General and title partner
A five-kilometre loop at the Zadov cross-country stadium, where the first Cross-Country Skiing World Cup race in Bohemia was held in January 1983. Now it is run on foot.
Churáňov ski stadium, Zadov · free parking by the stadium on race day
General and title partner
The first Cross-Country Skiing World Cup race in Bohemia. The women's 10 km – two five-kilometre laps.
Not a single flake fell. The loop was built by 400 to 500 lorries – about 5,000 m³ of snow from Kvilda, Modrava and Zlatá Studna.
On Saturday came a FIS race over 5 km. Květa Jeriová won it. There has been a Zadov five before.
That is how many are thought to have come. We start from scratch – with the first edition.
Everything is run on the same five-kilometre loop. The ten is two laps, the half marathon four. And that one can be split between four people in a relay.
Four times round the race loop, with about 650 m of climbing. A 4:00 cut-off and a checkpoint cut-off of 3:00 at the start of the last lap.
The same course as the solo race. Each of the four runs one lap; the handover is on the finish straight in the stadium.
Two laps of the World Cup loop. For anyone who finds five too little and the half marathon too much.
One lap of the World Cup loop. The main race of the day – and the shortest way to run this course.
Six waves, two birth years each, from 100 to 2,000 m. A medal for everyone who finishes. Held before the main races so parents can do both. The younger youth (2011–2012) may, having weighed up their own strength and with their parents' consent, start in the 5 km instead.
The loop is redrawn from the resort's official race-course map. Click the points on the map, or let it run the lap for you. The profile moves with you.
A cross-country ski stadium. This is where the 1983 World Cup started. The start is on the left-hand side, the finish on the right – the finish straight doubles as the relay handover.
1 Vypálenec 1.0 km · 2 Kamejček 1.9 km · 3 Skalka 2.9 km · 4 Cílák 4.5 km.
Hard-packed forest roads and grassy sections of the groomed cross-country loop. No technical descents, but expect wet ground and leaves in October. Trail shoes are recommended, not required.
You can look at the lap on Mapy.com and send it to your phone from there. For a watch or a navigation app use the GPX file – one lap, starting and finishing at the stadium.
An aid station on the loop and more at the finish in the stadium – water, sports drink and bananas. We will add the exact position of the station once it is confirmed.
Enter your road time and we will work out how long it will take you here. We assume about 32 metres of climbing per kilometre and forest roads rather than tarmac. We will also show what time you finish.
It is an estimate, not a prophecy. The terrain, the weather and the day you happen to be having can move it five per cent either way. But it is enough to tell you whether you will make the 14:15 awards.
The loop you have just seen on the map hosted the first Cross-Country Skiing World Cup race in Bohemia in January 1983.
Not a single flake fell. Snow was trucked in from around Zlatá Studna, Kvilda, Modrava and Filipova Huť – about 5,000 m³, four to five hundred lorries. Tatras, Liaz and Praga V3S trucks turned out, along with tractors and diggers. The members of the "Shovel Team" could tell you how many days and nights they spent on the course with a shovel and a snowmobile.
On Friday 14 January came the women's 10 km – the same five-kilometre loop twice. Norway's Britt Pettersen won, Blanka Paulů finished third and Květa Jeriová sixth. Fifth was Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi, a future Olympic champion; eighteenth "Gaba" Svobodová, mother of Gabriela Soukalová.
On Saturday 15 January came a FIS 5 km race called the Šumava Cup. Květa Jeriová won it. Around seven thousand spectators are thought to have come to Zadov to watch. The Sporthotel Olympia and the Churáňov chalet had opened shortly before.
Photographs and data: archive of the Zadov ski resort
This is the first edition. No early bird, no weekly increases – the price is the same from start to finish. Medical help is on site throughout the race.
The 20 % club discount applies to registered members of the local clubs – Fischer Ski klub Šumava Vimperk, Ski klub Strakonice and Ski Sokol Stachy – on the Zadovská 5ka and the ten, with online entry before the deadline. It does not apply to the children's races or to on-site entry. Club leaders should ask for the code at registrace@zadovska5ka.cz.
Online entry until 20 October; on site +CZK 100, subject to capacity. Children can also be entered on the day. Entry fees are non-refundable; transfer to another runner is free until 17 October, then CZK 100.
The first three in every category are awarded, men and women separately, at 14:15 – and every category is awarded, however many start in it. The children's waves from 850 m up are awarded at 10:45, right after the last wave finishes. Everyone who finishes gets a wooden medal.
Estimate the four legs. We will add them up for you.
The full race information – categories by year of birth, rules, cut-offs, registration and terms of participation. Two pages to download and print.
Races, schedule, entry fees, categories, climbs and rules. To download and print.
Full race info Download PDFYouth 14–17 run the five, juniors are 18–19, adults go in ten-year bands from 20 up. The ten and the half marathon start at junior age. Children race in six waves, two birth years each, from 100 to 2,000 m.
The half marathon cut-off is 4:00, with a checkpoint cut-off of 3:00 at the start of the last lap. Runners under 18 need written consent from a parent or guardian.
This is the first edition – small changes to the race information are possible. By entering you accept the terms of participation.
Each race has its own colour – dark green for the half marathon, blue for the relay, moss for the ten, rowan for the five and cranberry for the children. That way the judges at the finish can tell who is finishing and who is heading out for another lap.
The Zadov cross-country loop is maintained all year – by snow groomer in winter, and the rest of the year by mowing, clearing and repairing after the loggers. It is funded mainly from parking fees.
You can make a voluntary contribution at registration. All of it goes to the resort for trail maintenance, nowhere else.
Entries are handled on naZávody.cz. Online until 20 October; on the day the entry fee is CZK 100 higher and only while places last.
Or just write to registrace@zadovska5ka.cz. Before entering, please read the terms of participation.
The half marathon starts at 11:15 and registration opens at eight. If you have a long way to come, you are better off staying the night.
Right by the Churáňov stadium – a few minutes' walk from the start. The hotel opened a few days before the World Cup race in January 1983.
We are building the first edition with our own hands and with the support of those who see the sense in people coming to Zadov in October.
General and title partner
Skupina ČEZ is behind the first edition of the ČEZ Zadovská 5ka.
We write only when there is something to say – if the race information changes, and then once more a week before the race, about whether to pack a headband.
So far we have sent zero e-mails. We are doing great.
We will use your e-mail only for news about the race and will not pass it on. One click to unsubscribe. More in the terms.