10th Cracovia Royal Half Marathon
10th jubilee edition of the event organized in Kraków since 2014, at the conclusion of the running season. The undoubted attraction is the location of the finish line – inside the TAURON Arena Kraków. The Cracovia Royal Half Marathon offers an opportunity to face a long route leading among historical monuments and picturesque streets of Kraków.
The event was met with an excellent reception of the running community. The first edition of the Cracovia Royal Half Marathon received the Tomasz Hopfer Event of the Year 2014 Award in the Debuts category. The award was presented during the Mass Runs Gala in Warsaw.
In 2019, for the fifth time in a row, the participants set off on the route before TAURON Arena Kraków, and finished at the motherboard inside the largest sports and entertainment hall in Poland. To the finish came 8363 people out of 8437, who started. Ethiopian Enyew Mekonnen and Kenya Betty Lembus triumphed. They both set new route records – 1: 01.34 and 1: 10.48. Together with the half marathon, a 5 km run “Olympic Five” was organized – as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOL), established on 12 October 1919 in Kraków. In this race took part bronze medalist in the 1500 m race at the Doha World Championships 2019 Marcin Lewandowski and four-time Olympic champion in sports gait Robert Korzeniowski.
The coronavirus pandemic meant that the 7th Cracovia Royal Half Marathon did not take place in 2020 but on October 17, 2021 - under the slogan "In the long run", which was on the shirts. We wanted to emphasize the relationship between us - the organizers and the runners. We are together for better and for worse, in the long run. We have a longer and strong relationship with our runners that allows us to be together. The starting packages of the 7th Cracovia Royal Half Marathon have already run out more than a week before the planned closing of the online registration. This time there was a limit of five thousand participants. It was established in the interests of the safety and health of competitors, fans and everyone involved in the organization of the run. The triumphant in the race was Ukrainian Vitaliy Shafar and the current Polish champion in the half marathon Monika Jackiewicz. Representatives of 28 countries participated in the struggle with the distance of 21 km and 97,5 m.
Eric Leon Ndiema and Viktoria Kaluzhna triumphed in the 8th edition of the Cracovia Royal Half Marathon, which took place on October 16, 2022. Thus, for the Ukrainian woman it was the second victory in Kraków in October. Completing a kind of "hat-trick" of wins in the runs of the 2022 Royal Running Triad failed, however, for David Kiprono Metto, who finished second in the half marathon. The finish line at the TAURON Arena Kraków passed with satisfaction a total of 5807 of the 5844 participants from 39 countries, who stood at the start. For 556 of them it also meant that they gain the 2022 Royal Running Triad for completing the 19th Cracovia Marathon, the 15th Three Mounds Run and the 8th Cracovia Royal Half Marathon.
On October 16, 2022 together with the half-marathoners in front of the TAURON Arena Kraków, participants of the 5 km competition under the slogan "Running to the European Games" started. In the run heralding this year's biggest sporting event in Poland - the European Games Kraków-Małopolska 2023 - took part the President of the Management Board of the company responsible for the organization of this event - former excellent sprinter Marcin Nowak.
The 9th edition of the Cracovia Royal Half Marathon, held on October 8, 2023, was triumphed by Erick Leon Ndiema (1:02:14.3) and Hilda Jelagat Kiptum (1:12:51.6). The best of the Poles - Mateusz Kaczor finished in 4th place (1:04:14.9), the fastest Polish woman - Monika Jackiewicz reached the finish line in TAURON Arena Kraków as the second competitor (1:13:18.6).The 9th Cracovia Royal Half Marathon also included the Polish Championships of Physiotherapists, Teachers and Foresters in the Half Marathon. 7634 people from nearly 50 countries took part in the race, and 7590 of them checked in at the finish line in TAURON Arena Kraków. For 809 of them, it also meant that they won the 2023 Royal Running Triad for completing the 20th Cracovia Marathon, the PGE Energia Ciepła 16th Three Mounds' Run and the 9th Cracovia Royal Half Marathon.
Together with the half-marathoners from in front of TAURON Arena Kraków traditionally started the participants of the 5 km competition, which was held under the name "Piątka dla Krakowskiego Sportu" and inaugurated the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Sports Infrastructure Management Board of Kraków, which organizes these events this year. The fastest were Ukrainian Roman Adamowicz and Monika Kaczmarek. There were 1053 people at the starting line of the "Piątka dla Krakowskiego Sportu", and 1047 of them checked in at the finish line (while 1188 of the 1279 paid for packages were collected).
The 10th edition of the Cracovia Royal Half Marathon will be held on October 20, 2024.