Temperatures defeat Kipchirchir’s Salzburg hopes

Organisers were pleased with a new participation record of 8,501 registered runners from 80 countries in eight different races over the weekend, 1,014 of them in the marathon race, 2,537 in the Sparkasse half marathon race.

Kipchirchir lived up to expectations and claimed a clear victory at the running festival in Mozart’s hometown. Temperatures from 19 to 22°C on a day of full sunshine made it an almost impossible task to achieve top times. Kipchirchir set the fastest time at the event since 2013 despite missing the course record of 2:14:16 by a considerable margin. “This was a hard race today. It is a great event to run but the temperatures made it really tough. I felt okay and could have run 2:10 here but not in these conditions,” Kipchirchir said.

“We experienced a festival of joy today. Salzburg welcomed the runners and the marathon in an extraordinary way. We had hoped for a better result for the winner, but the positive atmosphere and the motivation for everyone involved or watching is the overwhelming message of the marathon event,” says race director Johannes Langer.