He took all the obstacles and ran. Sixty times at the start of the race in Běchovice
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Vladimír Kříž was born on 21 December 1943 in Sedlec-Prčice. His father’s family owned a small farm of about 30 hectares, which they lost during collectivization in the 1950s. Despite the stigma of his bad origins, Vladimír Kříž graduated from a grammar school and then from a pedagogical institute, later he received a doctorate at the Faculty of Philosophy. He graduated with a degree in Czech language and history, and during his lifetime he tried his hand at teaching in all types of educational institutions - from a small classroom in Počepice u Sedlčany to a elementary school in Rožmitál pod Třemšín to a university teacher. He was also a successful coach, twice getting his pupils in Rožmital to third place in the national hockey championship. During the Prague Spring he joined the KAN, but because of his attitudes he preferred to leave education in the 1970s and worked as an educator among recidivists for the Ministry of Justice. In 1963, he stood for the first time at the start of the world-famous 10 km race in Běchovice, Prague. And he ran it every year for the next 60 years. That makes him the race’s record holder and a living legend. After the revolution, he worked for the Ministry of Education and the Education Office. He has a wife and two children, and in retirement is still an active college teacher. In 2024 he lived in Příbram.
