Kenyans Njeri and Murkomen win 20th Salzburg Marathon

Njeri triumphed after 2:22:55 hours in the historic centre of Mozart’s city ahead of Belgian Yohan Zaradzki and Felix Buck-Gramcko from Germany. Women’s winner Dorine-Jerop Murkomen took the victory in a dominant 2:38:27. Germans Monika Rausch and Martina Dannheimer took second and third place.

Runners gave their best in warm conditions. A cloudless summer day created a great atmosphere among the spectators. Faster times, however, were not feasible at temperatures above 24°C. So Murkomen could not make the dream of a course record come true. “The course is wonderful, but it was too hot,” she commented. After a spirited first half of the race in 1:14:21 hours, she had to back down as the race wore on. “I tried everything, but that was all I could do. I had to stop at kilometres 35 and 39. I am happy that I made it to the finish line as the winner.” Risper Kimayo’s Salzburg top time of 2:35:05 from 2011 thus remains in the record books.

Simon-Kamau Njeri celebrated his first victory in his second appearance in Salzburg after 2017. “I am happy about the success. The second placed runner from Belgium was not far behind. That was a push for me to keep my pace,” said Njeri, who has a best time of 2:14:21 from 2022.

4,500 runners had registered for Sunday’s events at the 20th Salzburg Marathon, close to 1,000 of them for the full marathon. The flair of Salzburg, world-famous for classical music and the historic city centre, attracted many international participants.

In the Sparkasse Half Marathon, the most popular event of the day, there were two Austrian winners, Mahdi Sareban in 1:12:08 and Anna Pabinger in 1:20:16. “I wanted to win the half marathon, it was high on my wish list,” said Sareban, a sports medicine physician from Salzburg. “The course is beautiful, I can only recommend this to everyone.”

Pabinger was happy to win despite a stop with cramps after 14 kilometres. “There was a lot of shade and many spectators – for me the most beautiful course I have run,” commented the general practitioner and mother of two children aged 1 and 3. Not far behind came Salzburg’s local hero Conny Stöckl-Moser in second place in a time of 1:20:49, back from a maternity running break.

At the Hervis 10K CityRun Markus Hartinger showed up with an Austrian season’s best time of 30:13 minutes. “I can be satisfied with that, it was a very nice running trip,” he said. Annika Leineweber was the fastest woman in a personal best time of 38:40 minutes. “It was my first 10km run in several years. The atmosphere and the course were great,” said the German, who has been studying medical biology in Salzburg since last year.

Over four days, Salzburg offered a wide range of running events with a speed hiking event on Thursday, the Salzburg Women’s Run over 5.5K on Friday, a breakfast run, kids’ races and a charity run – #OneMileForASmile – Inclusion Run by Coca-Cola on Saturday. Each event day had its special characteristics with the Sunday being the classical highlight in Salzburg’s running calendar. With its programme and initiatives, the Salzburg Marathon motivates people to lead a conscious, health-oriented lifestyle. This is reflected in the colourful running programme, which takes place in the heart of a beautiful city with the unique combination of sport and culture as well as a magnificent backdrop.