Monday 20 April 2009

MWT: Vienna City Marathon 2009


On Sunday, 19 April 2009, the 26th Vienna City Marathon was held.
The runners crossed the finishing line at Vienna's Heldenplatz on a blue carpet.


This year's winner is:

Gilbert-Kiprutu Kirwa from Kenya

He covered the distance of 42,195 km in 2:08:21 hours,
followed by Ethiopian's Dereje Debele-Tulu (2:09:08) and Kenya's Joseph Maregu (2:09:25).


Remarkable:
Eight of the last twelve marathon winners are from Kenya!


Even more remarkable:

Andrea Mayr from Austria won the women's competition!
She is the second Austrian woman to win the Vienna City Marathon!
Although injured, she improved the local record for 8 seconds to 2:30:43 hours.


In good company with the laziest dog in Vienna, I watched the whole thing onTV.

Finally I went out to get some marathon atmosphere at first hand.
7.000 runners were still on their way!

The lawns near Heldenplatz were densely polulated.

Along Ringstraße, thousands encouraged the runners.

Keep up!

The last meters before the finish!

The blue carpet!

The galleries and the applause!
You've made it!

The City Hall is hardly visible within all that whirl!

Hofburg watches the spectacle with dignity.

The runners have finished their course,

and have received their medals.

Even the old statues congratulate!

Michaelertor however is unimpressed.
It casts its beautiful silhouette against the blue sky as usual.

Three participants proudly presenting their medals:
I asked them for a picture, and they gladly accepted!

Others are resting in the shade, also decorated with medals.

In Volksgarten, more visitors are sitting on the ground and enjoying the sunny day.


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20 comments:

Brenda said...

Awesome photos of the Marathon! My daily exercise is much more like your puppy's is. :-)

Sylvia K said...

Awesome indeed!!! Exciting and beautiful! I love Vienna! Thanks as always, Maria, for such a beautiful look at your world!

Erin said...

oh that looks like something wonderful to attend...especially since the weather was so beautiful there. the gardens, the buildings, all so lovely ^..^

Unknown said...

Oh how fabulous, it's almost as if I were there. Beautiful photographs, charming and gorgeous architecture and oh your puppy is so cute!
Happy Twirls
Libby
USA

SandyCarlson said...

Being appreciative task is important! I would have sat beside you if I were there. Good on those guys for running so hard!

Trish ~ ♥ ~ said...

I am always amazed by people who can run in a marathon, personally I can't run from here to the corner.

Anonymous said...

Nice coverage of the event. It's always the Kenyans who win the long distance running eh? And they are truly deserving.

Arija said...

Maria, I notice you were behind the camera, not an active participant, I am sure with a little training you could have achieved a medal too.

Janie said...

Great photos of the marathon. I admire those who can run 26 miles, but I wouldn't want to actually do it myself!

Marites said...

I so admire people who can actually do marathons. It's not very easy to train and do it all. Love your pictures! :)

Inday said...

Wow! Far too many to keep up with you! Interesting postings to feast my eyes on. Thanks heaps!

Rinkly Rimes said...

I must say I prefer the Austria of parks to the Austria of running! The shadows are fantastic in your avenue picture.

antigoni said...

Excellent post, Maria. You captured great moments of the athletes. Congratulations to all of them. Fidipidis (the first who run the marathon from Marathon to Athens to announce the great victory of Greeks against Perses in 490 BC) would be very proud. Well done!

The Explorer said...

Nice story.

First story, you were not in the scene but the second story you were there. I appreciate the photos.

Anonymous said...

It looks like your world is very busy this week!

Great series of photos - I really like the one w/ your pup & the plant w/ the heart-shaped leaf in the sunlight! That's really pretty!

Barbara Martin said...

Very nice photos of the Marathon and the parks.

ayamlin said...

Hi Maria!
I wanna participate in this race with my mother someday:)
by the way are you on a diet?
Oh, actually I wanna start diet.
What are you doing for losing weight?
Are you cutting carbo?

Small City Scenes said...

Wow they certainly had a beautiful day for a run. very nice pictures. thanks for sharing. MB

Linda said...

Go Kenya!! (one of my uncles trained the Kenyan running squad during the 60s and 70s). This looks lovely weather for spectating, but perhaps a bit hot for running.

betty-NZ said...

Great photos. Thanks for letting us tag along.