Running festivals more attractive than ever

More runners than ever before are active at the running festival in the city of Mozart from Friday to Sunday - the organizer is happy about growth in all competitions. The Salzburg running weekend also promises great sporting excitement – with prominent Salzburg residents.

Eight individual competitions with different challenges, embedded in an eventful program over three days - the 2019 running festival in the city of Mozart is more attractive than ever. This exciting offer brings Salzburg's largest active sports event a new registration record. After completing the pre-registration, a clear record number of participants was set with more than 8,100 entries from 79 nations - an increase in registrations in each individual competition is certain. Including the estimated last-minute registrations for the coming weekend based on experience from the last few years, between 8,350 and 8,400 running enthusiasts will start the race over the various distances. "The very pleasing registration result shows that we have been organizing an attractive running event for enthusiasts from many nations of all continents over the past 15 years," says organizer Johannes Langer. He is particularly pleased that in 2019 more Salzburg residents are active in the running festival in the city of Mozart than in previous years. “We have postponed the Salzburg Marathon by two weeks compared to the previous date for a number of reasons. An important one: the long winters of recent years, which have restricted the training opportunities for Salzburg runners, especially in the mountain districts. It is fantastic that we have been able to address them more strongly with the new date in mid-May.”

African favorites in the marathon

Kenyan Eliud Kiplagat has held the course record at the Salzburg Marathon for six years. A strong quartet of top runners and the good weather forecast are the best prerequisites for attacking this mark on Sunday. Kenyans Stephen Kipngetich Katam, winner of the 2017 Belgrade Marathon (PB: 2:14:08 hours) and Rogers Kipchrichir Melly, runner-up of the 2016 Munster Marathon (PB: 2:13:38) already have marathon experience in Europe and want to go improve their "house records" on the flat Salzburg marathon course. Two Kenyan marathon debutants are also at the start. Both Anthony Karinga Maina and Philip Kirui have already demonstrated their performance potential in the half marathon. Maina holds on to a personal best of 1:02:36 he set at high altitude in Nairobi in 2016, while Kirui ran a half marathon of 1:03:11 in 2017.

Among the women, the only 21-year-old Ethiopian Gadise Gudisa Negese is the favourite, who is running her first marathon and wants to gain important experience for her future career in the city of Mozart. Julia Brugger, who lives in Landshut, is running her first marathon, planning a time of around 2:50 hours.

Sparkasse half marathon and Hervis-10K Salzburg CityRun

Strong performances can also be expected in the Sparkasse half marathon and in the Hervis-10K Salzburg CityRun. The most prominent participant over the half marathon distance is the 31-year-old Swiss Marco Kern. The Sparkasse half marathon is his sporting spring highlight, where he would like to beat his personal best of 1:05:57 hours set six weeks ago in Freiburg.

Five weeks after her first state championship title in the marathon in Linz, Cornelia Stöckl-Moser (SC Leogang) is at the start of the Hervis-10K Salzburg CityRun, which for the first time does not start in Leopoldskron, but in the middle of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Salzburg's old town. The Pinzgauer, who wants to focus on the lower distances in the near future, won the Salzburg women's run a year ago in a time of 35:16 minutes - Salzburg state record in the 10km road run. Stöckl-Moser puts on his running shoes twice at the weekend: On Friday evening she will start at the Salzburg Women's Run over 5.5 km and is therefore also the favorite for the overall victory in the special combined classification, consisting of the Salzburg Women's Run and the Hervis-10K Salzburg CityRun.

Between winning the state championship title in the marathon in Linz for the first time and her appearance at the running festival in the city of Mozart, she married her long-term partner Andreas Stöckl. Stöckl is also an enthusiastic runner and takes part in the Sparkasse half marathon with good chances of a top place.

The two-time Paralympics champion Thomas Geierspichler is contesting the Hervis-10K Salzburg CityRun this year with his racing wheelchair.

Comeback of the Hyundai relay marathon

For the first time since 2013, a marathon relay is part of the program of the running festival in the city of Mozart. At the Hyundai Relay Marathon, four runners split the 42.195-kilometer distance. For more flexible composition of the relays, the distance will not be divided into four equal stages. Runners one and three each complete a distance of 15.2 kilometers and hand over to their successors in front of the Stiegl Brauwelt, who still run 5.9 kilometers. At Ferdinand-Hanusch-Platz, the first three runners in a relay can rejoin the race in order to be able to enjoy the final meters of the Hyundai relay marathon together with the final runner.

The Austrian Sports Aid provides two relay teams with prominent Austrian athletes. Team Sporthilfe-Hyundai 1 is led by Salzburg's currently best marathon runner Peter Herzog (Union Salzburg LA) as the starting runner. After 15.2 kilometers he hands over to snowboarder Sabine Schöffmann, ski jumper Chiara Hölzl and final runner Daniel Leutgeb, a young judoka, complete it. Team Sporthilfe-Hyundai 2 consists of the speed skaters Linus Heidegger and Gabriel Odor, wrestler Martina Kuenz and snowboarder Arvid Auner.

