The Košice Peace Marathon (Slovak: Medzinárodný maratón mieru) is an annual road marathon held in Košice,

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, since 1924. It is the oldest marathon in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and the third-oldest in the world (after the Boston Marathon, first held in 1897, and the

Yonkers Marathon The Yonkers Marathon, is a marathon race held annually in Yonkers, New York. Founded in 1907, it is the second oldest marathon in the United States, after the Boston Marathon. It is held on the third Sunday in October. In addition to the mar ...

, first held in 1907). The marathon generally takes place each year on the first Sunday in October. The course is relatively flat and consists of two loops, mostly within the city center. The marathon is an AIMS-certified race. It is also categorized as a Silver Label Road Race by

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

, and was certified as a 5-Star Quality Road Race by European Athletics Running for All in 2015.

History

The first race was held in 1924. The first women's race was held in 1980. In 2016, the marathon received IAAF Bronze Label Road Race status, and in 2018, it received IAAF Silver Label Road Race status.

Course

The course is flat, completely asphalted and traffic free, two laps in the historic city center. The cumulative elevation gain is .

Winners

The course records are 2:24:35 for women (set by Ayuntu Tadesse in 2021) and 2:07:01 hours for men (set by Lawrence Kimaiyo in 2012). Note: winners are listed below for five of the seven war years (1938–44), five war winners are listed at official homepage too, although the history provided by the Košice Peace Marathon states: ''"The Slovakian Marathon suffered a cleft seven years wide. To some extent this was patched up with five marathons organized under the Hungarian flag during the Horthy occupation of Košice – without a single foreign runner..."''Vojmaratony
Its status as the oldest marathon in Europe, and second-oldest in the world, remains undiminished by this break. Key: Course record (in bold)

Notes

References

;List of winners

Association of Road Racing Statisticians (2011-10-04). Retrieved on 2011-10-23.

External links

Official websiteSome history

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kosice Peace Marathon Recurring sporting events established in 1924 Marathons in Europe Marathon Sports competitions in Czechoslovakia Athletics competitions in Slovakia Annual sporting events in Slovakia 1924 establishments in Slovakia Autumn events in Czechoslovakia Autumn events in Slovakia