6th Salzburg AMREF Marathon (May 3, 2009)
For the fourth time after 1976, 1994 and 2007, the Austrian Championships in marathon running took place in Salzburg. It was not a big surprise that the 2009 national championship titles went to Christian Pflügl and Ursula Bredlinger. It was not necessarily foreseeable that the Upper Austrian Pflugl would even beat the Kenyan favorite Kennedy Matolo on May 3rd, 2009. The two ran shoulder to shoulder until five kilometers before the end, after which Pflügl was able to pull away decisively. At the finish, the two separated by just under a minute and a half. Local hero Karl Aumayr was third.
In the women's race, Ursula Bredlinger's victory was never in danger. She won with a time of 2:49:20 hours and a lead of six minutes over Maria Zechmeister. Third place went to Sabine Hofer from Salzburg. With 4,680 participants, the Salzburg AMREF Marathon set a new record. The rest of the glorious weather contributed to the excellent atmosphere along the route and in the start/finish area.
Results 6th Salzburg AMREF Marathon:
Men
1. Christian Pflügl (AUT) – 2:23:32 hours (thereby national marathon champion)
2. Kennedy Matolo (KEN) – 2:24:57 hours
3. Karl Aumayr (AUT) – 2:28:44 hours
Women
1. Ursula Bredlinger (AUT) – 2:49:20 hours (thereby national marathon champion)
2. Maria Zechmeister (AUT) – 2:55:21 hours
3. Sabine Hofer (AUT) – 2:56:55 hours
Results half marathon:
Men
1. Mirach Gidena Gebremedhin (ETH) – 1:04:44 hours
2. Fritz Benedikt (GER) – 1:09:48 hours
3. Herbert Gruber (AUT) – 1:12:28 hours
Women
1. Lucy Karimi (KEN) – 1:16:05 hours
2. Isabelle Heers (GER) – 1:25:16 hours
3. Christina Gassner (AUT) – 1:28:36 hours
Side note: The quarter marathon was introduced as a new discipline in 2009. Aside from the marathon, the women's run "Woman Runs!" in Wals-Siezenheim is positioned on June 10, 2009 as a new run in Salzburg.
