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.
- Major international marathon with a top-class field
- Plenty of ancillary races and events, too
- Participants run past various tourist attractions
- 2025 date: Sunday, April 6 (for the main event)
- See also:
The event and its route
(The final few metres outside the Burgtheater; press photo courtesy of and © Vienna City Marathon: VCM / Jenia Symonds)
Vienna occupies a prestigious place in the running world, not least because the city hosted Eliud Kipchoge’s successful attempt to became the first human to break the two hour mark for the marathon distance (at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge back in 2019).
As such, the Vienna event attracts competitors from all over the globe, including top-class athletes with Olympic experience.
The race begins at the United Nations building to the sound of the Blue Danube waltz before crossing over that very river towards the city centre.
This route takes participants on a tour of some of Vienna’s main historical sights. For example:
- The Prater with the Riesenrad and national football stadium
- Along the Donaukanal arm of the Danube
- The Stadtpark and around the Ring boulevard to the Rathaus (and then finish line)
- Schönbrunn Palace
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.
The 2024 marathon saw Ethiopian Chala Regasa win the men’s event with the third-fastest time ever for the course (2:06:35): over 4 minutes ahead of the rest of the field. Eritrean Nazret Weldu crossed the line first in the women’s event with a time of 2:24:08.
The race a year earlier saw a new course record for the men: Kenyan Samwel Mailu’s time of 2:05:08 knocked 33 seconds off the previous best set in 2014. Fellow Kenyan, Magdalyne Masai, won the women’s race that year.
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 events. In the past, these have included:
- The Vienna Sports World expo in the Marx Halle (free admission)
- The Wiener Städtische half marathon and Powerade relay marathon
- 5k and kids races
- The Coca-Cola Inclusion Run
(The marathon ends close to the Rathaus: Vienna’s city hall)
Over 42,000 participants 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.)
For full details on competing, routes, locations, etc., see the official website.
2025 dates
The 2025 Vienna marathon takes place on Sunday April 6th. This will be the 42nd edition.
The main race, half-marathon and relay marathon typically begin from 9am with other races filling slots the day before.