Ethiopia's Berehanu Tsegu took the men's title at the Vodafone Prague Marathon on Sunday morning in 2:05:51, breaking up a deep East African front pack on the back end of a course that has now produced a sub-2:06 in seven of the last ten editions. The 27-year-old, racing his first World Athletics Elite Label marathon outside of east Africa, edged clear at the 38-kilometre mark and held off a chasing trio of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners on the long, gentle drag back into Old Town Square. The win continues Prague's habit of springing first-time winners on its straight, fast riverside course.
The women's race produced the more dramatic story. Kenya's Millicent Jelimo, making her marathon debut after two years racing 10,000m and half marathon on the Diamond League and World Athletics Road Running circuits, broke clear inside the final 5km to win in 2:24:19. Compatriots Naomi Cheronoh and Pauline Kaveke completed an all-Kenyan podium, with all three women dipping under 2:26 for the first time in their careers. The result is the first all-Kenyan women's podium in Prague Marathon history and a significant return to form for a federation that struggled at the spring majors.
The race had been billed as a tactical men's contest after pacemakers were pulled at 30km. Tsegu sat in a 14-strong lead group through halfway in 1:02:48 before three surges in quick succession from kilometre 32 onwards thinned the front pack to four. Pre-race favourite Justus Limo of Kenya, who entered with the fastest 2026 personal best in the field, dropped off the lead in the closing kilometres and finished fifth in 2:07:04. Tsegu's closing 5km was a fraction over 14 minutes and decisive enough to leave him alone in the finishing chute on Old Town Square.
Conditions were close to ideal: an 8C start temperature, a light north-easterly tailwind for the second half of the loop, and a dry course after a fortnight of below-average rainfall in the Czech capital. Race director Carlo Capalbo described the conditions as "a present from a season that has been kind to us," pointing to a strong day for amateur finish times alongside the elite results. Roughly 11,500 runners crossed the line in the marathon, with the Vodafone-titled rebrand drawing record participation across the festival's half marathon, 10K and relay distances over the weekend.
Sunday's race also acted as a Beijing 27 World Championships qualifier for several federations whose marathon trials cycle has been extended into 2027. Three of the top five women and two of the top six men cleared the World Athletics qualifying time of 2:09:00 (men) and 2:26:30 (women), opening selection conversations in Kenya, Ethiopia and Czechia. Prague has now ratified seven sub-2:25 women's performances in two seasons since RunCzech reset its elite recruitment around debutantes — a strategy that, on Sunday's evidence, looks set to continue.