Košice Marathon: the legendary race that inspired the beginnings of Spiridon

In 1967, Noël Tamini, future founder of the magazine Spiridon, flew alone to Czechoslovakia. His destination: Košice, and its marathon, already an institution in Central Europe. He did not yet know it, but this solitary race behind the Iron Curtain would lay the foundation for a magazine that would go on to revolutionize running culture.

A race, some friendships, a magazine

In the inaugural issue of Spiridon (February 1972), Tamini himself recounts the genesis of his team: "The friendship of Antonin, Eva, and Karel was born from a race in Czechoslovakia, the Košice marathon, where I had gone all alone in 1967." These Czech encounters would later nourish the entire network of contributors for the young magazine, at a time when traveling alone behind the Iron Curtain to run a marathon was no trivial matter.

Tamini would return to Košice in 1971, the year Spiridon covered the race with photographs: "Decisive phase: Rummako (Finland) is set to drop to 5th place..." The photo, credited to Spiridon, depicts a pack of runners from all over Europe: Hungary, Finland, Ireland, Denmark, USSR, GDR, Sweden, Czechoslovakia. That year, the Hungarian Gyula Toth won with a time of 2:21:43.

Why this race shaped the Spiridon spirit

Long before the major, media-hyped Western marathons, Košice was already gathering an obscure international scene, far from the spotlight of Boston or London. It is precisely this idea—running freely, experienced far from conventions and borders—that would become the DNA of Spiridon: a magazine, then a brand, designed for runners who run for themselves, not for glory.

Fifty years later, this spirit remains our own. Discover the complete story of the birth of Spiridon in our article on Spiridon Louis, and explore our running collection designed with the same spirit of freedom.