PODĚBRADY WALKING RACE - WA Permit Meeting: 20km men and women and 5km MASTERS men and women (test race), May 20 - 21, 2023. OR HOW TO DISCOURAGE CZECH RACERS FROM WEARING THE REPRESENTATIVE JERSEY, I.E. FROM WALKING AT ALL.

START SHEET

The Poděbrady race weekend is ahead of us and it will be more than interesting.

As usual, a test race will be held on Saturday before the European Walking Championships. This year, fortunately, the covid restrictions are a thing of the past, everyone who wanted to start could register and a number of foreign male and female athletes will also arrive in Poděbrady, many of them will appear in significantly higher numbers than at last year's European Championships, as part of the 20km race , which is the only one open to the public.

As always, the track and the race will be prepared by enthusiasts from AC Rumburk, which, as pedestrians have become accustomed to over the years, is a guarantee of quality. Experience is evident and such professionalism is certainly not common. This should also be appreciated, because those who stand outside the viewfinders of cameras are often forgotten. 👏

He will be the first to line up at the start in front of the Libeňský hotel students and circle the spa colonnade for 3 km. Given that the students do not have many opportunities to compete with us, because we lack walking in team competitions, this is one of the few opportunities where they can stand at the start.

6 pupils signed up for the race, the biggest favorite is Šimon Bátovský from Slovakia. However, he has strong competition here, as demonstrated by the Czech students in the hall this year. Turnovsky will show us another of the beautiful fights Ondra Plecháček with Liberec Dan Mochal, even Rumburian will not want to be left behind Vojtěch Vejvančicky, who dropped out of the championship fight in the hall due to illness. All three will be attacking the 15-minute mark and personal records. Marek Rösler from Mladá Boleslav, next to the group of improving students, prefers the opportunity to try the 5km distance.

The girls will be more familiar at the start. Out of 15 girls, 8 will be Czech competitors and we will see how they will fare in international competition. Our biggest hope is Viktorie Bartoňová from Frýdek, there are 5 starters from coach Nejezchleb's hatchery.

5km race then it will be absolutely packed and the referees will have plenty to do. Athletes of all age categories will present themselves, there will be traditional and interesting names at the start.

Between 10 adults (5 of them from the Czech Republic) will take their first start of the year, primarily a cyclist Matej Piták. Last year in Poděbrady, in cooperation with veteran competitor Lukáš Pazdera, he significantly broke the 24-minute mark, and we will see how he will fare this time, also from a technical point of view. Frydecky Matej Novak will also fight for another passenger and approach the 24-minute mark, the start of the already mentioned race will also be interesting Mark Rösler and how he will do in his first start on a longer track.

There will also be 15 teenagers in the international field, 8 from the Czech Republic. Let's look for the biggest favorites in the Czech competition between Kokořová Eliška, Ema Kyselicová and Ludmila Kozlova. But the biggest favorites are probably the Slovaks Dudová and Kusá.

Just a few 6 junior girls will have the biggest favorite in Slovakia's Terezia Kurucová Out of the Czech trio, she has the best performance this year so far Anna Horáková from AC Rumburk, but the improving ones will certainly fight for the podium Tereza Pittnerová.

In the men's race (20) of all age categories, mainly veterans will fight. The biggest Czech favorite is Lukáš Pazdera, he will want to breathe on his back Rudolf Cogan, will strive for this year's Josef Smola.

International referee Emmanuel Tardi will arrive from France, German competitors will be well represented. The indomitable Stanislav Marek (1942!) and Jan Kovanda (1946!) will also be at the start. It is not possible to mention everyone, but hats off to the enthusiasm of the master athletes.

The 15 women at the start will have the main favorite in the German Brit Schrötter. He also completes five kilometers Jana Vildová, Lenka Slabáková, the organizational team will represent Mila Reinová and the complete medalists from Toruń will also be presented -Borovičková - Netolicka - Vranková.

On Sunday, there will also be a 20km embedded meeting.

20 competitors will take part in the men's race, 4 of them will be from the Czech Republic. He definitely pleased with his start Lukáš Gdula. He is struggling this season, he didn't get the chance to wear the national team jersey, but he starts determinedly and keeps on fighting. Probably everyone will wish for him to finally break through his suffering and leave an easy, fast race. After the disqualification in Olomouc, he will try for the first entry of the year on this track Martin Nedvidek, who defeated Lukáš in Dudince, and in Poděbrady he will face a XNUMX-year reparation. Lukáš certainly won't want to give his skin cheaply, and we may be waiting for another of the small mini-fights that make the sport so attractive. You are probably already rested after the Dudin family Rosta Kolar will want to go to the Poděbrady track for another quality top XNUMX. While Lukáš Gdula will most likely part ways somewhere at the level of last year's junior duo Zajíček - Morávek, Rosťa and Martin usually choose a more defensive strategy and offer cooperation with Slovak Milan Rízko.

The fourth Czech competitor to the party will be a junior Albert Kukla. He will go the first 20 km and the strategy is probably clear. A quick 10km for the official split time and then getting to the finish line. It is a question of whether, after the hateful uproar around Karel Ketner's training group, and a few days before the race, it is quite a game below the belt, whether the competitors will even be able to concentrate sufficiently on the race... Perhaps Albert will put all this (not only) behind his head and will present itself in the best light.

Among the twenty women, there are four domestic competitors. He will cut the weekend double start Lenka Borovičková. The wards of father and son Malys will strive to further improve their times from Olomouc Bugárová - Bakliková, it will be another character from the whole series Johan Petříková

There are very interesting names in the starting line-up, Robyn Stevens arrived from the USA, Anett Torma from Hungary will want to forget the unsuccessful season full of unfinished races...

In a year without civil measures, it shows once again what kind of sound Podebrady has in the world, and fans can look forward to another beautiful race. We wish fast feet and perfect technique to all the competitors who will be at the start this weekend.