Munich Marathon
Encyclopedia
The Munich 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. 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. 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. 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.
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).
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...
road running
Road running
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...
event which takes place in October in the city of Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It also features shorter half marathon
Half marathon
A half marathon is a road running event of . It is half the distance of a marathon and usually run on roads. Participation in half marathons has grown steadily recently. One of the main reasons for this is that it is a challenging distance, but does not require the same level of training that a...
and 10 km events.
Following the marathon races at the 1972 Munich Olympics
Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics
At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, 38 events in athletics were contested, 24 for men and 14 for women. There were a total number of 1324 participating athletes from 104 countries.-Men's events:-Women's events:-Medal table:-References:*...
, 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
Olympic Stadium (Munich)
Olympiastadion is a stadium located in Munich, Germany. Situated at the heart of the Olympiapark München in northern Munich, the stadium was built as the main venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics....
and finishing nearby. 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. 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. 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.
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
Karolina Szabó
Karolina Szabó is a retired female Hungarian athlete, who specialized in the long-distance running events.Szabo was born in Dunaföldvár, Tolna...
(2:33:09 hours in 1991).
Past winners
Key:| Edition | Year | Men's winner | Time (h Hour The hour is a unit of measurement of time. In modern usage, an hour comprises 60 minutes, or 3,600 seconds... :m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... ) |
Women's winner | Time (h Hour The hour is a unit of measurement of time. In modern usage, an hour comprises 60 minutes, or 3,600 seconds... :m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1983 | 2:13:33 | 2:33:45 | ||
| 2nd | 1984 | 2:12:50 | 2:38:50 | ||
| 3rd | 1985 | 2:19:30 | 2:45:52 | ||
| 4th | 1986 | 2:17:46 | 2:38:51 | ||
| 5th | 1987 | 2:13:37 | 2:40:59 | ||
| 6th | 1988 | 2:12:55 | 2:42:34 | ||
| 7th | 1989 | 2:11:30 | 2:37:04 | ||
| 8th | 1990 | 2:13:47 | 2:33:12 | ||
| 9th | 1991 | 2:15:34 | 2:33:09 | ||
| 10th | 1992 | 2:14:28 | 2:39:17 | ||
| 11th | 1993 | 2:14:28 | 2:39:34 | ||
| 12th | 1994 | 2:17:27 | 2:53:45 | ||
| 13th | 1995 | 2:18:42 | 2:47:43 | ||
| 14th | 1996 | 2:19:11 | 2:41:56 | ||
| Not held from 1997 to 2000 | |||||
| 15th | 2000 | 2:09:46 | 2:37:34 | ||
| 16th | 2001 | 2:13:57 | 2:43:41 | ||
| 17th | 2002 | 2:23:19 | 2:46:18 | ||
| 18th | 2003 | 2:19:26 | 2:44:59 | ||
| 19th | 2004 | 2:21:21 | 2:46:18 | ||
| 20th | 2005 | 2:24:28 | 2:54:03 | ||
| 21st | 2006 | 2:21:55 | 2:47:22 | ||
| 22nd | 2007 | 2:25:26 | 2:56:33 | ||
| 23rd | 2008 | 2:21:38 | 2:49:20 | ||
| 24th | 2009 | 2:28:13 | 2:53:16 | ||
| 25th | 2010 | 2:18:23 | 2:35:28 | ||
| 26th | 2011 | 2:19:27 | 2:38:02 | ||