10 replies to this topic

[clanrunner]

Any other CRs doing this one this year? Or anyone done it before and have a story to tell?

[yeti]

clanrunner, on Mar 9 2010, 10:52 PM, said:

Any other CRs doing this one this year? Or anyone done it before and have a story to tell?

Done it last year. Had an absolute shocker (lesson learned: don't run a marathon ~36h after an Australia-Europe flight).
The course is ok but neither as nice nor as flat/fast as I did expect. In particular, there are a couple of sections which have little or no shade (Linke Wienzeile, KM12-15, Donaustraße / Schüttelstraße KM24-29 & KM 37-39) so should it be as warm and sunny as last year things can get a bit nasty. Otherwise there is a bit of a hill around KM17/18. Nothing major but by city marathon standards it probably does qualify as "hill". Don't get me wrong, its not a bad course, just don't expect Berlin or Rotterdam. And of course Vienna is a very nice city to visit.

Yeti

PS. If you need any touristy info w.r.t. Vienna itself, PM me - I've been there a couple of time for conferences.

[Paul Every]

I ran my PB of 2:49 at Vienna Marathon, which I possibly attribute to eating way too much kaiserschmarren at the carbo-loading party.

That was 1986 so I'm not sure how much the course has changed since over the years. Back then, it was certainly a flat and fast race, and the mid April date afforded perfect weather conditions; cool, dry and still.

The course started at Rathausplatz beside the City Hall and Parliament, and followed with a 5km loop of the Ring, before crossing to parkland north of the Danube and returning to finish in front of the Hofburg Imperial Palace. As well as the scenic tour of the city, the course also featured many bands en route, (including a memorable heavy metal band), and beer at the 40km drink station.

Happy memories.

[clanrunner]

Paul Every, on Mar 12 2010, 01:45 AM, said:

I ran my PB of 2:49 at Vienna Marathon, which I possibly attribute to eating way too much kaiserschmarren at the carbo-loading party.

That was 1986 so I'm not sure how much the course has changed since over the years. Back then, it was certainly a flat and fast race, and the mid April date afforded perfect weather conditions; cool, dry and still.

The course started at Rathausplatz beside the City Hall and Parliament, and followed with a 5km loop of the Ring, before crossing to parkland north of the Danube and returning to finish in front of the Hofburg Imperial Palace. As well as the scenic tour of the city, the course also featured many bands en route, (including a memorable heavy metal band), and beer at the 40km drink station.

Happy memories.

You had a beer stop and still ran 2:49? Nice effort!

From the look of the course map, the course is different now. I'm hoping for a good time but not going for a PB here, just treating it as a glorified training run really, plus an excuse for a holiday and to add another country to my "have run a marathon in" tally. Looking forward to the Kaiserschmarren but!

[clanrunner]

Only a few days away now, on my way to Vienna tomorrow. An unexpected halfmarathon PB 3 weeks ago has made me reassess, as a marathon PB now seems attainable. See how it goes. Best of luck to any other CRs there!

[Front242]

From the Vienna City Marathon WebPage

Watch the Vienna City Marathon 2010 by LIVE STREAM!
A Live Stream of the complete race is available worldwide on April 18 on the internet, starting at 8.40 a.m (Sydney Time: 4:40PM!!) !!

See: http://www.vienna-marathon.com/?url=news&a...ail=973#article

[Doddy]

Congratulations to German-based, occasional Coolrunning thread-contributing, Australian runner Clanrunner who ran a PB yesterday in the Vienna Marathon of 2:34:48!

[Tuttle]

A great run from Clanrunner!

[Doddy]

Tuttle, on Apr 18 2010, 07:35 PM, said:

A great run from Clanrunner!

Tuttle, I'm surprised you didn't mention the mutual love of Hawthorn that you both have! However, with a time like that I'm sure Clanrunner didn't wear his Hawthorn jersey as he did in a major international a few years back when he wasn't so quick.

[clanrunner]

Cheers fellas! My Hawks guernsey, as much as I love it, isn't the best thing to wear in a long race, it's a bit too heavy. So the CR singlet was worn instead. It got recognised by at least one spectator, at about the 22km mark. My boxer shorts got more comments, including one from one of the official entertainers (a bloke wearing an official T-shirt and holding a microphone) at about 10km, who drew the crowd's attention to them. Maybe we need CR boxer shorts

I'm very satisfied with my result, as you might well imagine. The race itself was a bit strange after my last 3 marathons (2 Londons, 1 Berlin) were a lot bigger. Not that Vienna is a particularly small race though. I started up the front, crossed the start line only about 5 seconds after the gun, and had a clear run after only a few hundred metres. Quite different to London! The elites started a minute ahead of the rest of the field, hence my net (or netto) time is just over a minute quicker than my gun (or brutto) time. I caught a few of the elite women on the course, and saw the leaders on an out and back stretch between 31 and 35km of the course. By chance I saw the leading men too, at a point in the course at about 29k/36k where the course loops back on itself. 20 seconds slower and I'd have missed them!

It was weird losing all the half marathon runners after 21km. Suddenly all the runners around me were gone and I was alone! It didn't dawn on me until the split at 21k that the runners around me were only doing the half. It explained their acceleration from about 16k, which I'd found odd and a bit disconcerting! In a way it was easier after halfway as I'd been drawn into chasing and following these runners who were going a bit quicker than I felt like going. I nearly followed them into the half-marathon finishing chute too. Luckily I heard some bloke yell out "Marathon links!" in time

Fortunately I was able to hold a good pace throughout the race, until about 38km anyway. For the first half of the race I just picked off the kms, venturing not too far out of my comfort zone. A big psychological relief to be past halfway, but being alone meant it was easy to let the pace slip, so I had to push it a bit harder. Continued to pick off the kms until 25km, where I struck a headwind and a slight rise, and my first slow km of the race. Got back on track the next km, which a nice run along the river and a bit later into the park. It wasn't until 31km that it started to hurt, but keeping pace wasn't too difficult and I still had enough energy to give a few high-fives to kids along the course. Until 37-38km. Suddenly running seemed very difficult and the prospect of a strong finish was gone. I think I only slowed 10-20 seconds/km but, so not too bad a result. I wasn't overly concerned as I knew I was still on course for a PB as long as I kept pushing. Was also weird seeing police hold the crowd back just for me, as I was the only runner coming through (for the next minute or so anyway).

I was incredibly lucky to avoid the dramas with the flights being cancelled. I hadn't heard the news of the volcano until I arrived in Vienna, hence I had no idea what the big queue at the Vienna West Train Station was all about. It was a very long queue full of people whose flights had been cancelled and were seeking an alternative mode of transport. The train back to Munich was rather crowded too. I'm very glad I booked train tickets and not plane tickets! I heard that up to 2000 entrants for Vienna weren't able to make it to the start line as a result of the volcano.

I'm feeling recovered now, kinda Unlike the days after other marathons I've done, I didn't have to descend stairs sideways crab-style, so maybe I'm fitter this time... or maybe it's just luck. 10k race on Sunday, first 10k race in nearly a year. See how it goes.

[sook54]

Great going Clanrunner! I did a bit of running in Vienna a couple of years ago, I can just envisage you steaming along by the Danube.