Austin Marathon

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Austin Marathon


Date and location February
Austin, Texas
Race type Road
Distance Marathon
Established 1992
Official site austinmarathon.com

The Austin Marathon is an annual marathon held in Austin, Texas. As of 2006, the event has spun-off from Motorola's semiconductor products sector, now Freescale Semiconductor, which founded the marathon in 1992 and served as title sponsor for fifteen years. The marathon is now sponsored by AT&T[citation needed].

Many runners train for the 26.2 mile (42.165 km) marathon throughout the year. There are many events to attend before the race, such as the Orowheat Health and Fitness Expo — mandatory for all runners to come to — where runners pick up their race packets. The Expo is held in the Palmer Events Center in Austin on the Friday and Saturday before the race, and typically involves over ninety vendors who set up tables, booths and stands. Many of these vendors sell food, drink and relaxation products. Motivational speakers talk to runners and their families to get them excited about the race. After the expo, many runners head to restaurants to fuel up for the marathon by eating high-carb foods — such as spaghetti, pasta and pizza.

On the morning of the race, a typical runner might get an early start by waking up around 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. Some runners skip breakfast, while others eat a small high-carbohyrate meal, such as a banana or a muffin. The starting and finish lines are now in downtown Austin. The race starts on the Congress Avenue Bridge between Cesar Chavez and Barton Springs Road, and finishes on Congress Avenue at 4th Street.

One of the special aspects of Austin's marathon is that the race has more than water and food stands to hydrate and feed the runners, which are typical of marathons elsewhere. Befitting the city that prides itself on being "The Music Capital of the World," the Austin marathon includes performances by live bands and even a beer stop in the later stages of the race for marathoners who want to drown their pain or perhaps get a head start on celebrating.

Given the geography of downtown Austin, the marathon is relatively flat compared to many other marathons.

[edit] Men's Winners

DATE NAME ATHLETE COUNTRY WINNING TIME
February 18, 2007 Jynocel Basweti Flag of Kenya Kenya 2:14:02
February 19, 2006 Mindaugas Pukstas Flag of Lithuania Lithuania 2:13:43
February 13, 2005 Mikhail Khobotov Flag of Russia Russia 2:12:38
February 15, 2004 Andrzej Krzyścin Flag of Poland Poland 2:14:18
February 16, 2003 Andrzej Krzyścin Flag of Poland Poland 2:12:40
February 17, 2002 Andrzej Krzyścin Flag of Poland Poland 2:12:10
February 18, 2001 Mukhamet Nazipov Flag of Russia Russia 2:11:14
February 20, 2000 Janko Benša Flag of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 2:14:18
February 14, 1999 Peter Fleming Flag of Scotland Scotland 2:17:14
February 15, 1998 Abderrahim Benredouane Flag of Morocco Morocco 2:16:45
February 16, 1997 Andrei Tarasov Flag of Russia Russia 2:16:52
February 18, 1996 Dmitriy Kapitanov Flag of Russia Russia 2:15:59
March 5, 1995 José Iniguez Flag of Mexico Mexico 2:16:27
March 6, 1994 Doug Kurtis Flag of the United States United States 2:21:35
March 7, 1993 Brad Hawthorne Flag of the United States United States 2:17:53
March 15, 1992 Alberto Puente Flag of Mexico Mexico 2:24:00

[edit] Women's Winners

DATE NAME ATHLETE COUNTRY WINNING TIME
February 17, 2008 Lucy Hasell Flag of England England 2:36:26
February 18, 2007 Moges Zebenaye Flag of Ethiopia Ethiopia 2:39:46
February 19, 2006 Tatyana Pozdnyakova Flag of Ukraine Ukraine 2:34:23
February 13, 2005 Tatyana Borisova Flag of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyztan 2:31:01
February 15, 2004 Tatyana Borisova Flag of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyztan 2:30:40
February 16, 2003 Sylvia Skvortsova Flag of Russia Russia 2:37:22
February 17, 2002 Marian Sutton Flag of England England 2:31:43
February 18, 2001 Elena Paramonova Flag of Russia Russia 2:32:56
February 20, 2000 Tatyana Titova Flag of Russia Russia 2:34:03
February 14, 1999 Lydia Grigoryeva Flag of Russia Russia 2:35:38
February 15, 1998 Tamara Karlyakova Flag of Russia Russia 2:37:55
February 16, 1997 Alla Doudayeva Flag of Belarus Belarus 2:39:55
February 18, 1996 Svetlana Zakharova Flag of Russia Russia 2:36:45
March 5, 1995 Andrea Bowman Flag of the United States United States 2:40:19
March 6, 1994 Irina Bondarchuk Flag of Russia Russia 2:42:22
March 7, 1993 Lori Norwood Flag of the United States United States 2:47:08
March 15, 1992 Kay Jones Flag of the United States United States 3:13:13

[edit] External links