The Boston Marathon, which was first held in 1897, is world famous. Far less known, is the oldest marathon in Europe - the Košice Peace Marathon in the east of the Slovak Republic. In 2024, it celebrates 100 years since its inauguration. It has taken place almost every October since 1924, and while staying in the same spot, it has taken place in four different states: Czechoslovakia, Hungary, the CSSR and Slovakia. “This is mainly thanks to the commitment of individuals such as Vojtech Bukovsky," emphasizes Branislav Koniar, the director of this race. In 1924, Bukovsky and two other sports officials returned from the Olympic Games in Paris, dreaming of bringing “the noblest of the Olympic disciplines" into their city and country. Just three months later, on October 28, eight runners (out of 17 registered) faced the uncertain challenge of a distance of 42.195 kilometers, with seven of them reaching the finish line. One Mr. Tronka, who had never run more than 2 kilometers in one go, managed 26 kms, but had to give up soon afterwards. The victory, including the Slovakian championship went to local runner Karol Halla in a time of 3:01:55 hours. After dinner, the organizers were so enthusiastic that they decided to hold a marathon every year in the future, even with international participation.
Only two years later, the victory of Hans Hempel from the SC Charlottenburg (a club nowadays known for their involvement in the Berlin Marathon) prompted the magazine "Der Leichtathlet" to sing the following hymn of praise: "There are only two big marathons in the world: Boston and Košice." Although marathons were held in several European countries in the 1920s, the Košice marathon was the only one to survive the dramatic events of the 20th century. Although world-class runners, such as the 1932 Olympic champion Juan Carlos Zabala, took part, the financial framework of the marathon was mostly at amateur level. Instead of entry fees, there was free food and a train ticket (3rd class).
In 1938, the Nazis invaded and broke up Czechoslovakia and awarded Košice to their ally Hungary. The race survived: except for 1938 and 1940, it was also held during the war years, but only Hungarian athletes were allowed to start. After the end of the war, the event quickly reached international level again. The professionalism of the marathon was also evident in the qualification limit of 3:45 hours introduced in 1949, which, however, meant that older runners such as "Grandfather Gottschling", who had only reached the finish line in the dark in 1936, were no longer able to take part. In the decades that followed, such illustrious runners as Popow, Bikila, Edelen, Wolde, Heatley, Clayton and Cierpinski took part. The most successful participant came from Košice’s West German twin city of Wuppertal: Christa Vahlensieck, who won the women's marathon five times.
While the running boom in the West led to the founding of many city marathons, the Košice Marathon also opened up to a wider range of runners for its 50th official run in 1980. The qualification time was abolished and among the 1114 participants, more than five times as many as the previous year, 18 women ran for the first time. Still, it has a fairly strict time limit of six hours, which is probably why its median finish time was about 4 hours, with over 4000 finishers, in 2023. The running scene in Slovakia is relatively small, but performance oriented.
The running tradition is very much maintained here; there is a runner's monument on the marathon square, on which the names of the winners are immortalized in golden letters, marathon flags hang everywhere and the post office offers special cancellations for stamps, and for 2024, a commemorative Euro coin. It is certainly a fame-limiting factor limiting that Košice lies in the far east of the EU, and this region is generally not often visited by tourists - apart from the High Tatras mountain range, which is 100 kilometers away. The race is set in autumn with usually mild temperatures, however in the long history of the race, there has been everything from heat to snow.
After the marathon had long run from Košice along a country road to Sena and back, in 1989 the organizers decided on a two-lap course through the city area, which on the one hand allows the half-marathon runners to take part and on the other hand presents the beauty of Košice. This allows the residents to experience the top runners even more intensively. The start and finish are on the beautifully restored main street in front of St. Elisabeth's Cathedral, probably the easternmost Gothic church in Europe. The cathedral is considered the largest church in Slovakia, but was never fully completed as a real Gothic cathedral. The main street area is flanked by newly restored and colorfully plastered houses from Baroque to Art Nouveau. This is where most of the spectators applaud. The course runs mostly on asphalt, with some cobblestones. The course is carefully marked and closed to traffic.
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Passing the Cathedral: Marathon in 2020. Source: Gosivity, wikimedia commons
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Outside the historic town centre, the route leads largely through prefabricated housing estates. These were built during the rapid growth of the city and its steel industry in the post-war period. Here, the echo between the concrete facades amplifies the applause of the audience to create a powerful acoustic backdrop. A short loop through a park, along the Harnad river and the runners stream back into the centre. At the refreshment stands, helpers hand out candy-tasting sports drinks in dark red plastic bottles, occasionally also fruit or biscuits.
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Marathon Monument. Source: Maros Mraz, wikimedia commons
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The monument commemorating the marathon stands at the head of the one-kilometer-long finish line, one of the most impressive ones in the world. In 2023, Kenyan Cherop Philemon Rono was the first to complete the tough, following a duel to the finish line with Ethiopian Kebede Wami Tulu. The clocks stopped after a course-record time of 2:06:55 hours. In the women's race, Jackline Cherono won in 2:24:43. As a symbol of world peace, the winners traditionally release a white dove at the finish.
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