# Košice Peace Marathon

The Košice Peace Marathon (Slovak: Medzinárodný maratón mieru) is an annual road marathon held in Košice, Slovakia, since 1924. It is the oldest continuously running in the world, having been run every year since 1941. It is the oldest marathon in Europe and the third-oldest in the world (after the Boston Marathon, first held in 1897, and the Yonkers Marathon, first held in 1907). However, Boston and Yonkers have been continuous only since 2021. 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, and was certified as a 5-Star Quality Road Race by European Athletics Running for All in 2015.

## History

The Košice Peace Marathon, first held in 1924, is the oldest marathon in Europe and the third oldest in the world. Inspired by the 1924 Paris Olympics, Košice sports enthusiast Vojtech ( born Braun) Bukovský organized the inaugural race, which began beneath the ruins of Turňa Castle. The marathon quickly gained international prestige, attracting prominent athletes like 1931 winner Juan Carlos Zabala, who went on to win the 1932 Olympic marathon. Known for its adherence to the official marathon distance of 42.195km, even in its early years, the race has hosted numerous world-class runners and witnessed historic performances, including Abebe Bikila's victory in 1961. The Košice Peace Marathon has endured through war and societal change, adapting its course and expanding to include women 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 74 m (243 ft).

## Winners

The course records are 2:21:08 for women (set by Rebecca Tanui in 2024) and 2:06:55 hours for men (set by Philemon Rono in 2023).
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..." Its status as the oldest marathon in Europe, and second-oldest in the world, remains undiminished by this break.
Key: Course record (in bold)
| Ed. | Year | Men's winner | Time | Women's winner | Time | Rf. |
| 1 | 1924 | Karol Halla (TCH) | 3:01:35 | not held | not held |
| 2 | 1925 | Pál Király (HUN) | 2:41:55 | not held | not held |
| 3 | 1926 | Paul Hempel (GER) | 2:57:02 | not held | not held |
| 4 | 1927 | József Galambos (HUN) | 2:48:25.2 | not held | not held |
| 5 | 1928 | József Galambos (HUN) | 2:55:45 | not held | not held |
| 6 | 1929 | Paul Hempel (GER) | 2:51:31 | not held | not held |
| 7 | 1930 | Istvàn Zelenka (HUN) | 2:50:59 | not held | not held |
| 8 | 1931 | Juan Carlos Zabala (ARG) | 2:33:19 | not held | not held |
| 9 | 1932 | József Galambos (HUN) | 2:43:15 | not held | not held |
| 10 | 1933 | József Galambos (HUN) | 2:37:54 | not held | not held |
| 11 | 1934 | Josef Šulc (TCH) | 2:41:26.3 | not held | not held |
| 12 | 1935 | Artūrs Motmillers (LAT) | 2:44:58 | not held | not held |
| 13 | 1936 | György Balaban (AUT) | 2:41:08 | not held | not held |
| 14 | 1937 | Désiré Leriche (FRA) | 2:43:41.7 | not held | not held |
| 15 | 1938 | not held due to World War II | not held due to World War II | | not held | not held |
| 16 | 1939 | József Kiss (HUN) | 2:47:47.6 | not held | not held |
| 17 | 1940 | not held due to World War II | not held due to World War II | | not held | not held |
| 18 | 1941 | József Gyimesi (HUN) | 2:56:17.8 | not held | not held |
