Vienna Marathon 2013

I've just enetered my first marathon in Vienna for April 2013. Has anyone run it previously or planning on running next year?

It's a flat course so I'm hoping to get a decent time for my first attempt. There's also a half marathon, relay marathon and kids races taking place alongside so I hope I don't get confused with all of the different signage!

http://www.vienna-marathon.com/?lang=en

Hi KatyLo - looks like it's just you and me then

Hope the training is going ok.  Bit of a slow start for me, but starting to get into it

6 of us travelling over, but i'm the only one running. The rest will be focusing on the Austrian cakes and beer!!

 

Hello, I was beginning to think I was the only one!!

I’m into my fourth week of official marathon training and so far so good but looking at my plan some serious long runs are on the horizon :-/ The furthest I’ve run before is half marathon distance so things are starting to get a bit tasty!

Well done in being the only one from your group running. You have quite a team of supporters with you so hopefully they’ll be able to scream and shout you over the finish line. Have you run a marathon before? Good luck with the training!

it's my 3rd marathon, having run Paris and London previously...but plenty of other distances under my belt. Glad the training looks to be going well.....when i did my first half a few years back, I really couldn't imagine doubling the distance....but just increase the mileage gradually and you'll be fine - if i can do it, then anyone can! good luck!

would be great to hear from anyone else running in Vienna this year!

hope everyone is enjoying the cold weather training  - could be useful prep for the unpredictable Austrian Spring weather!!!

Was entered into the St;Abans 10 mile today, but not unexpectedly cancelled so will probably go for Watford half in a couple of weeks

Haile Gebrselassie has just been confirmed to run in the half!

he must have found out we were running the full and didn't fancy the competition

Hey, I'm running! Little surprised that there seems to be so few people from the forums! None of my running friends have done it before either. Strange as it’s a nice city in spring and the course is meant to be relatively flat. Perhaps because it coincides with Paris and VLM?

Anybody 100 per cent. clear on what the set up is regarding timing chips? Have only seen mention of renting them and picking them up at the expo (or whatever they call it in Vienna), but that was in a guide on the website from last year’s event! Previously have rented them before the event and they’ve already been registered to my number and included in the race pack with the bib. Wonder if I'm missing something because my Deutsche is nicht good and half the web pages have no/poor translations.

Also, how’s training going?

I'm another one running it. Myself and 4 other woken from my club are heading over. Three of us are doing the full thing, and 2 for the half marathon. I'd love to hear from someone has done it before.
As you say bigdipz, I'm not left feeling very at ease with the organisation. And having to buy a race tshirt! I thought that was a bit scandalous.
On a positive, the training is going well, so fingers crossed for no injuries between now and then. Its my 3rd marathon, but the others (London and Dublin) have been blighted with lower leg injuries.

I'm in too, it will be my 11th marathon, had mixed results in the others, usual things like going off to quickly and blowing up, struggling through lack of training and sometimes doing better than expected when it all comes together on the day !

Not done Vienna before but have visited twice and love the city.

What sort of finish times is everyone hoping for ? 

Hi Bigdipz - found this in the information pack on the website....they're so generous!!  Will probably need to pay for the medal as well

Timing will be done by means of a computer chip. In case you do not possess your own computer chip you will have to rent a WHITE DAY-chip at an accordingly marked counter AFTER COLLECTING YOUR RACE DOCUMENTS.Deposit and rental fee: € 10,-. The deposit fee of € 7,- will be refunded to you when handing back the chip in the finish area on Heldenplatz until 3.30 p.m.. Please note that the white chip can only be used for the events of the Vienna City Marathon!

 

 

 

Jeez they're mean. I hope they're not as mean with their water stations and porta loos.

Glad to see that there are more runners from the UK joining in. It’s my first marathon so I was a bit peeved that I’d have to buy the t-shirt on top of the entry fee. I’m still having a dilemma about my target marathon time. I ran a half marathon PB on Sunday of 1:46 and the RW race calculator predicts a 3:41 marathon …a little ambitious for my first attempt so I’ll be looking for a 4:15 finish although I’ll just be happy to finish!

