lukáš Gdula after 10km he started to lose, Welcome to Albert were fighting for victory. In the last quarter, there was a fight and at one moment one had a meter lead and then the other again. Less than 3 laps before the finish, he managed to Albert Kukla Increasing the pace, Vítka pulled, broke and finished for his first senior non-title title in a time of 1:33:07 (6th overall). Vitek Hlavac He finished 51 seconds behind for silver and experienced his first defeat in the championship competition on home soil since the incoming generation. Thank you, Vítek, for being a motivation for the boys! Lukáš Gdula crossed the finish line in third place, but was soon disqualified by the referee because the judges did not like his technique much in the last two rounds. And so he deservedly rejoiced at the bronze Martin Nedvídek from Rumbur (1:42:25), who dragged Hanyk away for most of the race, who tried to break him at 17km. And he shouldn't have done that, the acceleration didn't do him any good, he slowed down and one of the race organizers took care of it. He gave Hanyk 21 seconds at the finish and made the rest of the organizing team very happy.

And what happened at the marathon? A pair of Czechs set off Moravek - Bunny. It was Zajíček's first big long experience, Morávek already tried 35 km in Zittau last year and fought for a long time to participate in Tokyo this year. The Zittau race also showed how unfortunate it was that he did not get a wild card. Jarda Moravek He announced in advance that he wanted to go for a hard limit at the European Championships next year. As he said, he did. From the beginning, he kept the pace at the limit in cooperation with his Slovak coach Dominik Černý. From the 30th km he tried to accelerate and at the finish he was in 5th place, less than 20 seconds behind Ben Hlimou in a time of 3:08:10, which made him 3 minutes off the qualification limit and joined the already qualified Vítek! Fantastic performance. At the same time, he was the first Czech to secure a ticket to the World Team Walking Championships in Brazil in April. He also performed excellently on the track Adam Zaječek. It is clear that, unlike Jarda, he has no experience of the 35 km course. And yet he went great. 20 km before it became clear that the training deficit due to the season-long heel problems was not eliminated, but the experience was huge. Adam repeatedly tried to speed up and gained a solid basis for qualification next year. Time will tell whether we will have three marathon walkers at the European Championships. It would be great.

This year's Zittau was special in terms of the use of technology. The German referee, who also officiated on site, Kilian Wenzel created simple software for judges and the organizers decided to test it in the demanding conditions of the Zittau race, where there are a large number of starters and races are taking place on several distances at the same time. The system passed without a single error and was praised by everyone.

Unlike other systems, whose creators charge a lot of money, this one from Kilian is available for free. The organizer only had to invest in purchasing phones for all the judges, arrange the connection, and off they went. Kilian, bravo!

 This year's Zittau race, included in the World Tour with a silver mark, was really successful. High-quality performances, a wide starting field, many friends at the start and among the spectators. Excellent stream presented by Adam Nedvídek and above all the dedicated work of all the organizers. A big thank you to the project Interreg and Euroregion NISA. It wouldn't be possible without you. Maybe again in a year at the signs in Žitav.