According to Radio Prague, the Czech Republic Hitchhiking Championship is being held for the second year. Last time, the competition participants traveled from Prague to Gibraltar and back. This year, a new route was chosen: Prague – Athens – Prague. As a reward for victory, the five most successful pairs will receive prizes totaling 100,000 crowns (3,600 euros).
'I have traveled a lot by hitchhiking myself,' says Pavel Zika, the organizer of the hitchhiking championship. 'I also had a friend, Jiří Svoboda, a big fan of this type of travel, who even wrote a book "Hitchhiking Around the World." We held last year's championship in his memory, as Jiří Svoboda has left our world. And this year we decided to continue the competition.'
As last year, 12 mixed pairs of travelers set off. 'We looked for them through special websites popular among travelers. The response from potential participants was enormous, so it was very difficult to choose. Out of 100 teams, we had to select only 12 pairs. There was even a need to hold a qualifying competition.'
During the qualifying round, candidates for the championship had to hitchhike along the route Prague – Hradec Králové – Brno – České Budějovice – Plzeň – Prague. Most of the teams completed the task in 10-12 hours.
'This time we made life a bit more difficult for the travelers. On the way to Athens, they must go through Bulgaria and Romania. On the way back, they have the right to choose a route through Albania or by ship to Italy and then across the entire territory of that country back to the starting point. Along the way, they must complete five tasks. For example, they must swim in the sea, and during one of the stops, ride a horse or a donkey, or milk a goat, cow, or sheep. Participants must visit a vineyard or brewery, find out the recipe for one of the national dishes and cook it. Another required task is to watch some sports competition. The championship participants themselves can choose when to perform the tasks – on the way there or back. The condition is, if possible, to involve their driver in this process.'
Participants of the hitchhiking championship must cover the route as quickly as possible. 'But time is only one of the criteria for evaluating the participants – 50% of the final rating. The second criterion is public sympathy, expressed in the financial amount that will be collected for charitable purposes. The participants send stories about their impressions, photos, and videos to the championship website. Viewers, thanks to GPS trackers with which the competing pairs are equipped, have the opportunity to monitor their movements non-stop and support their favorites.'
'All this is done through charitable SMS messages. The money is transferred to the charitable "Barrier Account". For each message, which costs 30 crowns, 28 crowns (about 1 euro) go to the "Barrier Account" fund. With the funds raised, a group of young disabled athletes will be able to go to the Alps, where they will have trips along mountain routes on special bicycles and a trip along a mountain river by boat,' emphasizes Pavel Zika, organizer of the Czech Republic Hitchhiking Championship.
It should be noted that the audience enthusiastically embraced the idea of supporting the competition participants through charitable SMS messages. Even before the start of this year's hitchhiking championship, 3,000 crowns (109 euros) had been transferred to the Barrier Account.