Racewalking career of Ivo Majetic

Ivo Majetic was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 21st June 1968.

He started racewalking in 1981, progressing from the short track based 3000 m to the longer road based 20 km and 50 km races as he matured as a walker.

Ivo quickly realised that he was better suited to the longer distances. He tried his first 100 km race in 1990 on the track in Prague and surprised himself and others with a Czech track record of 9h 59' 32". He suffered a mid race crisis which threatened to end his walk early and “I only realised I would finish the race when I was 300 metres from the end”.

From then on, he challenged himself with further ultradistance walks, while continuing to racewalk over the shorter distances. He eventually ended his racewalking career with PBs of 1h 36'09" (20 km) and 4h 34'11" (50 km), both set in the early nineties.

With the bloodless Velvet Revolution of 1989 that led to the end of the rule of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the formation of a democratic government, Ivo’s world was rapidly changing and he could travel freely within Europe.

One ultradistance walking race in particular stands out at this time, namely a 24 Hour walk in Vallorbe, Switzerland, in September 1991. On that occasion, he covered 200 km in 21h 25'14" for another still standing Czech record, an amazing 9,337 km/h pace. 26 years later, this performance still stands as the 18th best ever 200 km in the world.

Apart from his 100 km track PB of 9h 59'32" (Prague, Oct 1990), he had a road PB of 9h 52', set in the classic Lugano 100 km race in Italy.

In 1992-1993, he was studying in Italy as he prepared for the 1993 Paris-Colmar classic. It was by far the longest event he had entered (518 km) and he finished 10th, one of 28 starters and one of only 13 walkers to complete the course. His time of 71 hours and 55 minutes meant he walked the 518 km at an average speed of 7,203 km/h.
It would be the first of 4 Paris-Colmar races in which he competed. He finished all 4, with two third places and two tenth places. The list reads as follows:

♦ 1993   10th   MAJETIC Ivo     AC Praha 1890  CZ   518 km   71 h 55'   7,203 km/h
♦ 1996     3rd   MAJETIC Ivo    AC Praha 1890  CZ   520 km    64 h 23'   8,077 km/h
♦ 1997     3rd   MAJETIC Ivo    AC Praha 1890  CZ   534 km    66 h 44'   8,002 km/h
♦ 1999   10th   MAJETIC Ivo    AC Praha 1890  CZ   521 km    72 h 03'   7,231 km/h

After his June 1993 Paris-Colmar walk, he moved to Houston, Texas, and spent the remainder of 1993, 1994 and 1995 living there and working. During this time, he heard about the American Centurion walk that was scheduled for September 1993 on a high school track in Xenia, Ohio. He had not trained for 3 months but decided to compete anyway. The outcome – an overall win, USA Centurion badge 48 and a 100 mile time of 18h 26'24".

In November 1995, he moved back to Prague and decided to target the 1996 Paris-Colmar. The only issue was that a starting spot required a qualifying performance. He fronted in the Bazancourt 24 Hour in spring 1996 but could only manage 188 km, not good enough to qualify (limit 195 km).
Luck was on his side when he was granted a wildcard entry. He did not disappoint, walking superbly to a third place finish, his time of 64 hours and 23 mins for the 520 km course working out at an average speed of 8,077 km/h. The only walkers who finished ahead of him were two of the legends of the sport, ten-times winner Grzegorz Adam Urbanowski of Poland (60h 29') and five-times winner Zbigniew Klapa of Poland (61h 20').

Further Paris-Colmar finishes in 1997 (3rd - 66h 44' - 534 km) and 1999 (10th - 72h 03' - 521 km) cemented his place as one of the best ultradistance walkers in the world.

In the 1990s, he finished many 200 km races, three of them under 22 hours and countless under 24 hours. With his final Paris-Colmar completed in 1999, he retired from the sport. In March 2001, he moved to USA to live permanently.

It was not until October 2015 that he returned for his first race in 16 years, surprising himself with a walk of 108 miles (= 173,809 km) in 24 hours in the "24 The Hard Way" race in Oklahoma City. He was fired up once again and willing to challenge himself with another Paris-Colmar, even if it was a bit shorter than in the old days, finished in a different city and had been recently rebranded as the Paris-Alsace Classic.
It might have had a new name and format but you still needed to qualify so, in February 2016, he travelled to Europe and started in the 24 Hour of Bourges. Alas he started too fast, suffered mid race in very cold conditions and, with no support crew, eventually retired.
Once again luck was on his side and he was given a wild card for the Paris-Alsace, due to be held in June 2016. He did not disappoint, coming 5th with a time of 59h 04'19" for the 425 km classic.

