Germany’s Sebastian Hendel and Belgium’s Hanne Verbruggen were the latest athletes to be crowned EuroHeroes following their victories in the 13th edition of the Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon - the oldest regional half marathon in the RunCzech series - on Saturday (17),
A total of 6600 runners from 25 countries and 45 nationalities took part in the dm family mile and the half marathon in warm, still conditions in the historic centre of Haná.
Hendel, who had won the 2022 Ústí nad Labem half marathon, soon broke away from the leading group of six and went on to another victory in 1:03:55.
"I am very satisfied and happy. I'm back to training now after the Vienna Marathon a few weeks ago and I didn't know how I would feel. But it looked good from the beginning. The finish was just between me and David and I had to work hard," he said. "Olomouc is a very beautiful city and I enjoyed it, even though the route was tough."
Second place went to former Swedish marathon champion David Nilsson in 1:04:07. "I couldn't keep up with his [Sebastian's] pace at the end, but I'm not dissatisfied," he said. Meanwhile, the first Czech athlete to cross the finish line was Patrik Vebr in 1:08:17.
The women’s race saw a clear victory for Belgium’s 2021 Olympian Hanne Verbruggen, who finished eighth in the marathon at last year’s European Athletics Championships in Munich, in a time of 1:12:44.
Ukraine’s Viktoriia Kaluzhina held on to her for around six kilometres, but in the end she couldn't resist the pressure of home athlete Tereza Hrochova in the finish on the Upper Square, with the pair finishing close together in 1:13:33 and 1:13:35 for second and third places.
"I was very sick in March, and this was my first half marathon," said the Ukrainian runner, who now lives and trains in Poznan, Poland. Hrochova, on the other hand, was thrilled. "The result was beyond my expectations. It's a week after the World Mountain Running Championships and I wanted to run my legs up after that hill race, because I have the European Athletics Team Championships in one week. But the way the race was going, I wanted to try and keep up with the girls and I did. It was warm, plus the cobbles and kerbs, but I'm very happy, the great spectators helped me get through the crunches," she said.
View full results and current EuroHeroes Challenge 2023 standings.