A growing number of people worldwide have developed an interest in running as a way to keep themselves fit and healthy. The Viennese folks are no exception as they make sure to maintain a healthy lifestyle moving forward and many are into running these days.
It’s no surprise that the city regularly hosts marathons such as the recent Vienna City Marathon (VCM), Austria’s biggest running event. This major running event not only attracts local residents but even people from other countries. It started in 1984 and is now on its 30th year.
This year, the 30th Vienna City Marathon attracted nearly 41,000 runners from some 118 countries. The number of runners in 2012 was only more than 36,100 which means almost 5,000 more registered this year.
The yearly running event features a full marathon, half-marathon and a relay marathon. This year, more than 10,500 male and female runners signed up for the full marathon that covered 42.195 kilometers. For the half marathon, 14,907 joined and 12,556 took part in the relay.
Henry Sugut, the record holder for the 2012 full marathon, was present as well. Well known Kenyan runners Jafred Chirchir Kipchumba and Gilbert Yegon were also in attendance. Both won in Eindhoven (2011) and Amsterdam (2009).
For the third time, Ethiopian runner Haille Gebrselassie participated in the half marathon. He’s also the one who set the fastest running time in Austrian soil. In the past events, most winners in the male division were from Kenya while in the women’s race in two successive years (2011 and 2012), the Ethiopian runners clocked in the fastest time.
