Munich Marathon

The Munich Marathon (German: München Marathon) is an annual marathon road running event which takes place in October in the city of Munich, Germany. It also features shorter half marathon and 10 km events.

Following the marathon races at the 1972 Munich Olympics, a number of shorter running events were held in the city every year. An annual marathon was established in 1983 by Michael Schultz-Tholen's company (FVS) and was later jointly organised with the Munich Road Runners Club. The marathon followed the same course as the 1972 Olympic race, beginning in the Olympic Stadium and finishing nearby.[1] The competition featured nearly 2000 finishers at its inaugural event and this quickly grew, reaching to over 6500 by the late 1980s. As well as the mass race, it attracted high level international competitors in elite races. Participation had a sudden decline after 1990 – going from 6340 finishers that year to 3360 six years later.[2] This change resulted in the eventual bankruptcy of the parent company and its president Schultz-Tholen (who was a polo specialist with limited prior experience in the sector).

The race was relaunched in 2000 on a course outside the inner city, but its popularity returned only when the competition returned to the city streets and the Olympic stadium. Over five thousand people finished the race in 2001.[3] The race established itself among Germany's largest footraces and had a record high of 9041 marathon finishers in 2004. The 2006 event featured was the official German Marathon Championship race and Matthias Körner and Carmen Siewert were declared the men's and women's champions, respectively.[1]

The course records over the entire history of the city's marathons are held by Michael Kite of Kenya (2:09:46 hours in 2000) and Hungary's Karolina Szabó (2:33:09 hours in 1991).[1]

Past winners

Key:       Course record       Country's championship race

Edition Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s) Women's winner Time (h:m:s)
1st 1983  Kjell-Erik Ståhl (SWE) 2:13:33  Christa Vahlensieck (GER) 2:33:45
2nd 1984  Karel Lismont (BEL) 2:12:50  Christa Vahlensieck (GER) 2:38:50
3rd 1985  Marjan Krempl (SCG) 2:19:30  Olivia Grüner (GER) 2:45:52
4th 1986  Istvan Kerekjarto (HUN) 2:17:46  Olivia Grüner (GER) 2:38:51
5th 1987  Ahmet Altun (TUR) 2:13:37  Angelika Dunke (GER) 2:40:59
6th 1988  Ernest Tjela (LES) 2:12:55  Janeth Mayal (BRA) 2:42:34
7th 1989  Herbert Steffny (GER) 2:11:30  Janeth Mayal (BRA) 2:37:04
8th 1990  Steffen Dittmann (GER) 2:13:47  Charlotte Teske (GER) 2:33:12
9th 1991  Joao Alves de Souza (BRA) 2:15:34  Karolina Szabó (HUN) 2:33:09
10th 1992  Ivan Uvizl (CZE) 2:14:28  Birgit Lennartz (GER) 2:39:17
11th 1993  Gidamis Shahanga (TAN) 2:14:28  Fatima Neves (POR) 2:39:34
12th 1994  Gidamis Shahanga (TAN) 2:17:27  Svetlana Kazatkina (RUS) 2:53:45
13th 1995  Zoltan Holba (HUN) 2:18:42  Karin Steiger (GER) 2:47:43
14th 1996  Lars Andervang (SWE) 2:19:11  Maria Bak (GER) 2:41:56
Not held from 1997 to 2000
15th 2000  Michael Kite (KEN) 2:09:46  Elżbieta Jarosz (POL) 2:37:34
16th 2001  Andriy Naumov (UKR) 2:13:57  Valentina Delion (MDA) 2:43:41
17th 2002  Jonathan Wyatt (NZL) 2:23:19  Silke Fersch (GER) 2:46:18
18th 2003  Gemechu Roba (ETH) 2:19:26  Silke Fersch (GER) 2:44:59
19th 2004  Reinhard Harrasser (ITA) 2:21:21  Christine Lelan (FRA) 2:46:18
20th 2005  Herman Achmüller (ITA) 2:24:28  Cornelia Firsching (GER) 2:54:03
21st 2006  Matthias Körner (GER) 2:21:55  Carmen Siewert (GER) 2:47:22
22nd 2007  Falk Cierpinski (GER) 2:25:26  Cornelia Firsching (GER) 2:56:33
23rd 2008  Steffen Justus (GER) 2:21:38  Melanie Hohenester (GER) 2:49:20
24th 2009  Maksim Saliy (UKR) 2:28:13  Luzia Schmid (GER) 2:53:16
25th 2010  Andriy Naumov (UKR) 2:18:23  Bernadette Pichlmaier (GER) 2:35:28
26th 2011  Richard Friedrich (GER) 2:19:27  Bernadette Pichlmaier (GER) 2:38:02

References

  1. ^ a b c Gasparovic, Juraj & Loonstra, Klaas (2011-10-10). Münich Median Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2011-10-28.
  2. ^ Lennartz, Karl (2007). Marathonlauf. Chapter 2: Ost und West und gesamtdeutsch. (German). ISBN 978-3-9811512-0-6
  3. ^ 2. medien.marathon.münchen: Ergebnisse. Championchip. Retrieved on 2011-10-28.
List of winners

External links

Marathon races in Germany
Berlin Marathon • Cologne Marathon • Duisburg Rhein-Ruhr-Marathon • Essen Marathon • Frankfurt Marathon • Hamburg Marathon • Hannover Marathon • Leipzig Marathon • Munich Marathon