Salzburg Marathon: Local heroes for the highlights

Top Austrian runners will be in the spotlight at the 22nd PUMA Salzburg Marathon on Sunday 18 May. During a press conference at the JUFA Hotel Salzburg City, the partner hotel of the running festival in the city of Mozart, the most promising Austrian participants gave an insight into their goals and preparations.

Eva Wutti in focus

All eyes are on Eva Wutti (Club RunAustria) - one of the strongest long-distance runners in the country. The 36-year-old from Carinthia is confident: "I'm very happy with my training over the last few weeks and am cautiously optimistic about the future. My personal goal is a time around 2:35 hours. Let's wait and see exactly what the weather conditions will be like," says Wutti.

At the Vienna City Marathon at the beginning of April, despite icy temperatures and strong winds, she ran the Salzburg national record in 2:37:43 hours and also the fastest marathon time by an Austrian woman so far in 2025. Now she wants to go one better in Salzburg: "The VCM had a positive effect on my form. I wasn't tired for long. Salzburg is my main goal in the spring," she explains. Wutti will be accompanied by Tyrolean Herbert Kopp (LG Decker Itter) as her pacemaker - he was already at her side in Vienna. Her personal best time of 2:30:43 comes from the 2020 national championship marathon in Vienna (former ÖLV record).

Wutti already knows Salzburg from two half marathon starts: "I'm looking forward to the beautiful course in the city centre and in the countryside. Lots of people come to the course and support the athletes," says Wutti, who lives in Wolfsberg, works as a lawyer in the city's financial administration and runs for her coach Johannes Langer's Club RunAustria - also the organiser of the running festival surrounding the 22nd edition of the PUMA Salzburg Marathon.

Strong female power with Stöckl-Moser and Exenberger

Cornelia Stöckl-Moser (SC Leogang) is celebrating her Salzburg Marathon premiere after taking part in many running festivals: "The marathon is the supreme discipline. As I have recently run longer distances, this distance suits me better than shorter races at the moment," says the marathon national champion from Linz and winner of the Wings for Life World Run a fortnight ago in Vienna.

"I was able to continue training well after Linz. The Wings for Life Run was at a pace that didn't hurt me, so I think my body is ready," says the mum of two. A third place at the Salzburg Women's Run on Friday as a warm-up confirmed her form: "I was surprised how good it felt to run faster."

Tyrolean Sabrina Exenberger (LG Decker Itter) is another Austrian with good prospects at the start. Her goal: to run under three hours for the first time.

Lukas Hollaus is looking forward to the marathon "on his doorstep"

Lukas Hollaus (Union Salzburg LA), Olympic triathlon participant (Tokyo 2021), is one of the favourites in the men's marathon. The 38-year-old is highly motivated: "I feel better prepared than ever before. Even though I 'only' run around 100 kilometres a week, winning is my goal."

A special highlight for him: the route runs right past his home twice. "Who has the opportunity to run a marathon on their doorstep? My family, children and friends will definitely come up with something to give me extra motivation."

Salzburg is his third marathon after Vienna and Graz 2024. In Graz, he set his best time as the winner with 2:17:38 hours: "In my 15 years as a triathlete, I was never able to run a marathon, but I always had it in my head. The marathon is a challenge in itself. It brings so many ups and downs - at the end of the day, it's about overcoming your inner bastard. As a teacher and trainer, it's the ideal balance for me."

A trio of Olympic participants was originally planned. Unfortunately, Peter Herzog (ill) and Lemawork Ketema (not yet ready after the Wings for Life Run) had to cancel at short notice.

Andreas Stöckl with home game

Andreas Stöckl (SC Leogang) is also taking part in the Salzburg Marathon for the first time - he has previously run several shorter distances in the city of Mozart. "I'm hoping for a positive end to my mixed spring season. The weather suits me well. I will start defensively and hope for good energy at the end." The race is a home game for the Salzburg native: "My running career began here with the half marathon - one day before my written A-levels."

Dominik Hirczy chases half marathon victory

Dominik Hirczy (Lauftreff Nußdorf) is one of the top favourites in the Salzburg Sparkasse Half Marathon. The 25-year-old from Gastein, a former footballer and ski jumper, celebrated a strong marathon debut three weeks ago in Hamburg with a time of 2:18:31: "This race was surprisingly good and really motivated me. Now I'm looking forward to the half marathon," says Hirczy, who won the Hervis 10K CityRun last year.