MENTION Prague, and the historic city's well-preserved old-world charm comes to mind - with its cobbled streets and buildings which span centuries of architectural styles, all the way from the mediaeval period to contemporary 20th century.

Not about to let its brick and mortar past dictate too much of its future - its old city centre seems like Hollywood's top choice for a historical movie set, judging by the number of films made there - Prague is keen to reinvent itself as a capital of sport.

Yes, sport. Never mind that it's probably the last activity that the traveller would equate with the Central European capital since most would go there for its architecture and art, or classical music. But indeed, Prague is making tracks to bid for the 2016 Olympics, bolstered no little by its increasingly popular international marathon which the city has held annually since 1995.

A couple of friends and I had the chance to check out Prague's sports-readiness last month - when we ran in the 12th Prague International Marathon. The fact that the city was also putting on a festival to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth was another plus point - go for the marathon and soak up a little classical music culture.

What a great way to 'see' Prague was the rationale, plus there was incentive to improve our race times since we were running in cooler weather.

Technically, we should see more since we were running 42.2 km in and around Prague, shouldn't we? Well, yes and no. Yes, because the race route hugged the Vltava River, and crossed four bridges - Charles Bridge, Libensky Bridge, Palackeho Bridge and Legii Bridge - and passed iconic buildings like the Powder Tower, Old Town Square, Tyn's Church, the National Museum and National Theatre, and St Nicholas' Cathedral.

It was great to pass by buildings we'd been to when we arrived two days before the race, like the art nouveau Municipal House, where we attended a chamber music concert. And then other buildings that we'd read about in guidebooks but hadn't visited yet, like Frank Gehry's graceful 'Ginger and Fred' building.

Do I remember it all though? No, because despite the cool weather, the raucous bands providing live music along the marathon route, and water stations every 5 km (capably manned by enthusiastic volunteers who handed out water, and laid out bowls of peeled oranges and bananas), the race was still a tough run, so everything was a bit of a haze until the finish line.

In the post-race ecstasy of completing the race within the six-hour time limit (the sweeper van ever in sight), and in (physical) agony for the two days after, I could barely remember running across the famous 14th-century Charles Bridge with its 30 statues and sculptures. Sure, streets laid with cobbled stones are pretty and romantic, but they lose their appeal when you run on them for a kilometre or two.

In fact, the part of the race route I remember most vividly is the stretch between 25 km and 39 km - which was this interminably long expressway with no view to appreciate but queues and queues of cars on one side; their drivers probably swearing at the runners for holding up traffic.

Runners get free tram rides on the day of the race - and we'd ambitiously planned to hop into one and just take a joyride after the marathon, but naturally, all we could do was to soak in the bath, and lie in bed until it was time for the post-race massage we'd booked the day earlier.

We were pleased with how well-organised the race was though - it even offered 'live tracking' of the race (although we couldn't find the link on the website to e-mail to friends and family). But we liked the race bag they gave us, and the medal too. The results were up a few hours later.

We took it easy for the two days after the race, given our aching muscles, but still managed to take the tram up to the centuries-old Prague Castle and walk - slowly - around the splendid St Vitus Cathedral. At least we could say we saw one of the works of famed Czech art nouveau artist Alphonse Muchas - a stained-glass window panel at the cathedral. On other days, it was a visit to the Mozart museum, exploring the old Jewish quarter, or just shopping around the old city with its growing collection of hip designer shops.

If we were more dedicated movie buffs, I suppose we could have tried to scout out the film sites of movies like Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist, The Brothers Grimm, The Chronicles of Narnia, Tristan & Isolde, Alien Vs. Predator and Hellboy. Then there're Van Helsing, Shanghai Knights, Underworld, The Bourne Identity, Hart's War, The Affair of the Necklace, A Knight's Tale, Spy Game and even Mission Impossible (the first one) - the list goes on. As someone once noted wryly, sometimes, Prague is even cast as Prague.

Which might then make you wonder if a movie on Prague would be interesting, because as lovely as it is, I suspect that after a week Prague will feel too much like a movie set, peopled by too many tourists, who - like clockwork - congregate outside the Old Town Square's Astronomical Clock to watch the 12 apostles popping out of its tiny windows when it chimes on the hour. Otherwise, for a running visit, it's perfect.