| 19 | 1942 | József Kiss (HUN) | 3:02:27 | not held | not held |
| 20 | 1943 | Géza Kiss (HUN) | 2:50:14.0 | not held | not held |
| 21 | 1944 | Rezsö Kövári (HUN) | 2:58:49 | not held | not held |
| 22 | 1945 | Antonín Špiroch (TCH) | 2:47:21.8 | not held | not held |
| 23 | 1946 | Mikko Hietanen (FIN) | 2:35:02.4 | not held | not held |
| 24 | 1947 | Charles Heirendt (LUX) | 2:36:06.0 | not held | not held |
| 25 | 1948 | Gösta Leandersson (SWE) | 2:34:46.4 | not held | not held |
| 26 | 1949 | Martti Urpalainen (FIN) | 2:33:45.6 | not held | not held |
| 27 | 1950 | Gösta Leandersson (SWE) | 2:31:20.2 | not held | not held |
| 28 | 1951 | Jaroslav Štrupp (TCH) | 2:41:07.8 | not held | not held |
| 29 | 1952 | Erkki Puolakka (FIN) | 2:29:10 | not held | not held |
| 30 | 1953 | Walter Bednář (TCH) | 2:53:33 | not held | not held |
| 31 | 1954 | Erkki Puolakka (FIN) | 2:27:21 | not held | not held |
| 32 | 1955 | Evert Nyberg (SWE) | 2:25:40 | not held | not held |
| 33 | 1956 | Thomas Nilsson (SWE) | 2:22:05.4 | not held | not held |
| 34 | 1957 | Ivan Filin (URS) | 2:23:57.8 | not held | not held |
| 35 | 1958 | Pavel Kantorek (TCH) | 2:29:37.2 | not held | not held |
| 36 | 1959 | Sergei Popov (URS) | 2:17:45.2 | not held | not held |
| 37 | 1960 | Samuel Hardicker (GBR) | 2:26:46.8 | not held | not held |
| 38 | 1961 | Abebe Bikila (ETH) | 2:20:12.0 | not held | not held |
| 39 | 1962 | Pavel Kantorek (TCH) | 2:28:29.8 | not held | not held |
| 40 | 1963 | Leonard Edelen (USA) | 2:15:09.6 | not held | not held |
| 41 | 1964 | Pavel Kantorek (TCH) | 2:25:55.4 | not held | not held |
| 42 | 1965 | Aurèle Vandendriessche (BEL) | 2:23:47 | not held | not held |
| 43 | 1966 | Gyula Tóth (HUN) | 2:19:11.2 | not held | not held |
| 44 | 1967 | Nedo Farčić (YUG) | 2:20:53.8 | not held | not held |
| 45 | 1968 | Václav Chudomel (TCH) | 2:26:28.4 | not held | not held |
| 46 | 1969 | Demissie Wolde (ETH) | 2:15:37 | not held | not held |
| 47 | 1970 | Mikhail Gorelov (URS) | 2:16:26.2 | not held | not held |
| 48 | 1971 | Gyula Tóth (HUN) | 2:21:43.6 | not held | not held |
| 49 | 1972 | John Farrington (AUS) | 2:17:34.4 | not held | not held |
| 50 | 1973 | Vladimir Moseyev (URS) | 2:19:01.2 | not held | not held |
| 51 | 1974 | Keith Angus (GBR) | 2:20:10 | not held | not held |
| 52 | 1975 | Choe Chang-sop (PRK) | 2:15:47.8 | not held | not held |
| 53 | 1976 | Takeshi So (JPN) | 2:18:42.4 | not held | not held |
| 54 | 1977 | Go Chun-son (PRK) | 2:15:19.4 | not held | not held |
| 55 | 1978 | Go Chun-son (PRK) | 2:13:34.5 | not held | not held |
| 56 | 1979 | Jouni Kortelainen (FIN) | 2:15:12 | not held | not held |
| 57 | 1980 | Aleksey Lyagushev (URS) | 2:15:25 | Šárka Balcarová (TCH) | 2:50:15 |
| 58 | 1981 | Hans-Joachim Truppel (GER) | 2:16:58 | Christa Vahlensieck (GER) | 2:37:46 |
| 59 | 1982 | György Sinkó (HUN) | 2:18:48 | Gillian Burley (GBR) | 2:43:26 |
| 60 | 1983 | František Višnický (TCH) | 2:16:52 | Raisa Sadreydinova (URS) | 2:34:41 |
| 61 | 1984 | Lee Dong-myong (PRK) | 2:18:59 | Christa Vahlensieck (GER) | 2:36:56 |
| 62 | 1985 | Valentin Starikov (URS) | 2:17:13 | Lutsia Belyayeva (URS) | 2:38:19 |
