Course record and European Championship limit for Ruth van der Meijden

The Dutchwoman Ruth van der Meijden started the Sparkasse half marathon with a big goal. A quick look at the timekeeping was enough to trigger feelings of jubilation in her. Because the 31-year-old beat the requirements of the Dutch Athletics Association for participation in the home European Championships in the half marathon in Amsterdam in the summer by nine seconds and set a new course record in a time of 1:13:01 hours on the 21.0975-kilometer course Course through the city of Mozart. “I started the race conservatively. I really enjoyed the atmosphere along the route and the wonderful backdrop of the mountains. I accelerated again on the second half of the track, I'm very happy," the Dutchwoman analyzed her race. A month ago she managed a time of 1:13:20 hours on the lightning-fast track in Berlin, now she beat her personal best on the flat track in Salzburg by 19 seconds.

With Natalia Steiger (Brunn Am gebirge) the fastest Austrian finished the race in a time of 1:24:00 hours in second place, third was Lea Laukat (Honeder Naturbackstube Laufsport).

Outstanding half marathon by Somali Hassan

Not only the 13th Salzburg Marathon was of high quality, but also the half marathon. In the men's category, Mohamed-Abdirizak Hassan from Somalia set a time of 1:09:15 hours for the first time in Salzburg below the 1:10 hour mark since 2011. “I'm very satisfied, it was a very good race for me,” analyzed the 20-year-old and added with a sly smile: “It could have been just a bit warmer.” Hassan came to Austria eleven months ago, lives in Imst in Tyrol and only started running seriously here in Austria, which shows his great talent. After coming second in the half marathon at the Linz Marathon, he celebrated his biggest victory four weeks later. He completed the first 50 minutes of the race together with the Ethiopian marathon leaders before he pulled away in the closing stages of the first lap and finalized his strong performance. The extremely likeable Somali was then very open to the journalists and photographers for interviews and photos and impressed with his very good German. The performance of the chasing group, which entered the old town of Salzburg around two minutes after the winner, should also be highlighted. Five runners fought a gripping duel over the last few kilometers for the remaining podium positions. The Austrian Stephan Thurner (SC Breitenwang) in a time of 1:11:15 hours and the Slovakian Marek Hladik had the longest breath and secured the places two and three.