Bauernfeind and Ludwig State Champion

With a clear personal best in his third marathon, Mario Bauernfeind, bronze medalist two years ago, secured his first state championship title in the marathon at the Salzburg Marathon and also won the overall ranking. In the women's category, Lucia Ludwig from Pinzgau celebrated her marathon debut with the state championship title ahead of Karin Freitag. The overall victory went to Barbara Molnar from Hungary. Eva Wutti, favorite in the marathon, quit the race after the half marathon due to stomach problems.

Mario Bauernfeind (KUS Pro ÖBV Team) won his first state championship title in the marathon as part of the 19th Salzburg Marathon, it was his second state championship title overall after the 3,000m indoors in 2020. “This success means a lot to me and I'm really happy," said the Viennese, who twice improved his best half marathon this spring, most recently as the winner of the VCM half marathon in a time of 1:05:35 hours. Since a few days later a positive corona test forced him to take a seven-day break from training, but he did not feel any major loss in fitness, he decided to target the Salzburg Marathon in April with a short marathon preparation based on his good level of performance. A plan that worked. The 31-year-old slowed down a bit after 32 kilometers, “because I wasn't quite sure how my body would react. The schedule for the marathon was tight, but it worked well,” said Bauernfeind, who crossed the finish line in a personal best of 2:22:27. Nevertheless, the lead over second-placed Isaac Toroitich Kosgei, who achieved a final time of 2:27:00 hours, gradually increased. The two ran the first 20 kilometers together in the lead. In the half marathon, with a time of 1:10:34 hours, Bauernfeind was already ten seconds ahead of the double marathon. Bauernfeind is the first Austrian winner of the Salzburg Marathon since Karl Aumayr 2015.

A guardian angel sends Kosgei to the start

It was the third marathon for the Viennese. After his debut in Dublin 2018 in a time of 2:29:23 hours, he achieved a time of 2:29:43 hours at the championship marathon in the Vienna Prater in 2020. Second-placed, 40-year-old Isaac Kosgei, winner of the Drei Länder Marathon 2021 and second at the Salzburg Marathon 2018 when he won his first national championship title, was completely satisfied at the finish. “I'm very satisfied because my preparation wasn't ideal. My father died in December. A few days ago I was in a serious accident, my car rolled over. I'm very happy that I was completely unharmed," said the Kenyan, who has lived in Linz for many years.

Georg Wardrobe (runninGraz), who crossed the finish line in a time of 2:29:11 hours and defended a 27-second lead over Markus Lemp (LC Sicking), was consistently in third place from the beginning to the finish line in front of the Great Festival Hall . "It was borderline. Certainly the hardest marathon of my life,” the 30-year-old from Styria alluded to the high temperatures for a marathon run. Right from the start of Dipl-Ing. Harald Preuner, Mayor of the City of Salzburg, at 9 a.m. the sun shining from the blue sky over the city of Mozart brought the thermometer up to the 20°C mark. After that, the temperatures rose slowly despite the cloudless sky, so that the many hobby runners didn't quite get into the feared summer heat at lunchtime.

Catching up leads to victory for Molnar

The women's marathon was extremely exciting after favorite Eva Wutti (SU TRI STYRIA) decided with stomach problems to run to the half marathon finish after one lap. Luzia Ludwig, who comes from Zell am See and runs for the Viennese club Sports Monkeys, was in the lead in the half marathon with a time of 1:27:02 minutes and 14 seconds ahead of Sabrina Exenberger (LG Decker Itter). The 22-year-old continued to extend her lead over Exenberger, but the Hungarian Barbara Molnar, third at half-time, kept catching up and took the lead in the closing stages of the race. The 37-year-old from Budapest, who ran the Salzburg Marathon six years ago, won in a time of 3:02:10 hours, but didn't realize that she was in the lead. "I have won? That can't be possible!” she exclaimed in disbelief after crossing the finish line. "I am very happy. I would have liked to run a little faster, but it was too hot for that. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the beautiful track.”

"Would like more!"

Exactly one minute later, Ludwig, who was able to celebrate her first state championship title right away in her marathon debut, crossed the finish line. "I don't know at the moment what happened today. Unbelievable! I persevered and was mentally strong, that was crucial today," she said in a first statement. The young woman from Pinzgau, who works 30 hours a week for an optics company, switched from triathlon to marathon after a serious wheel fall and has only been doing specific running training for a year. "Because of her studies and because of love" she has been living in Vienna for three years. "Today makes you want more!" Ludwig actually wanted to run the half marathon at the Vienna City Marathon, but decided to start in Salzburg in the spring due to a COVID-19 infection. "Today we experienced two state champions for whom the Salzburg Marathon 2022 is a potential springboard for their marathon future. I'm convinced that both of them can improve in the next few years and catch up with the national elite," said Salzburg Marathon organizer Johannes Langer, himself a running coach for almost four decades.

The 42-year-old Karin Freitag (LG Decker Itter), five-time state champion in the marathon, beat her teammate in the final and achieved a final time of 3:06:35 hours. Fourth overall, Exenberger was happy about the state championship bronze (3:09:05). Wutti, who was accompanied by Peter Herzog, starting runner of a Hyundai relay with the support of the Austrian Sports Aid, couldn't hide her disappointment after the race: "Unfortunately, gastrointestinal problems affected my final preparation. I couldn't absorb the energy I needed to run at the pace I was well trained for."