A few weeks ago, the public was announced that the eve of the marathon will be marked by the premiere of Peter Kerekes‘ film, which he named the Košice Marathon – PríBEH mesta. A few days before the film’s release at the National Theater, the director himself told us more about what preceded the creation of the film and how he looks at the filming and the context that accompanied it with the passage of time.

When was the idea of ​​making a film about Košice and its marathon born? How did this happen?

It was a bit unusual. Originally, Brano Koniar approached me with an offer to make a film about the Marathon. I could not imagine that I would come to Košice and after the film „66 seasons“ shoot another film about Košice and its history, this time not through a swimming pool, but through a marathon. In addition, I shot the film „Censorship“ in Ukraine and „Wishing on a star“ in Italy. I didn’t know how I would handle the third project. But then the corona came, my life slowed down. On a visit to Košice, I met Janka Halašová and her father, Gusto Halaša. And when he started telling me marathon stories, I noticed that I was already taking out my notebook and working. Janko Dvonč took me to see „Buben“ Kapcár, who unfortunately had died in the meantime, and I was suddenly trapped in marathon stories. I thought I would shoot the film in one summer, but we already had 2022 and 2023, two shoots in Kenya, and I still feel like I need at least one more summer.

As a native of Košice, you must have seen the marathon as a child. What do you remember from that period?

I admit that very little.

What was the most challenging part of the entire shoot, and can your individual films be compared from that point of view?

This is a very specific film. The most difficult part is not filming, but editing. As with a marathon, I also need to find the right pace here so that I don’t burn out the film at the beginning and that the audience doesn’t drop out before the finish.

How many hours of material or meters of film have you managed to collect and is there something still missing?

We have about 120 hours of material. I really miss the people I didn’t have time to film because they died before filming. „Buben“ Kapcár, Mr. Hrušovský, Mr. Kantorek. I have a list of 92 people I met in the research directory for this film. But not all of them will be in the movie. Film is the worst medium for conveying information and facts. If anyone wants to know information about the marathon, read the book. The film, at least mine, conveys emotions, the life philosophy of runners and non-runners, stories that may not be factually important, but have an interesting narrative.

Can you tell us what was the most powerful moment of the entire filming?

The film features Eva Kissová, a member of the Košice Marathon Diamond Club, one of our first runners. But she is interesting to me mainly because she works in a hospital where, among other things, she teaches people to walk again after various injuries. She beautifully says that for her, victory is to run 42 kilometers, for her patients, victory is to walk four steps. We were able to film how her patient Marian stood up for the first time in six months. For about 40 seconds. It was a very powerful experience.

After the film 66 seasons, this is another film dedicated to the realities of Košice. From your point of view, are there other topics worth processing?

I would very much like to shoot three more films in Košice.

We know that the guests of the marathon and its long-term organizers will see the film in a sort of preview on October 5. What are your next plans for the film? Will the audience see it at any of the festivals?

In recent years, we have succeeded in premiering films at major festivals – in Berlin, Venice, or Toronto, and then introducing them to cinema distribution. I hope that a similar strategy will be successful for this film as well. But it’s still a long way to go. In September, the audience could also watch the television series, Marathon Stories, which was created as another result of our filming.

Filmmaking can be compared to a relay race. One stage ends, the film is about to premiere, but we have to keep running. Apart from these marathon stories, what else can the audience look forward to from your work?

I would like to make a film in Košice, about my father. But that is still a long way off.

The penetration of modern technologies into the preparations for the marathon in Košice seems to be constantly accelerating. The evidence is abundant. It is transformed into individual solutions and applications that help us communicate better and faster, or replace routine processes in database management so that we can devote more time to creative activities. The programmers, who skillfully transfer the tasks of the organizers into individual solutions, are certainly to blame for this. And besides, people in these professions don’t forget to run either. That is why in 2024 we will also be looking for the fastest male and female programmers in a competition called the Cat Digital Run. Before we get to that, it’s worth reminding that this year too, there will be an app that will allow us through the so-called live tracking to watch the entire moving theater as if live. Yes, we are talking about the already well-known application called Košice Peace Marathon.

It is also being developed and improved, and its use for the peak of the 2024 season is fully prepared. If you don’t have it installed from previous years, you can download it for free via Google Play or the App Store and thus have the marathon action within your reach at any time, whether you have an Android or iOS operating system on your phone.

It may be recalled that the application is built on the TRACX platform from the workshop of the world leader in the field of chip measurement and sharing of sports results, the Dutch company MYLAPS Sports Technology, and offers, in addition to a lot of basic and important information, the previously mentioned so-called live tracking, i.e. online tracking and ranking of any competitors on the track. If the application is also used by the competitors themselves, i.e. not only their fans, they can look forward to a detailed analysis of their performance after the race.

Since its birth, the Košice Marathon has walked or rather run hand in hand with numismatics and collectors. The admiration of the people alternated with the envy of the opponents when looking at the winners‘ medals. Over time, these medals have become pieces of history and sought-after collectibles. After all, who wouldn’t want to own such a piece of past glory. As time moved on, so did other newer objects depicting this marathon. In addition to medals, plaques, badges, sets of circulating coins and souvenir banknotes were created for various years and anniversaries.

Despite the fact that we know in detail the sporting progress of each year of the marathon, we cannot yet say with certainty whether any collector’s item was issued or made available to the public in each year. Marathon badges could be considered the most widespread of the collectible artifacts listed above. Until 1938, we know of only 3 such badges and one other, unofficial one, which is temporally and thematically linked to the events and the starting place of the 1st year. But we can say with certainty that since 1948 a badge has been issued for every single year of the Freedom Marathon or the Košice Peace Marathon, as this marathon has been called over the years.

