This is a great place to run because of Prague itself. The course starts in the heart of the Old Town, and goes through some of the main attractions.
Organization was brilliant, imho - water, energy drinks, sponges; a loud applause goes to volunteers!
Public was OK - crowdy and supportive in the Old Town part, engaged and interested on other parts.

I would highly recommend this marathon because of the location and for its constant progress towards a truly world-class event.

The Prague International Marathon is one of the most enjoyable marathons on the European circuit. Prague is well versed in hosting major running events with the Prague Half Marathon also taking place in March every year. The Czech Republic seems to embrace running, with plenty of marathon promotional material clearly on display at Prague International Airport.

The course is what sets Prague apart. It is beautiful, taking place right in the heart of the city and within the historic Old Town area in particular. It also criss-crosses several of the bridges along the Vltava River, allowing runners to really see the city whilst chalking off the miles. The course is relatively flat, although a vast majority of the route takes place on the old cobbled streets, which greatly increases the impact, on the knees especially. The finish takes place in the famous Old Town Square, which conveniently, is where the start is also located. Crowds in and around the square were relatively large and the atmosphere was good.

Due to the course being so closely aligned to the river, it is quite exposed and can therefore allow the weather to have an influence. This was the case this year, with quite a strong headwind affecting runners, in the later stages of the race especially. The weather was chilly at the start with temperatures hovering around 8ÚC / 46ÚF, with a mixture of sunshine and light patchy cloud. As a result, a number of runners wore either a long-sleeved shirt or a light extra layer under their main garment.

The organisation is pretty good. Perhaps not on the same scale as the outstanding organisation of the Vienna City Marathon, but efficient nonetheless. The registration expo is large, spread across two or three exhibition halls in a suburb to the north of the river. There are lots of display stands, representing other marathons from around the world, and plenty of race merchandise on sale courtesy of Adidas being the official merchandise supplier. The one criticism would be that a number of the staff spoke very little or no English, which was somewhat surprising given the international nature of this event. Meanwhile, the finishers medal is a beauty and the finishers diplomas are available to download online the next day.

Prague is a beautiful city and the people are polite and friendly. These aspects come across within the Prague International Marathon, which showcases Prague very well. The city and the marathon appear to be indelibly bound together, which is not always the case with marathons in other European cities.

The course was ideal for mecoming off knee surgery, the flat course was great. Cobblestones were a bit of worry, but since I had to run slowly anyway....

You can't beat Prague's scenery and the frequent river crossings, bridge crossings notwithstanding, were fun. I loved the Old Town Square start and finish.

The organization has room for improvement. There was no acknowledgment that I, indeed, had ever signed up. I even e-mailed the question to the address provided. And, a map to the expo, with directions on which trolley to take, would have been wonderful.

Does anyone know the name of the music played over the loudspeakers at the start? I was too much in my own world to notice it, but my wife loved it and would like to know what it was. Please write if you know the name of the music.

All in all, an excellent marathon.

This was only my second marathon, but what a fantastic experience! First of all, the city is simply gorgeous and the course offers a wonderful tour of it. I did not find it a difficult course, but some attention has to be given to the cobblestones and the tram tracks. They are not everywhere, only in some sections of the city. No big deal. The weather was perfect, and I liked the 9 o'clock start. The organization was outstanding, from the expo the day before to all of the services offered to the runners the day of the race, nothing was forgotten. The crowd was very international, very supportive, making it fun and lively - you really felt that you were a star in the city. I BQed without even expecting it (this was supposed to be a training run for me) but I believe that the city itself made me run faster than I had expected and got me to give my best that day.

I would really love to run that marathon again in the future. Do yourself a favor and visit Prague as a race destination, as well as a great vacation place. Thank you to the Volkswagen Prague Marathon Organization and to all of the people of Prague!

The course is looped in such a way as to make one run the final 10K along the same path as the first 10K, which could be disheartening, but I didn't feel so at all.

The scenery is beautiful, including multiple passages over Pragues' bridges, crossing back and forth over the river a few times.

The number of participants may grow in the coming years. I found the race crowd to be ideal: not so many runners as to crowd the street and render passing people difficult, and just enough runners to make it a hearty collective experience.

The volunteers are friendly and helpful. In the 2010 edition the race, refreshments focused on healthy food: mostly fruit, which I thoroughly appreciated.

