"Get active" junior marathon: Outstanding running experience

Exactly 1,700 children and young people, more than ever before in the junior races held at the Salzburg Marathon, provided the emotional highlight of the second day of the running festival in the city of Mozart at the "Get active" junior marathon. The refreshing enthusiasm and joy of exercise of the young athletes was ideally complemented by the outstanding atmosphere along the route in Salzburg's old town and the optimal, spring-like weather.

Divided into a total of nine races and seven age groups (due to the large starting field, a girls' and a boys' race was held for the U10 and U12), the young runners produced numerous outstanding, emotional moments with their admirable commitment. Around 7,500 spectators along the route honored the performance of the young athletes with loud cheers and deserved applause.

The participants did an excellent job of presenting exactly what is at the forefront of this event: the joy of running and exercise. The aim of the "Get active" junior marathon is to motivate as many children and young people as possible to exercise more year after year. Participation was therefore free if you registered in advance.

A half and a full mile through Old Town

While the U8 and U10 age groups completed one lap (804.5 meters), the U12, U14, U16 and U18 age groups ran two laps or the exact distance of one mile. For the second time in a row, the age group of four to six year olds was also at the start, completing a lap around the Salzburg Cathedral (450m). For many of the young runners, participation in the "Get active" junior marathon meant the first steps in a running event. Since the fun and joy of running was the absolute priority for the little ones, the U6 run took place without official timekeeping.
The young runners were not only convincing from an emotional point of view, but also from a sporting point of view. In the U8 age group, Julia Reich (La Sportiva MAT Verein) prevailed in front of Melanie Schönaigner from Bad Hofgastein and Stefanie Aschner from Puch. Among the boys, Sebastian Mitterberger (USLA) was the fastest ahead of Filip Aleksic from Salzburg and Philip Seitz from the Eugendorf elementary school. In the U10 age group, Sarah Baumgartner (TrumerTriTeam) won the final sprint against Amelie Spitzl (TSV Teisendorf), Valentina Illinger from Fürstenbrunn was third. In the boys' category, Florian Harucksteiner (VS Eugendorf) won just ahead of Laurenz Dutka (USLA) and Timo Voppichler from Anif.

In the U12 age group, Linda Hehenwarter (USLA) won the girls' category with a clear lead over her club colleague Alalina Baumann and Leni Unterberger (LTC Seewinkel). In the boys' category, Oliver Schwarzl (USLA) was ahead of Georg Harucksteiner (VS Eugendorf) and Destiny Osaigbovo (Union LA Eugendorf). In the U14 age group, Verena Tschernutter from Salzburg won the girls' category with a narrow lead ahead of Livia Unterberger (LTC Seewinkel) and Kimberley Marschall from WRG Salzburg. Lukas Doleschal (TSV Bad Endorf) won the boys' category ahead of Felix Wanner (BG Zaunergasse) and Lenny Krien from Salzburg. In the U16 class, Marie-Theres Gruber (Skiklub Schlotterer Hallein) was the first girl to cross the finish line and won a "photo finish" with Helena Dutka (USLA) at the same time. Third place went to Lisa Neubacher. In the boys' category, Erik Stok from Holland won ahead of Christian Weiß (lieferinger SV) and Christian Vorhauser (usla). In the U18 age group, Helena Schöbinger (ASV Strub) won ahead of Eva Aichner (Südtiroler Laufverein Sparkasse) and Elisa Rohrauer (USLA). In the boys' category, Cedric Demoulin (USLA) was fastest ahead of Paul Grünwald from Wals and Martin Kain from WRG Salzburg.

In addition to the strong participation of Austrian girls and boys, the "Get active" junior marathon is pleased to have participants from a total of 21 countries. Most of the foreign registrations came from Germany, but there were also children and young people from several European countries and even from Russia, India, Syria and Ethiopia at the start.

"One Mile for a Smile"

After the junior competitions of the "Get active" junior marathon, 148 participants started the integration run and sent out a strong signal of peaceful coexistence at a sports event. Under the motto "One Mile for a Smile" they completed two laps through the old town of Salzburg with start and finish on the Residenzplatz and generated donations for numerous projects of national and international charity organizations. The Salzburg Marathon and its charity partners are focusing on this year and are supporting needy and socially disadvantaged children and young people with various initiatives as part of the running festival in the city of Mozart. Phiona Namande from Uganda, the newly crowned Miss Integration Austria, gave the go-ahead for the integration run. 

Family sports day in the old town of Salzburg

For the second time in the run-up to the "Get active" junior marathon, a sports and family day took place in the old town of Salzburg, organized by the Salzburg Marathon together with the state sports organization. Numerous Salzburg sports associations and clubs presented themselves and their exciting range of sports to the new children and young people as well as to interested adults. The young sports enthusiasts were able to try out numerous sports directly at various exercise stations. Exciting and spectacular presentations on the Salzburg Marathon stage completed the extremely successful "Family Day" in the best spring weather. The interest of the people of Salzburg in this fantastic event was outstanding, the Residenzplatz and the Kapitelplatz were very busy throughout the afternoon.

All results of the "Get active" junior marathon