The Vienna City Marathon is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of 42.195 km held in Vienna, Austria since 1984.

History

The first edition was held on 1984.03.25 with a total of 794 competitors. It is Austria's largest road running event and the 2010 edition had record participation with 32,940 runners from 108 nations taking part in the day's races. The race has been organised by Wolfgang Konrad since 1989. The race day's events also include a marathon team relay event, a 4.2 km fun run and a half marathon. In 2011, Haile Gebrselassie ran the fastest ever time on Austrian soil for the half marathon distance. The 2012 edition saw Haile and Paula Radcliffe engage in a novel half marathon race, with Radcliffe receiving a head start 7:52 minutes (the difference between the two athletes personal bests). Gebrselassie crossed the finish line 3 minutes and 19 seconds ahead of Radcliffe. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 edition of the race was cancelled and the 2021 edition was postponed to 2021.09.12.

Course

The route starts at the Vienna International Centre, traverses the Reichsbrücke and the traffic junction Praterstern on the left side of the Donaukanal, then runs alongside the Ringstraße until reaching the Vienna State Opera. After crossing the left bank of the Wien river on Wienzeile to the Schönbrunn Palace, the route goes back to the Heldenplatz (via the Mariahilferstraße) where the half-marathon finishes. The full-marathon runners, however, continue past the Rathaus through Alsergrund to the Friedensbrücke. The track continues on the left side of the Donaukanal and the Praterstern, thus returning back to the Prater, where it leads past the Ernst-Happel-Stadion and the Lusthaus, crosses over the Franzensbrücke, finally following the Ringstraße to the finish at the Heldenplatz.

Winners

Key:

Marathon

Half marathon