The Beast Runner: From Mountain Athlete to Searcher

Petr Novotny's public identity in Taiwan rests on an unusual transfer of expertise. The Czech-born athlete first became conspicuous for moving rapidly through terrain that most people approach cautiously; years later, the same trail-running ability became part of a search method used to locate missing hikers in some of Taiwan's most difficult mountains. [1][2]

Novotny arrived in Taiwan as an exchange student in 2012 without a conventional elite-running background. His talent emerged after he began running long distances, and by 2014 he had completed the 28.2-kilometer Jiaming Lake route in 3 hours 53 minutes, a performance that helped establish the “Beast Runner” reputation. [2]

With Eva Lobo, his wife and long-term collaborator, he founded Beast Runners and developed trail events including the Formosa Trail. The race began with only 20 participants in 2015 and later grew into an international event, while Novotny accumulated an increasingly detailed knowledge of Taiwan's mountain networks. [3]

Search work required a different use of the same physical capacity. In a documented 2015 case, Novotny and another Czech runner located a 73-year-old hiker who had been stranded in the mountains. After reporting the location, Novotny lent the man his shoes and covered rocky terrain in socks himself. [4]

Since then, he has become known for searches that continue after the obvious possibilities have been exhausted. A 2026 CNN profile showed him examining small clues, reconstructing likely movement and considering how frightened or disoriented hikers behave once they leave a marked trail. Families sometimes contact him when earlier searches have produced no result. [1]

Speed is useful because mountain search areas can be enormous, but the more distinctive resource is accumulated terrain knowledge. Hualien County Government reported in 2025 that Novotny had built a GPS trail database extending beyond 40,000 kilometers. Such records turn years of exploration into a practical archive of routes, junctions and less obvious passages. [3]

The work also exposes the limits of the heroic rescue narrative. CNN's report makes clear that Novotny often finds people too late. He has described fear, shock and the grim practical work involved in recovering bodies, while insisting that the purpose is to help families reach an answer. [1]

His running and rescue work therefore share a common foundation without being the same activity. Competition rewards speed, endurance and efficient movement; searching demands patience, inference and attention to traces that a racer might normally ignore. The transition from athlete to searcher required Novotny to use familiar terrain in an unfamiliar way.

That may explain why the Beast Runner story resonates beyond sport. Running gave him access to remote parts of Taiwan and the ability to cross them quickly. Repeated exploration gave him knowledge. Search and rescue turned both into a form of service, even when the outcome is not the one a family hoped for.