Salzburg Women's Run opens the weekend of the Running Festival

For the first time, the Salzburg Women's Run will open the three-day running festival in the city of Mozart, starting at 7:15 p.m. (7:20 p.m. for the participants in "Frau walkt!" by Bio Austria) in the Volksgarten. Apart from the new date, everything stays the same. The 5.5 km route leads from the Volksgarten along the banks of the Salzach to the Wilhelm-Kaufmann-Steg and on the opposite bank back to the Karolinger Bridge and from there to the finish in the Hundertwasserallee.

Around 1,200 runners and walkers will enjoy this special running experience, the new date on Friday evening is attractive. At least more participants have already registered than at the Salzburg Women's Run 2018 in the 5.5 km run & walk.

Lots of new things at the 16th Salzburg Marathon

For its 16th edition, the Salzburg Marathon returns to the classic old town. For the first time since 2012, the main competitions will start at Ferdinand-Hanusch-Platz with a starting grid in Griesgasse (the Hervis-10K Salzburg CityRun will start in Hofstallgasse). With the finish line on the orange carpet in front of the Festspielhaus with a perfect view of the Hohensalzburg Fortress, the Salzburg Marathon offers its participants an outstanding highlight as the finale of the Running Festival in the City of Mozart.

On Friday and Saturday, the spacious Volksgarten offers a new home to the running festival in the city of Mozart. The SportMall@Salzburg Marathon, Salzburg's largest international sports fair, which includes the collection of start numbers for all running enthusiasts, takes place on Friday and Saturday in the Volksgarten ice arena.

Record participation in the junior marathon

Traditionally, the most emotional moments of the Salzburg running weekend are provided by the junior marathon competitions on Saturday afternoon. More children and young people than ever before have registered for the junior marathon races, which are divided according to age groups, and are traveling to the state capital from across the state and neighboring Bavaria. This is guaranteed by the many years of very successful cooperation with the Salzburg education director Dipl. Päd. Rudolf Mair and technical inspector Mag. Robert Tschaut as well as numerous Salzburg schools, directors and teachers.
The new running route for motivated youngsters leads through the Volksgarten. The age groups U8 and U10 run one lap (960 m), the age groups U12, U14, U16 and U18 run two laps (1,920 m). The little ones (U6) complete a lap around the Volksgartenteich (approx. 480m).

At the press conference of the Salzburg Marathon on May 14th in the business district of the Salzburger Sparkasse, the following statements were made:

Bernhard Auinger Deputy Mayor of the City of Salzburg
“The Salzburg Marathon is not only a fixed point in the domestic sports calendar but also Salzburg's largest active sports event. The city of Salzburg has been a cooperation partner of the Salzburg Marathon since the beginning in 2004 and supports this running highlight with 22,000 euros. Everyone pulls together on this project. Politics and administration are one hundred percent behind the Salzburg Marathon. We can rightly be proud of this constructive cooperation.

The Salzburg Marathon combines sporting commitment, economic and tourist aspects, ecological considerations, social devotion, solidarity and culture into one overall event. Sport and exercise have a variety of positive effects on the health of people of all ages. From 17th to 19th May is sure to have something exciting for everyone.”

Markus Saddle | Director of the Salzburg Savings Bank
“As a sporting bank, Erste Bank – Sparkasse supports around 230 running competitions every year and has been a loyal partner of the Salzburg Marathon from the very beginning. Erste Bank – Sparkasse and Laufen just go together perfectly. We look forward to many #believeinyourself moments this coming weekend when the runners cross the finish line with a lot of joy."

dr Sandra Wogler-Meyer | Managing Director Altstadt Salzburg Association
“I am very happy that the start and finish of the main competitions of the Salzburg Marathon are in the old town again. Salzburg's old town is a marathon fan. An international audience experiences the beauty of the old town continuously and carries these fantastic impressions out into the whole world. This magnificent backdrop offers the runners a truly unique experience.”

Mag Managing Director Tourism Salzburg GmbH
“The Salzburg Marathon brings numerous participants from abroad and their companions to the city. This creates a very relevant economic factor. The Salzburg Marathon has developed very well, has grown organically and combines sporting activity with beautiful places in the best possible way - that captures the zeitgeist.”

Maria Graf, MA | Austrian Doctors, Operational Coordination
"Together with the German Doctors and the Swiss Doctors, the doctors of the Austrian Doctors carry out 360 voluntary services in nations where the population lives under poor conditions or in remote villages. It is a great opportunity for the Austrian Doctors to appear in the city where they were founded as part of a running event that stands for diversity. Everyone who buys a starting number for the Coca-Cola integration run makes it possible for a child in Bangladesh to go to school for a month with this contribution – including materials, teachers and a hot meal every day.”

John Langer | Organizer Salzburg Marathon
“I am very happy that so many runners will be taking part in the 2019 Running Festival in the City of Mozart like never before. In the city of Salzburg you can enjoy a wonderful stage for a fantastic running experience with many world-famous sights that you can pass directly by at a run. In addition, the diverse sports program characterizes the three-day running festival in the city of Mozart, which forms a harmonious connection with important areas such as culture, ecology, organic nutrition and social warmth.”