♦ 2016   5th   MAJETIC Ivo   USA   425 km   59h 04'19"   7,195 km/h
 
Ivo wrote a blow by blow description of the race which I published in our June 2016 Australian Centurion newsletter:

<< After 17 years, I was back at the start of this prestigious endurance race. In the 1990s, I took part in this race four times and twice I finished in third place. Returning after so many years, preparing in a distant country and dealing with the 8 hour time difference were not easy so my main goal for the race was to finish. I relied on my seven member team, our camping car and another car.
20 of the 27 qualifiers stood at the start of the short prologue in Neuilly-sur-Marne. I walked the prologue easily in 1h 26'59" at a pace of 6'/km. I finished fourth but this was just a short introduction to the race. The prologue was won by the main favorite, five-time overall winner, Russian Dimitry Osipov, in 1h 19'49".
It rained at the start of the main stage and the annoying never-ending rain accompanied us for the rest of the race. It was this year's trial. From the beginning, I started too fast and until 120 km I alternated in the lead with Osipov. Then I visibly slowed down but I still kept a reasonable pace. Even with a decreasing pace, I still walked the initial 100 miles in 19h 53', which did not seem too bad. Shortly after that I was passed by David Régy, Rouault and Lassalle within 30 minutes and I dropped back to fifth place. As I was tiring, I started to look forward to the two hour break with the pleasant thought of a well deserved rest in a horizontal position. I walked the initial 188,6 km in 23h 58'19" so I set my personal best for 24 hours for year 2016. But the harder part of the race was just to come.
I left the break at about 45 minutes past midnight so I still had most of the night in front of me. Although I came out partially refreshed, I soon had to face a very uncomfortable sleep crisis. My support team was doing their best but the situation was getting hopeless. I fought the crisis for 5 hours. Belief in reaching the finish line was diminishing fast. The tremendous work of my team and my desire to keep walking this famous race turned to success and I managed to stay on the course. Unfortunately, I had lost 3 hours to the leader Osipov and over 1,5 hours to David Régy on fourth place. At the same time, other walkers were closing the gap from behind, led by Eddy Rozé. During Friday, sunshine peeked through dark clouds a couple of times but rain always unpleasantly showered us. I was nearing the end of the main stage but was very worried about the upcoming third night. Sleep deprivation was pretty cruel to me. My team had a very hard time supporting me mentally, feeding me and keeping me at a reasonable pace. Finally we reached Epinal in fifth position at 2:55am on the Saturday morning, 1h 15' behind fourth placed David Régy.
Seven hours later, at the start of the final 56 km hilly stage, we were greeted by unpleasant heavy rain. The climb to an altitude of 1.150 m was strenuous but I did it fine. Then we had to walk down on our tired legs to the Alsace lowlands and head to the finish line in the spectacular city of Ribeauvillé. Crossing the finish line, I was tired but happy and proud of myself that I finished this marvellous race again - after so many years absence. My final time of 59h 03'49" was good enough for fifth overall place with an average speed of 7,2 km/h. Russian Dimitry Osipov won the race for the sixth time, young Emmanuel Lassalle finished in second place 50 minutes behind Dimitry Osipov, and Jean-Marie Rouault, this year's French 24 Hour walk champion, finished third another 4 hours behind. Only 10 walkers reached the finish city >>.

Ivo had one final race in 2016, returning to France in mid September for "Les 28 Heures de Roubaix". It was another fine performance, finishing 7th with a distance of 205,323km (average speed of 7,333 km/h). But it was not without its own crisis period, with Ivo flagging markedly in the middle stages before rallying and storming home.

And finally to our 2017 Australian Centurions race where once again Ivo produced the goods, winning overall with a 100 mile time of 21h 30' 55" to be awarded Australian Centurions badge number 71.
 
Post event, I asked Ivo about his plans for the future. At this stage, he has no firm targets but I am sure we will see him continue to pop up in further big races. I don’t think he is ready to retire just yet !

SEMI-OFFICIAL 6 DAY ULTRAMARATHON WALK WORLD RECORD: 786,744 KM !

Ivo’s profile needs a postscript for another outstanding performance in May 2018, when he competed in the EMU 6 Day Ultramarathon in Balatonfüred, Hungary, coming 3rd overall against a strong field of runners – and he had entered as a walker and was walking ! His final distance of 786,744 km is a long way ahead of the official 6 Day Walk world record, which stands at 752,271 km (Dominique Bunel from France), but as there were no walk judges at the race, Ivo's performance can't be officially recognised.
 
Tim Erickson, Australia