{"id":14204,"date":"2019-03-23T06:01:56","date_gmt":"2019-03-23T05:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=14204"},"modified":"2026-01-31T15:04:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T14:04:51","slug":"vienna-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/sport\/vienna-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"The Vienna Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/marathon.jpg\" alt=\"Marathon runner's legs\" class=\"wp-image-14208\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/marathon.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/marathon-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Each year, thousands of people take part in the various races falling under the umbrella of the Vienna marathon. And those of us with a little less energy get to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Major international marathon with a top-class field<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Plenty of ancillary races and events, too<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Participants run past various tourist attractions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2026 date: Sunday, April 19th for the main event<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/april\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"14346\">Vienna in April<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/activities\/events-in-vienna\/\">Events in Vienna<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The event and its route<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/marathon1.jpg\" alt=\"Marathon runners\" class=\"wp-image-69822\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/marathon1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/marathon1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The final few metres outside the Burgtheater; press photo courtesy of and \u00a9 Vienna City Marathon: VCM \/ Jenia Symonds)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vienna occupies a prestigious place in the running world, not least because the city hosted Eliud Kipchoge&#8217;s successful attempt to became the first human to break the two hour mark for the marathon distance (at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge way back in 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As such, the Vienna event attracts competitors from all over the globe, including top-class athletes with Olympic experience. Just under 13,000 took part in the full classic marathon in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main race begins at the United Nations building to the sound of the <em>Blue Danube<\/em> waltz before crossing over that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/mapsgeography\/the-danube\/\">very river<\/a> towards the city centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This route takes participants on a tour of some of Vienna&#8217;s main historical sights. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/prater\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"35726\">Prater<\/a> with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/riesenrad\/\">Riesenrad<\/a> and national football stadium<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Along the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/donaukanal\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"34106\">Donaukanal<\/a> arm of the Danube<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/stadtpark\/\">Stadtpark<\/a> and around the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/ring\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1546\">Ring boulevard<\/a> to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/rathaus-2\/\">Rathaus<\/a> (and then finish line)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/palace-of-schonbrunn\/\">Sch\u00f6nbrunn Palace<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Think of it as a sightseeing bus tour without the bus. Both runners and the watching crowds can usually also enjoy music and other entertaining or motivating features along sections of the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last time out, for example, we had various Strauss-themed moments in honour of his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/johann-strauss-2025\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"50442\">200th birthday<\/a>, including a successful attempt to break a waltzing world record at the start of the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><em>Ad:<\/em><br><\/div><div data-tiqets-widget=\"discovery\" data-cards-layout=\"horizontal\" data-slug-ids=\"exp206741,exp238032\" data-partner=\"visitingvienna\" data-tq-campaign=\"DA_ConcTour\"><\/div><script defer src=\"https:\/\/widgets.tiqets.com\/loader.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2025 marathon saw Ethiopian Hafatamu Abadi win the men&#8217;s event with a time of 2:08:28. At 21, Abadi became the youngest winner in the history of the Vienna marathon. Kenyan Betty Chepkemoi crossed the line first in the women&#8217;s event with a time of 2:24:14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The race two years earlier produced a new course record for the men: Kenyan Samwel Mailu&#8217;s time of 2:05:08 knocked 33 seconds off the previous best set in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Needless to say, the Vienna marathon is not just about a single run. Several ancillary races take place throughout the weekend, for example, as do related activities. At the previous event, these included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Vienna Sports World expo in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/marx-halle\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"62019\">Marx Halle<\/a> (free admission)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Wiener St\u00e4dtische half marathon and Powerade relay marathon<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A Vienna 10k coffee run<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>5k and kids races<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Coca-Cola Inclusion Run<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The 10k run is new for 2026 and includes coffee and pastries at the finish. You have to love Vienna.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/rathaus2023.jpg\" alt=\"View of the Rathaus from the square outside\" class=\"wp-image-67063\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/rathaus2023.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/rathaus2023-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The marathon ends close to the Rathaus: Vienna&#8217;s city hall)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over 46,000 participants from 146 countries registered for the running events last time out. (The absence of a 100m walk means I am, sadly, unable to ever be one of them.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For full details on competing, routes, locations, etc., see the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vienna-marathon.com\/\">official website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2026 dates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2026 Vienna marathon will be the 43rd edition and takes place on Sunday, April 19th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main race, half-marathon and relay marathon begin from 9am, the 10k run from 8am, and the other races fill slots the day before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Each year, thousands of people take part in the various races falling under the umbrella of the Vienna marathon. And those of us with a little less energy get to watch. The event and its route (The final few metres outside the Burgtheater; press photo courtesy of and \u00a9 Vienna City Marathon: VCM \/ Jenia [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14204","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sport","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14204"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88438,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14204\/revisions\/88438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}