A whole week dedicated to running - the Salzburg Marathon

More extensive than ever, more versatile than ever and full of swing! After three years, the running festival in the city of Mozart is returning to the local running stage and enriching city life from May 9th to 15th with an active week. With its atmospheric and peaceful coexistence, the most popular health sport harmonises perfectly with the times.

The messages of the running festival in the city of Mozart for running as an important element in a health-oriented and eventful lifestyle will be more visible and tangible than ever at the comeback: a whole active week dedicated to running and physical activity. It's also a seven-day stage for a series of emotional moments. "We want to present running in its entirety in a multifaceted way and in the middle of the city," emphasizes organizer Johannes Langer. "And by expanding the running festival in the city of Mozart, we are also able to equalize the flow of visitors and thus increase safety."

desire to run

The first running events in this European running spring in the Mediterranean region have shown the runners' great desire for the return of running events in appropriate dimensions. The anticipation of the running spring at home also exudes optimism. Langer has closely observed the running behavior in the local scene in recent years and states: "The desire to run has been huge in the last three years, albeit often very lonely. Now, with regard to the shared experience, we are feeling a very significant increase in demand: Running connects!”

More than two years after the restrictions began, the time has come to share emotional running moments with like-minded people again, to enjoy the full experience and emotion package at organized runs and to soak up the rousing atmosphere of togetherness at a run. The running festival in the city of Mozart offers an attractive stage for this: the unique connection between sport and culture, a flat and fast route that leads to all important and world-famous sights, and the nature of the Volksgarten despite its proximity to the city center. In addition, the environmentally friendly orientation of the event and its versatility, which enables an attractive offer for everyone.

The start and finish of the main competitions of the running weekend are located directly in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Salzburg's old town, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The stage for the Friday and Saturday program is the newly designed, green Volksgarten. Salzburg's largest active sports event is anchored in its ideological orientation in the entire federal state.

State championships in the marathon as a sporting highlight

The sporting highlight of the Salzburg running weekend is the 19th Salzburg Marathon on May 15th, during which the State Championships and Austrian Championships of the Masters in marathon running are held. Langer sees the award of the national marathon highlight by the Austrian Athletics Association as confirmation of the high event quality of the Salzburg Marathon. He and his team have a lot of experience in conducting state championships in marathon running: they took place in Salzburg in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. Parallel to the traditional distance, the Sparkasse half marathon, the Hervis-10K Salzburg CityRun and the Hyundai relay marathon will take place as in 2019.

The colorful palette of running

Saturday is all about emotions and family. The Volksgarten is the playground and exercise area for young and old and celebrates the wonderful world of sporting diversity as a place of inclusion for everyone. Numerous Salzburg sports clubs and associations present themselves and what they have to offer in the “Bunte Sportpalette” to try out. This is how we reinforce the message of our new
Movement partners AVOS "Together for a healthy Salzburg". The junior marathon provides thrilling running emotions for young and old alike. The last emotional highlight of May 14th is the #OneMileForASmile - Inclusion Run by Coca-Cola, in which the charity partners of the running festival not only present themselves, but actively participate. "As a sports educator, one of my main goals is to make movement tangible in its many forms," emphasizes Langer. “As organizers, the association family is therefore in the foreground for us. Because regular physical activity should be lived together much more. And spark a noticeable impulse for more inclusion and integration in our society - that's very important to us!"

On Friday, the stage in the Volksgarten belongs entirely to the runners and walkers at the 14th edition of the Salzburg Women's Run with its unique character and the usual wonderful atmosphere with a sunset atmosphere. The sporting program is flanked by the two-day SportMall in the Eisarena Volksgarten (Friday & Saturday), which also includes the collection of start numbers. A fixed point is also the ongoing sightseeing to the treasures of the city of Mozart during the CUP&CINO breakfast run on Saturday morning. The StudiRun, an exclusive team experience for students and young people who are doing an apprenticeship (May 11), and the New Balance 5K TrackNight in the North Sports Center (May 12) set new accents. Club RunAustria organizes this 5,000m run on the track for recreational runners, ambitious and top runners in cooperation with the Salzburg Athletics Association.

Joint preparation "Salzburg is running!"

The extensive range of exercise offered by this year's initiative has been running for weeks "Salzburg is running!", which leads to the Salzburg running highlight. The experienced running trainer Johannes Langer leads the running and active clubs.

People also run for a good cause: Those interested can take part in a virtual run with the #42K4peace initiative until Easter Monday. The entry fee and voluntary donations go to the organization "Neighbours in Need" for projects in favor of people affected by the war in Ukraine.