I was warned about the cobblestone segments being hard on the ankles, but I found the cobblestones to be rather flat and it wasn't an issue for me.

Spectator crowd was good, too. Never crowding into the street and nevertheless cheering well.

I recommend this race. If, like me, you're coming in from abroad, there's so much to visit in this city. Take the time to check out the Castle and the old city. After the marathon, take a boat trip: it's easy on your legs and you will see many of the sights you crossed while running.

Pre-Race: I didn't feel communication from the race organization was great. I had sent a few emails requesting information or clarification and all went unanswered. That was frustrating. That said, the expo itself was easy to get to (by streetcar) and packet pick-up was a breeze.

Race Day: Trying to find gear-check was nearly impossible. No volunteers or info booth could be found to ask a question of. Once I figured out where it was, trying to get there among the throngs of people was actually impossible. So I abandoned that attempt. The lines for the porta-johns about 30 minutes prior to the race were so long that that attempt also had to be abandoned. Getting into the corral was insanity.

The Race: All that said, once we got going, things went very smoothly. There were parts that were very congested (e.g., why would you have the relay hand-off in a constricted bridge underpass?). The cobblestones (perhaps 10% of the course?) weren't as bad as I'd feared. The number of water/drink stations was excellent, as were the volunteers helping. Also, given the temps, I appreciated that they had sponges. The course is pretty flat, except for the bridge underpasses. If you can't tolerate running a race that's not an out-and-back or point-to-point, then this race isn't for you. A good majority of the course was repeated.

Post-Race: Lesson to be learned: don't get your medal engraved right after a race. My friend offered to stand in line to have it done. Well, they engraved the clock time, not my real time.

Nevertheless, I'm glad that I ran the race. There are many scenic parts and it's a nice way to see the city.

Expo: I found it a little hard to find. After getting off of the metro, a few signs would have been nice. Once I found it I was very impressed. Having only run halves before, it seemed huge to me! Picking up my race pack was totally smooth. The T-shirt was lovely; I'll use it while training without a doubt.

Race day: Free public transportation on race day made getting to the start pleasant. The atmosphere around the start line was great - really got the adrenaline pumping!! The start was a little chaotic - no real organization - but once you cross the start line, the congestion totally eases.

The course: Given that Prague is famous for its cobbles and hills, I think they've done an excellent job with the course. It's fairly flat while still getting you in around the major sights.

Crowd support was excellent in the center of the town but, of course, as we went farther out of the city, it was quieter.

Refreshments were perfect: Water, sports drink, bananas, oranges, salt and sugar every 5K. The weather suddenly turned hot for race day, so in between the 5K refreshment points there was extra water and sponges. I was very impressed, as the weather had been cool and rainy all week.

So all in all, I thought it was a very well organized, scenic and, above all, FUN race! If there weren't so many other races that I'm dying to try, I'd be back next year without hesitation!!

Everything was perfect; we only missed a crowd along the course. I understand why there is no one cheering when you're running along the outskirts of town, but even at 41K you were all alone. There was only a crowd for the last 500 meters.

I ran Prague in 2005. Interesting story - 3 weeks before the race, I was diagnosed with pneumonia and thus ended my training and (I thought) my entrance into the race. I still went to Prague to visit, and ended up getting so excited after seeing the race course, the setup, the expo, and the other runners that I decided to run/walk the marathon after all. I had brought my running shoes but nothing else, so I bought shorts and a shirt and I was off. Finished in a time I'd rather not divulge, but I enjoyed it immensely. Lots of music, an interesting course along the river and in the old town, a bit boring on the out and back but you do get to see the elite runners. Nice medal, too. I didn't mind the cobblestones or the tram tracks - those are the things that make running a marathon in a city so interesting! I'd love to do Prague again without the pneumonia and hope I get the chance!

I tend to love every marathon experience I've ever had. In this case, however, I found it petty to require a cash deposit for the chip, even though most people had paid by credit card. That's the first marathon where I've had to do that. We even had to stand in a line in order to pay the deposit. I was told to go to an ATM to get the money (I didn't even know if my US ATM card would work).

The rest of the registration was pretty routine. The t-shirt was good.

The spectators were fairly plentiful. Very few addressed me by name as I ran, though, even though I displayed it in plain view.