That's a very sensible and achievable target time, after all for your first marathon your main aim should be to try and enjoy the experience, a half marathon pb shows the training is going well.  I would like to get close to my pb of 3:21 but will be happy with anything under 3:30.

How long is everyone going over for ?

Getting a Heathrow Flight at 9:15 on Friday morning and coming back Monday evening. Will probably get the registration sorted on Friday and then relax!

Wll done KatyLo on the PB! Sounds like the training is going well. Was it Berkhamsted by any chance?

I'm hoping to run under 4hrs - my only other 2 marathons have both been a couple of minutes over. My Half PB is 1:39 and generally run them in about 1:42, but can't seem to crack the 4:00 for the marathon!

I'm in.

Seems like theres less than 300 of us Brits on the startline according to the starting list.

Training hasn't gone according to plan, longest run so far has been 15 miles. Had some good advice from a pro athlete on twitter who reassured me that a marathon can be done with a longest run of 16 miles. Which thankfully this may well be the case.

As the plan says, running 20 miles doesn't test how fit you are, just prepares you mentally. As long as you stick to a steady pace, it should be fine.

Flying out from Heathrow on the Friday, but in the afternoon. Going home on the Tuesday.

I'm more than happy to run round with any of you guys aiming for the 4hr to 4hr 15 mark to give each other moral support.

I'm running too ! It's going to be my first marathon this year and the training has not been as good as I had hoped, but I'm still thinking to break sub 3:30 for this one.

Does anyone know if there will be any pacers on the day - would be great to tuck in behind a decent pace group for the first few miles.

Start and finish in different places, I went for somewhere near the finish line, I've been assured it is within crawling distance

Just saw this post and if it's not too late I can give you some details as I live in Vienna and will be running the marathon for the 6th time this year.
The course is mostly flat with just one or two mild climbs. One of the steepest is the bridge just after the starting line so make sure to start off slow enough that you don't blow your energy within the first 500m (a common mistake!)
The only possible place that you might get confused with all the different race routes is the half marathon finish. It's well signposted and there are plenty of stewards to point runners in the right direction if they're in danger of going wrong, but the general rule is halfmarathon runners keep right, all others keep left and don't look right towards the finish line (can cause envy if you still have 21km to run...).
We have had a very hard winter here which has made training tough but the forecast for Sunday is looking ideal - 18 celsius, some clouds and maybe a bit of wind.
I have always found the organisation to be nothing but good. The fair and start number collection is easy to reach by tube. The documentation is clear though it does sometimes suffer from the odd Austrian trait of cutting corners on a good translator. Getting to the start is easy, again with the tube, and the atmosphere gets me every time. They seem to put up more portable toilets every year but the queues never seem to get shorter. Men have the distinct advantage here as there are trees and bushes; some women use them too if they are not too fussed. I usually go to the McDonalds right at the far back end of the start area. Not too overrun and gives you a chance to warm up a bit getting there.
As i know the city well I know what to expect from the course. There's usually plently to look at though there are some parts that are a bit non-descript. I always find that the long straight run in the Prater Hauptalle between km 31and 35 is one of the most difficult parts of the race. The road is dead straight in a wide tree-lined avenue and this is often the time when I start to hurt. However keep on going as it all passes by when you turn the corner and run the last 200m to the finish on Heldenplatz. I think that I could be more than half dead and the atmosphere at the finish would get me sprinting.
There are plenty of water stations on the course. There is a list of them and what they offer on the website.
All in all I think that Vienna is a good marathon venue. If you have time and energy, the city is great. I've lived here for 20 years and still love the place.
I hope that anyone still reading this can get some useful information for their trip to Vienna. Good luck for the race and post if there are any more questions

Great info Danny - thanks for posting - good luck with the race. Hope everyone else is fit and ready to go. I picked up a cold on Monday, which it pretty annoying after 16 healthy weeks of training in sub-zero conditions. Now taking every remedy available to man, so hopefully better for Sunday!

Suffered today a bit in the heat and way off my PB, liked the course generally and tempted to do this one again next year if I don't get into London.

How did everyone else get on?