The Zatopek : 10, the iconic 10,000m in Australia , held since 1961!

Editor’s note: I first learned about this meet from Brian Lenton, in his stories on Rob De Castella. Rob had won the race in 1979. I did not know that it dated back to Ron Clarke’s win in 1961! 

The Zatopek: 10 has been held since 1961, and was originally founded by the Victorian Marathon club, held in honor each year of the 1948 Olympic gold medalist at the 10,000m and 1952 Olympic gold medalist at the 10,000 meters, 5,000 meters and marathon, the one, the only, Emil Zatopek! 

The Zatopek: 10 has been held for 65 years. Ron Clarke was the first winner (women’s 10,000m was added in 1976). On December 13, 2025, the tradition continued, as Seth O’Donnell and Lauren Ryan took the Zatopek : 10 titles! 

Without a doubt, it this ia the premier 10,000 meters in Australia!  

This writer met the late, great Emil Zatopek in 1991, when he was made assistant coach at Foothill community college in Los Altos, CA by Head coach Joe Mangana nd Assistant coach, Larry Eder. That day, Emil coached and inspired our five steeplechasers, who all ran their PBs in honor of the great man.

I spoke with NZ runner Tony Gaulter about running his PB of 28:54 there last weekend! Watch for that interview on #SocialingtheDistance! 

1.  list of winners was developed using GEMINI on Google. RunBlogRun will always note when using artificial intelligence. 

2. List of Zatopek winning times, 1961-2025 is from TrackAthlete.ie, an Australian site: https://www.trackathletes.ie/articles/the-winners-lists-for-zatopek10/

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