“A marathon is more than just the sum of two half marathons”

Two years ago, Karl Aumayr stormed to the state championship title in the marathon in front of his home crowd in Salzburg. This year, too, the local hero is going into the race with great ambitions. He was the first to pick up his start number early on Friday afternoon and was then available for a short interview:

There are still two days until the Salzburg Marathon. How happy are you with the preparation?
Karl Aumayr: “I am very satisfied with the preparation. Thank God I was never ill the whole time and was able to train as planned despite the workload. Pure basic training was on the program until the beginning of February, after which I started specific marathon training.”
About a month ago you ran a new personal best in Nussdorf (1:08:45 hours, note).

Is that a clear sign that you're in really good shape?
“A marathon is a completely different story than a half marathon. In the end, a marathon is much more than just the sum of two half marathons. But I ran this best time right out of training on a bumpy course with a total of six turns, which was very gratifying.”

What do you expect from the marathon on Sunday and what are your specific goals?
“I expect an exciting fight for the podium places at the state championship. And I expect that the pace will be high right from the start. A lot will depend on how things are on the day. I want to get involved right there, run in the area of my personal best, which is a time of 2:23:25 hours, and ideally beat it.”

Aside from the sporty, what's in store for you on Sunday?
“As always, there will be a great atmosphere, a fantastic roadside vibe and a beautiful, fast and flat track awaiting us. It's always something special for me to run my home race. I know a lot of places here, the spectators call me by my first name during the race. You can only experience something like this in Salzburg!”