On its 90th anniversary, the International Peace Marathon received collector coins as a „birthday gift“. Although there was no image of the marathon on the coins themselves, together with the packaging and the token they formed a kind of whole – a set that commemorated this anniversary.

Only a hundred years after the moment when eight brave people and several dozen onlookers gathered under the ruins of the Turnian Castle, this marathon has its own money. A coin that everyone can use to pay. Runners or ordinary people who would not even dare to run a marathon can own such a piece of marathon heritage and the legacy of the oldest marathon run in Europe. The coin itself is minted from common metal in a run of one million pieces and has a face value of 2 euros.

But what would an anniversary be without a special commemorative item that collectors will be able to get during this round anniversary? The organizers of the marathon and the Slovak Numismatic Society joined forces and prepared a special collector’s card in a limited edition of only 1700 pieces. The trading card itself will contain, in addition to the 2 euro coin and text information, an authentic token designed specifically for this purpose.

The Košice International Peace Marathon is an ornament, pride and priceless advertisement of a small town in the center of Europe called Košice. For 100 years, it has been helping to create the integral sports history of our country, which started with the idea and dream of one person – sports enthusiast Vojtech Braun Bukovský.

Patrik Fečo

While scrolling through historical documents related to the marathon, I came across an article entitled „What you might not know…“. That’s when I thought of something that I think could be interesting for readers.

From the very beginning, the organizers of the marathon dealt with issues that could be called „secondary“ in addition to really necessary matters. They also had to think about plaques, badges, medals, flags, promotional material, envelopes, letterhead, postcards. Based on the premise that there are also collectors among athletes and athletes among collectors, it is perhaps interesting to look back and evaluate what was produced, published, published, i.e. what was and is the object of collectors‘ interest.

Let’s start with postage stamps. As a part of letter communication, it had its technical as well as cultural mission. And that was also fulfilled by the marathon grades, so to speak.

The first such stamp was issued in Czechoslovakia in 1956, as part of the second set of sports stamps. The stamp with a value of 0.80 CZK was designed by Anna Podzemna-Suchardová, the engraver was Jíří Švengsbír, and it saw the light of day in a circulation of 3,315,000 pieces on August 9, 1956. For the sake of completeness, let us add that it was produced by rotary steel printing in combination with gravure deep printing.

The second stamp, issued in 1980, had a value of 0.50 CZK and a really interesting circulation – 6,235,000 pieces. It was signed by artist Igor Rumanský and engraver Jan Mráček, and the printing technique was similar to that in 1956.

The theme of the marathon in Košice appeared on stamps even after the creation of independent Slovakia. On September 17, 1997, an occasional stamp was issued in a circulation of 1,670,000 for the 6th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, which took place in Košice on October 4, 1997, and on the same day in the afternoon, the regular edition of the International Peace Marathon was also held. The 9.00 Sk stamp was designed by the academic painter Igor Piačka and the engraving was created by Bohumil Šneider.

And so far, the last such act was the issue of a stamp in 2014 on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the marathon tradition in Košice. This happened on October 5, 2014, and its value was already expressed in the next, third currency. It had a value of EUR 0.45. Here too, let’s mention at least the basic data, among them the name of the author, the academic painter Petr Uchnár, and the print run of 540,000 copies.

All previous historical references will be covered by the most current one, talking about the issue of a stamp for the 100th anniversary of the Košice Peace Marathon.

At the time of writing this article, this glimpse into the collector’s album, i.e. even before the actual release and inauguration of the stamp, scheduled for Košice’s Kulturpark on Friday, October 4, 2024, something is still to remain secret. Come take a look and learn more. The ceremony is scheduled for 2 p.m. on this day. Let’s just add that the artistic design of the stamp issued in an edition of 250,000 pieces was processed by…       

Ľudovít Korotnoky

On each of the marathon tracks, you will find runners who prefer to deal with its pitfalls alone, closed in on themselves, but also those for whom running together in a group helps them overcome crises or lack of confidence in their own strength. Even for them, there are still dedicated pacemakers.

Thus, more experienced colleagues come to help, who, this time in Košice, change their personal desires for the role of motivators, to help others achieve their goals together.

Even in 2024, the organizers of the marathon and people from the bart.sk company formed a great group of runners determined to undertake this mission.

But there is one ambitious change compared to last year. For the first time, a flag with the number 2:49 appears on the runner’s back. One of the couple of pacemakers who will try to drag those who want a time under 2:50 to the finish line is Daniel Kraviansky. Although Dano allowed himself to be talked into this role for a while, his big sporting heart did not resist for long. The triathlete, crowned with interesting achievements from this difficult „triathlon“, is not a newcomer to the home track in Košice. Even though he only tried the marathon here once, last year, he can boast of times under 35 minutes in the 10 km, or just over 75 minutes in the half marathon.

The field of these running motivators is even wider this year than last year. Their more complete profiles can also be found on the pacer.bart.sk website, so let’s take a closer look at at least one of the many names today. However, Ivana Butoracová does not even need to be introduced in detail to many. One of the stalwarts of the running scene in our country, she has completed more than 50 marathons and has experience in many times longer ultra runs. It is far from the first time that she appears among the Košice marathon pacemakers, and this year she was among those who patiently put together the current line-up. It is worth adding to her name that she manages to combine her running enthusiasm and long training sessions with her work as a university professor at the University of Prešov, and she is also unmissable in her tireless activities at the Vyšná Šebastová Running Club.

So who will undertake to set their „cruise control“ in favor of others this year?