Running for Hal: A Bitcoin Run Returns to Prague
A short feature for a Czech running magazine ahead of BTC Prague 2026.
Three years ago, Běhej srdcem introduced its readers to Bitcoin Runners, the international running community founded in London in 2019. The club ties together two global movements built on three principles: Sound Money, Sound Health and Community. This June, Bitcoin Runners returns to BTC Prague to Run For Hal.
Hal Finney was a pioneering cypherpunk and cryptographer whose contributions to PGP, Bitcoin, and freedom-related technologies have had an enduring impact. He received the very first Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto in January 2009. He was also a passionate and accomplished runner, training to qualify for the Boston Marathon when he was diagnosed with ALS/MND. Then ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative neurological disease, took the use of his body, and in 2014, his life.
His widow, Fran Finney, today serves as honorary chair of the Running Bitcoin Challenge setup to raise funds for the Hal Finney ALS Research Fund. Her tribute, written for the runners who turn out in Hal's name, is what the Prague community is invited to carry forward:
"When Hal first conceived of a decentralised, digital currency, he envisioned how it might change the world. Hal laid the groundworks for Bitcoin. He was excited to be part of its development and evolution. But Hal's life was cruelly cut short by ALS.
If Hal were with us today, I know he would still be impassioned by Bitcoin's potential. He would be very involved in improving it, in making it more accessible to the world. He would be here, at this conference. And being Hal, he would be taking every opportunity to go running.
Hal helped develop Bitcoin. Then ALS ended Hal's life. Let Bitcoin help to defeat ALS."
All donations from Run For Hal go to the Hal Finney ALS Research Fund through the ALS Network, where a committee of researchers, many with personal experience of ALS, evaluates grants for the most promising, visionary, potentially world-changing science. The kind of science, as Fran puts it: "We look for promising innovative research projects. Inspired. Visionary. Potentially world-changing. Like BItcoin when Hal tweeted “Running bitcoin” in January of 2009."
The Prague run takes place on Wednesday, 10 June 2026, on the eve of BTC Prague. Runners meet at 18:50 for a 19:00 start, outside Bar No.7, Na Struze 7, Nové Město. The course is a friendly 5 km through the Old Town, with a walking option for those who prefer it. All paces and all abilities are welcome, and good conversation and networking encouraged.
Hal cannot be in Prague physically. But on the evening of 10 June, he will be there in spirit. As a community let's pull togeher to find treatments and cures for ALS/MND in his memory.
Because proof-of-work matters and, like Bitcoin, it will give you superpowers!
