Just days before its biggest weekend of the year, the Prague Marathon has confirmed Vodafone as its new title sponsor, ending a partnership with Volkswagen that had defined the brand for more than a decade. The 31st edition, branded for the first time as the Vodafone Maraton Praha, will run on Sunday 3 May with an 8:00 am start from Old Town Square, drawing a 10,600-strong field of runners through one of the most photogenic courses on the World Athletics Elite Label calendar.
RunCzech, the long-standing organiser of the Prague race series, said the deal had been formally signed on 22 April after a partnership year in 2025 in which Vodafone had served as a top-tier supporting sponsor. The new agreement runs through 2028 and extends across the entire RunCzech roster, including the September half marathon and the regional Karlovy Vary, České Budějovice and Olomouc events. Volkswagen, which had been the marathon's title partner since 2009, will continue as a supporter under a downgraded mobility category.
The shift reflects a broader pivot in marathon sponsorship economics, with telecoms and technology brands increasingly outbidding automotive partners for naming rights as live data, mobile coverage and digital fan engagement become more central to the spectator experience. Vodafone has indicated that the partnership will lean heavily into technology activations: live tracking dashboards, an upgraded official app, and a so-called "cheering point" at the 35-kilometre mark with a large LED screen relaying motivational messages from family and friends, all powered by 5G coverage along the course.
For elite athletes the rebrand changes little. Sunday's men's race retains an eight-deep field inside 2:06 led by Kenya's Boniface Kipkoech and Ethiopia's Tigabu Wakene, with organisers pushing publicly for a sub-2:05 course-record assault if conditions allow. The women's race is headed by Ethiopian Worknesh Mesele, the recent Sevilla runner-up. The Czech Republic's own Mt Petr Vabroušek, a perennial top European master, will lead the host nation's hopes for a finish inside 2:11.
Beyond the elite race, the cultural rebrand will sit alongside the now-familiar weekend rhythm: an Active Breakfast Run in Letná Park on the Saturday, a 10K friendship run for relay teams on the morning of the marathon, and a course that loops the Old Town Square via the Powder Tower, Wenceslas Square and the Vltava embankments before its theatrical finish under the medieval Astronomical Clock. RunCzech founder Carlo Capalbo described the deal as "a marathon for a digital generation", a phrase that, with sub-two-hour shoes still in the headlines, may soon take on more than one meaning.