| 63 | 1986 | František Višnický (TCH) | 2:18:43 | Christa Vahlensieck (GER) | 2:41:08 |
| 64 | 1987 | Jörg Peter (GER) | 2:14:59 | Christa Vahlensieck (GER) | 2:38:40 |
| 65 | 1988 | Michael Heilmann (GER) | 2:17:52 | Christa Vahlensieck (GER) | 2:39:03 |
| 66 | 1989 | Karel David (TCH) | 2:18:39 | Alena Peterková (TCH) | 2:31:28 |
| 67 | 1990 | Nikolaj Kolesnikov (URS) | 2:20:28 | Carol McLatchie (USA) | 2:46:00 |
| 68 | 1991 | Vlastimil Bukovjan (TCH) | 2:18:21 | Marika Starowská (TCH) | 2:46:00 |
| 69 | 1992 | Wieslaw Palczyński (POL) | 2:16:24 | Dana Hajná (TCH) | 2:43:27 |
| 70 | 1993 | Wieslaw Palczyński (POL) | 2:14:11 | Elena Plastinina (UKR) | 2:42:11 |
| 71 | 1994 | Petr Pipa (SVK) | 2:15:03 | Ľudmila Melicherová (SVK) | 2:40:27 |
| 72 | 1995 | Marnix Goegebeur (BEL) | 2:13:57 | Gouzel Tazetdinova (RUS) | 2:43:03 |
| 73 | 1996 | Marnix Goegebeur (BEL) | 2:17:41 | Gouzel Tazetdinova (RUS) | 2:44:28 |
| 74 | 1997 | My Tahar Echchadli (MAR) | 2:16:22 | Wioletta Uryga (POL) | 2:38:56 |
| 75 | 1998 | Andrzej Krzyścin (POL) | 2:14:29 | Wioletta Uryga (POL) | 2:46:23 |
| 76 | 1999 | Róbert Štefko (SVK) | 2:14:10 | Katarína Jedináková (SVK) | 2:55:39 |
| 77 | 2000 | Ernest Kipyego (KEN) | 2:14:35 | Ivana Martincová (CZE) | 2:46:17 |
| 78 | 2001 | David Kariuki (KEN) | 2:13:27 | Galina Zhulyeva (UKR) | 2:36:55 |
| 79 | 2002 | David Kariuki (KEN) | 2:12:40 | Tadelesh Birra (ETH) | 2:36:49 |
| 80 | 2003 | Grigoriy Andreyev (RUS) | 2:13:24 | Alena Mazouka (BLR) | 2:39:23 |
| 81 | 2004 | Adam Dobrzyński (POL) | 2:12:35 | Rika Tabashi (JPN) | 2:33:52 |
| 82 | 2005 | David Maiyo (KEN) | 2:16:07 | Edyta Lewandowska (POL) | 2:37:48 |
| 83 | 2006 | Edwin Kiptum (KEN) | 2:12:53 | Natallia Kravets-Kulesh (BLR) | 2:36:47 |
| 84 | 2007 | William Biama (KEN) | 2:09:53 | Natallia Kravets-Kulesh (BLR) | 2:34:50 |
| 85 | 2008 | Dejene Yirdaw (ETH) | 2:10:51 | Selina Chelimo (KEN) | 2:34:23 |
| 86 | 2009 | Jacob Chesire (KEN) | 2:10:59 | Olena Burkovska (UKR) | 2:30:50 |
| 87 | 2010 | Gilbert Chepkwony (KEN) | 2:08:33 | Almaz Alemu (ETH) | 2:36:35 |
| 88 | 2011 | Elijah Kemboi (KEN) | 2:11:15 | Maryna Damantsevich (BLR) | 2:33:53 |
| 89 | 2012 | Lawrence Kimaiyo (KEN) | 2:07:01 | Hellen Mugo (KEN) | 2:29:59 |
| 90 | 2013 | Patrick Korir (KEN) | 2:09:36 | Ashete Bekere (ETH) | 2:27:44 |
| 91 | 2014 | Gilbert Chepkwony (KEN) | 2:08:26 | Lydia Jerotich (KEN) | 2:28:48 |
| 92 | 2015 | Samuel Kosgei (KEN) | 2:07:07 | Melka Mulu (ETH) | 2:35:33 |
| 93 | 2016 | David Kiyeng (KEN) | 2:08:57 | Chaltu Waka (ETH) | 2:32:19 |
| 94 | 2017 | Reuben Kerio (KEN) | 2:08:12 | Sheila Jerotich (KEN) | 2:27:34 |
| 95 | 2018 | Raymond Choge (KEN) | 2:08:11 | Milliam Ebongon (KEN) | 2:27:16 |
| 96 | 2019 | Hillary Kipsambu (KEN) | 2:09:33 | Kumeshi Sichala (ETH) | 2:26:01 |
| 97 | 2020 | Marek Hladík (SVK) | 2:26:08 | Petra Pastorová (CZE) | 2:52:11 | |
| 98 | 2021 | Reuben Kerio (KEN) | 2:07:18 | Ayuntu Tadesse (ETH) | 2:24:35 | |
| 99 | 2022 | Reuben Kerio (KEN) | 2:07:16 | Margaret Agai (KEN) | 2:24:04 | |
| 100 | 2023 | Philemon Rono (KEN) | 2:06:55 | Jackline Cherono (KEN) | 2:24:43 | |
| 101 | 2024 | Denis Chirchir (KEN) | 2:07:50 | Rebecca Tanui (KEN) | 2:21:08 | |